Puncture Wounds of the Navicular Bursa in 38 Horses A Retrospective Study

The medical records of 38 horses with puncture wounds of the navicular bursa were reviewed. Only 12 horses had a satisfactory outcome (breeding or riding). Of the remaining 26 horses, 19 were euthanized, five were sold due to persistent severe lameness, one died, and one was lost to long-term follow-up. Different combinations of conservative management prior to surgical debridement and drainage of the navicular bursa were unsuccessful in resolving the condition. Horses that were treated surgically within 1 week of the injury and had a hind leg affected had the best chance of a satisfactory outcome. Additional wound debridement was necessary in 15 horses after initial surgical treatment. The most common complications encountered were navicular bone osteomyelitis and sepsis of the deep digital flexor tendon. Thirteen of 14 horses that had rupture of the deep digital flexor tendon and subluxation of the distal interphalangeal joint had an unsatisfactory outcome. One mare subsequently developed ankylosis of the distal interphalangeal joint and was a useful brood mare. Two horses that had biaxial palmar digital neurectomy because of persistent lameness were later euthanized because of navicular bone fracture and rupture of the deep digital flexor tendon. Results from limited numbers of bacterial cultures and antibiotic sensitivities suggest that penicillin and an aminoglycoside antibiotic should be used as initial antibiotic therapy. Immediate surgical debridement and appropriate antibiotic treatment are recommended as the minimum therapy for penetrating wounds of the navicular bursa in horses.     

Periorchitis after tetramisole treatment in bulls implanted with Setaria labiatopapillos

Thirteen mixed-breed beef bulls, 1 to 4 years old, were used to determine the effect of live and dead filarial nematodes, Setaria labiatopapillosa, placed in the vaginal cavity of the testes. When dead worms were used, granulomatous lesions developed on the tunica vaginalis parietalis in 7 of 8 testes. The lesions were similar to those seen in some clinical cases of periorchitis. Similar lesions developed in 5 of 6 testes after live worms were implanted in the vaginal cavity of the testes and tetramisole (8 mg/kg) was injected subcutaneously 6 days after implantation. When live worms were implanted and tetramisole was not given, lesions developed in 3 of 6 testes. It was concluded that the granulomatous reaction was a local response to dead or killed S labiatopapillosa.     

Mid-storage and pre-sowing seed treatments for lettuce and carrot

Mid-storage hydration-dehydration treatments with medium-vigour lettuce seed very effectively reduced physiological deterioration in storage and ultimately showed better field emergence and final yield. Soaking-drying treatment of high-vigour lettuce seed was not effective. Pre-sowing treatment of medium-vigour lettuce seed, though less effective than mid-storage treatment, gave better field performance, but high-vigour seed did not benefit from the treatment. For carrot, both mid-storage and pre-sowing seed treatments proved beneficial, with the former showing better performance than the latter. Unlike lettuce, well-preserved carrot seed responded positively to the pre-sowing treatment.     

Characterization of monoclonal antibodies directed against swine leukocytes

Hybridomas were produced from fusions of the SP2/0 mouse myeloma with splenic cells from: 1) an outbred Sprague Dawley rat immunized with swine peripheral blood mononuclear (PBM) cells; 2) a (CBA/NDub X BALB/c Dub) F1 mouse immunized with concanavalin A (Con A) activated swine PBM cells and 3) a (BALB/c Dub X C3H/He Dub) F1 mouse immunized with swine thymocytes. The resulting supernatants were screened by a microcytotoxicity assay for activity against swine PBM cells. Four hybridomas (MSA1, MSA2, MSA3 and MSA4) were selected, cloned and characterized by their cell reactivity and effect on mitogenic assays. MSA1 and MSA2 belong to the rat IgG2b subclass. MSA3 and MSA4 are of the mouse IgG2a subclass. These monoclonal antibodies reacted in the following manner: MSA1 with monocytes, granulocytes, red blood cells and bone marrow cells; MSA2 with subset of T cells; MSA3 with B cells and subsets of T cells and monocytes (class II molecule) and MSA4, a pan-T cell reagent (E-rosette receptor). The involvement of the various cell types reactive to the different monoclonal antibodies in the mitogenic response of swine PBM cells to Con A, phytohemagglutinin (PHA) or pokeweed mitogen (PWM) was investigated by cellular depletion with monoclonal antibody plus complement. Cellular depletion of PBM cells with the following monoclonal antibodies plus complement treatment resulted in: MSA1, almost total reduction in the mitogenic response to low doses of Con A or PWM; MSA2, partial reduction in the proliferative responses to any concentration of Con A, PHA or PWM; MSA3, partial reduction in proliferative responses to low concentrations of Con A or PWM and 4) MSA4, total elimination of any proliferative response to Con A, PHA or PWM.     

In vitro studies of haemolysis by Leptospira interrogans serovars pomona and ballum

Washed and unwashed red blood cells (RBC) from young calves, adult cattle, hamsters and humans were incubated with Leptospira interrogans serovars pomona and ballum. Washed cells suspended in saline were always haemolysed while unwashed cells and those which were washed and resuspended in plasma were never haemolysed, despite the presence of large numbers of organisms within the culture supernatant. Pomona produced greater haemolysis of cattle and human RBC than did ballum, but with hamster RBC ballum produced greater haemolysis than did pomona. A group of 6- to 9-month-old cattle infected with pomona showed no signs of clinical disease and RBC taken from them before infection and during the development of antibodies to pomona were haemolysed by pomona only after the cells were washed. Plasma therefore appears to have a protective function. This in vitro protective function of plasma even extended to plasma from young seronegative calves.     

A NEW ESTROGENIC SUBSTANCE PRESENT IN THE NEUTRAL FRACTION OF HUMAN PREGNANCY URINE

In addition to the well-defined phenolic estrogens in human pregnancy urine there appears to be another estrogenic substance which is a neutral non-ketonic compound.