Chicken anemia agent: an electron microscopic study

Particles of chicken anemia agent (CAA) negatively stained with uranyl acetate were found to be 26.5 nm in diameter. The surface detail evident on the particles indicated that the virus capsid was composed of 32 structural subunits arranged as in a class P = 3 icosahedron with a triangulation number of 3. Using mouse monoclonal antibodies to CAA and a gold-labeled goat anti-mouse IgG, CAA-specific structures were observed by thin-section electron microscopy in infected MDCC-MSB1 cells and in thymic lymphocytes from experimentally infected chicks. These consisted of electron-dense, granular, non-membrane-bound nuclear inclusions, which were often ring-shaped, and cytoplasmic accumulations of microtubules. Aggregates of virus-like particles were sometimes observed in the nuclei of infected MDCC-MSB1 cells. The nucleolar involvement that is characteristic of the morphogenesis of parvoviruses was not observed with CAA.     

Successful treatment of suspected essential thrombo-cythaemia in the dog

Essential thrombocythaemia in an eight-year-old Irish setter is described. The condition is characterised by an autonomous overproduction of thrombocytes in the absence of overt leukaemia. This is believed to be the first recorded case of this condition in the dog. The paper describes the diagnosis and treatment by combination chemotherapy using vincristine, cytosine arabinoside, cyclophosphamide and prednisolone.     

Long-term anaesthesia with propofol and alfentanil in the dog and its partial reversal with nalbuphine

Prolonged surgical anaesthesia in the dog was induced with propofol (6.5 ± 1.3 mg/kg) followed by alfentanil (25.5 ± 5 μg/kg) (mean ± 1 sd) and maintained with a continuous infusion of propofol (0.14 to 0.18 mg/kg/min) and alfentanil (2 to 3 μg/kg/min). Neuromuscular blockade was produced with vecuronium (0.1 mg/kg). After induction of anaesthesia with propofol, administration of alfentanil to dogs which had received no pre-anaesthetic medication produced cardiac arrest and apnoea. Administration of atropine intravenously immediately prior to alfentanil prevented these cardiac depressant effects. The cardiac depressant effect of alfentanil was not as severe in a second group of dogs in which anaesthesia was induced with thiopentone. After commencing the continuous infusion anaesthetic regime and establishment of IPPV, blood pressure and heart rate remained stable during the remaining 4 to 6 h period of anaesthesia. Recovery from anaesthesia was smooth and uneventful. The depressant effects of alfentanil on respiration and on consciousness were reversed rapidly by administration of nalbuphine (10 mg total dose). The smooth recovery and the integration of anaesthesia and post operative analgesia attained by the reversal of alfentanil with nalbuphine make this an attractive anaesthetic regime for major surgery in dogs, provided that facilities for IPPV are available.     

Digestible energy requirements for work and maintenance of horses fed conventional and fat-supplemented diets

A control and a 10% fat-supplemented diet were fed to exercising horses maintained in two different body conditions, during both temperate and hot weather, to determine the efficacy of fat as dietary aid to reduced energy requirements for thermal regulation in exercising horses. Horses were worked 7.2 km daily, 5 d/w, and in each season were fed sufficient energy to maintain constant body weight and body fat content at each assigned level of body condition. In both seasons and in both body conditions, digestible energy intake was lower (P<.01) when the horses were fed the fat-supplemented diet than when fed the control diet. Digestible energy intake was partitioned into requirements for work and maintenance. Since work levels were similar, digestible energy requirements for work were similar when horses were fed both experimental diets. However, the digestible energy requirements for maintenance were significantly lower (P<.01) when the horses were fed the fat-supplemented diet. Thus, it appears that feeding fat to exercising horses reduces the thermal load and resulting digestible energy requirements for maintenance in both temperate and hot weather.     

Changes in liver glycogen of broilers during coccidiosis

Liver glycogen levels of broilers infected with Eimeria acervulina, E. brunetti, or E. tenella fell during the acute phase of the infection with the maximum effect at 5–6 days post-inoculation (DPI). During the early recovery phase (6–8 DPI), liver glycogen levels in the E. acervulina-infected birds increased to levels up to 3 times greater than those found in uninoculated control birds. A lesser increase was occasionally seen in E. tenella-infected birds. Pair feeding studies showed that the decrease in liver glycogen was not related to the amount of feed consumed. The magnitude of the glycogen overshoot at 7 DPI was not related to the depression of weight gain at 5 and 6 DPI. When feed was withheld from birds, liver glycogen levels of uninoculated control birds fell rapidly within 1 h after feed withdrawal. In birds infected with E. acervulina, liver glycogen levels remained high even after 3 h starvation. Injection of glucagon indicated that glycogen could be mobilized in both infected and uninfected birds.     

The thermal antinociceptive effects of a high-concentration formulation of buprenorphine alone or followed by hydromorphone in conscious cats

ObjectiveTo evaluate the thermal antinociceptive effects of a high-concentration formulation of buprenorphine alone or followed by hydromorphone in conscious cats.Study designRandomized, blinded, placebo-controlled crossover study design.AnimalsA total of six purpose-bred, adult female ovariohysterectomized Domestic Short Hair cats.MethodsCats were allocated into three treatments each consisting of two injections, subcutaneous then intravenous (IV) administration, 2 hours apart: treatment SS, two injections of 0.9% saline; treatment BS, buprenorphine (0.24 mg kg^–1, 1.8 mg mL^–1) and saline; and treatment BH, buprenorphine (0.24 mg kg^–1) and hydromorphone (0.1 mg kg^–1). Skin temperature (ST) and thermal threshold (TT) were recorded before (baseline) and for 24 hours following first injection. TT data were analyzed using mixed linear models and a Benjamini–Hochberg sequential adjustment procedure (p < 0.05).ResultsThere were no significant differences among treatments for baseline ST and TT values, treatment SS over time and between treatments BS and BH. Compared with baseline, TT was significantly increased at all time points in treatments BH and BS except at 2 hours in treatment BS. TT was significantly higher than SS at 3–18 hours and 4–12 hours for treatments BS and BH, respectively. Maximal increases in TT were 47.5 °C at 2 hours, 53.9 °C at 3 hours and 52.4 °C at 6 hours in treatments SS, BS and BH, respectively.Conclusions and clinical relevanceAdministration of IV hydromorphone following high-concentration buprenorphine provided no additional antinociception and decreased the duration of effect when compared with high-concentration buprenorphine alone. Alternative analgesics should be considered if additional analgesia is required after administration of high-concentration buprenorphine.     

Distribution of Brucella abortus organisms in calves after conjunctival exposure

Thirty calves (3 to 4 months old) were exposed conjunctivally to a pathogenic strain of Brucella abortus. Calves were euthanatized and necropsied at postexposure hours 2 and 4, and at postexposure days (PED) 1, 4, 7, 14, 21, 42, and 49. Selected ocular, pharyngeal, and lymphoid tissues were cultured bacteriologically for brucellae to determine organism distribution. Brucella abortus organisms initially localized in the third eyelids, bulbar conjunctivae, and parotid lymph nodes and were detected in these structures until PED 42, 21, and 49 respectively. In calves euthanatized at PED 7, organisms were in other cranial lymph nodes (mandibular and retropharyngeal), and in calves euthanatized at PED 21, organisms were isolated from peripheral lymphoid tissues. Brucellae were not isolated from mesenteric and bronchial lymph nodes and from the spleen until PED 21. The pattern of isolation indicated that conjunctival exposure probably resulted in entrance of brucellae into the host via ocular tissues.     

The Neocortex of the Dog

This article describes the structural organization of the neocortex of the dog from purely morphological point of view. Series of 50 urn transverse sections were cut from the frozen right hemiencephala of adult greyhounds, stained by N issl's method, and drawn. His's method was then used to construct life-size lateral, dorsal and medial views of the hemiencephalon from 38 sections located at regular intervals. Once the cytoarchitectonic criteria to be used had been established on the basis of preliminary observations, all the sections of each hemiencephalon were examined microscopically and the cytoarchitectonic types observed in each mapped on the corresponding drawing. These maps were then projected onto lateral, dorsal and medial views of the whole hemiencephalon to produce a classical cytoarchitectonic map of the neocortex made up of 21 types, 7 of them agranular (with no inner granular layer), 2 dysgranular (with a granular layer with diffuse boundans) and the rest granular (with a well-defined layer IV). Various areas of cortex whose characteristics were intermediate between those of adjoinin areas were classified in a residual typus intermedius.