Species: Goat Strain/breeder: White German Noble Breed Sex: Male Age: 23 months Study type: Alimentary study Treatment: Copper deficiency and molybdenosis Animal status: Euthanasia Clinical findings: Anemia Organ: Liver Macroscopic finding(s): Liver: moderate hepatomegalia with well filled gall bladder, lowered body weight Staining: H&E (slide a), Picrosirius-Red (slide b) Literature:

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Abstract

The effect of excessive molybdenum intake and copper deficiency on animals is a complex problem, dependent on a number of variables, including species and age. The aim of this study was to investigate the morphological findings of copper deficiency with and without supplementation of molybdenum in a long term study in goats.

Goats (14 weeks old) were fed with semisynthetic food designed for copper deficiency (n=4) during 20 month. In the last 10 weeks of the experiment an supplementation of ammoniumtetrathiomolybdate was performed for three goats. At the age of 23 months the animals were euthanized and pathological investigations were performed.

In all animals except the control group a lowered body weight, a moderate hepatomegaly and a largely filled gall bladder were the main macroscopical findings. Histopathological findings were characterized by a moderate chronic degenerative hepatosis with moderate bile duct proliferation and porto-portal fibrosis as well as a hemosiderosis in macrophages and hepatocytes and a mild reactive interstitial hepatitis. Further morphological findings were moderate degenerative alterations of the exocrine pancreas and a moderate hyperkeratosis and atrophy of the skin.

It can be concluded that the pathological findings in our long term study of copper deficiency and molybdenosis in goats are mainly caused by effects of an insufficient activity of cytochromoxidase, resulting in lesions of liver and pancreas and lowered ceruloplasmin concentrations leading to anemia. Alterations of lysyloxidase may have induced epidermal atrophy and hyperkeratosis but did not result in skeletal and vascular changes. No central nervous symptoms appeared, indicating that dopamin ß-hydroxylase may be less affected in the goats of our experiments.