{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,27]],"date-time":"2026-05-27T16:48:42Z","timestamp":1779900522581,"version":"3.53.1"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,19]],"date-time":"2025-09-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1758240000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>A three-year-old male bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps) exhibited acute anorexia. Biochemistry revealed mild hyperproteinemia (88 g\/L) and elevated liver enzymes (ALT 60 U\/L, AST 272 U\/L), while the hematology report showed marked lymphocytosis. The animal had been clinically normal at a routine examination 10 months earlier. Based on the clinical and laboratory findings, acute lymphoblastic leukemia was suspected. Treatment was initiated with methylprednisolone (1 mg\/kg PO q24h), marbofloxacin (10 mg\/kg IM q24h), and lomustine (80 mg\/m2 PO q14d), calculated according to reptile-specific body surface area formulas. A transient stabilization was followed by sudden deterioration on day 3, characterized by hematemesis and severe respiratory distress, leading to spontaneous death. A complete necropsy including histopathology and anti-CD3 immunohistochemistry revealed disseminated infiltration of neoplastic T-lymphocytes throughout all major visceral organs and confirmed the diagnosis of T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma\/leukemia (L\/L). This case represents a rare report of systemic acute lymphoblastic L\/L in a bearded dragon and underlies the importance of comprehensive diagnostics in reptiles with non-specific clinical signs and the challenges in the treatment of neoplastic diseases in exotic species.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani15182736","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,19]],"date-time":"2025-09-19T10:08:58Z","timestamp":1758276538000},"page":"2736","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Systemic CD3+ T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia in a Bearded Dragon (Pogona vitticeps): Clinical, Therapeutic, and Pathological Findings"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-3042-5132","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Josip","family":"Miljkovi\u0107","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiology and Radiobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anouk","family":"Jonker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8013-2091","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dra\u017een","family":"\u0110uri\u010di\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Poultry Diseases with Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0431-4878","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Danijela","family":"Horvatek Tomi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Poultry Diseases with Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maja","family":"Beli\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathophysiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-9397-5680","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sini\u0161a","family":"Faraguna","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathophysiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4554-3247","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mirela","family":"Pavi\u0107 Vulinovi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ana","family":"Shek Vugrove\u010dki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiology and Radiobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maja","family":"Luka\u010d","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Poultry Diseases with Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ivan-Conrado","family":"\u0160o\u0161tari\u0107-Zuckermann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Iva","family":"\u0160mit","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Internal Diseases Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"653","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cvex.2004.04.002","article-title":"Reptile neoplasia: A retrospective study of case submissions","volume":"7","author":"Garner","year":"2004","journal-title":"Vet. 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