MAGNETIC RESONANCE, ULTRASOUND AND HISTOPATHOLOGIC CORRELATION OF ACUTE AND HEALING EQUINE TENDON INJURIES

Ultrasonography and MRI have become valuable tools for imaging of tendon injuries. The current study examines the histopathologic basis for the imaging abnormalities. Five injured equine forelimbs and two normal contralateral limbs were studied with high resolution real time ultrasound and MRI. Histologic sections were made and correlated with the diagnostic images. All lesions were readily seen by both modalities. Lesions characterized by hemorrhage, edma, and cellular infiltration were sonolucent on ultrasound and bright on MRI images. MRI returned to normal as fibrogenesis ensued. Ultrasound images remained abnormal until fibrillar reallgnment occured with completion of the healing process. High resolution real time ultrasound and MRI both accurately reflect the tissue abnormalities in acute tendon injuries. The injured horse does appear to be an effective model for correlative imaging studies of tendon injuries.     

Actinobacillus (Haemophilus) pleuropneumoniae: use of coagglutination and complement fixation to determine the relationship between presence of organism and antibody titer in slaughterhouse pigs

The conventional culture method was compared to coagglutination for detection of Actinobacillus (Haemophilus) pleuropneumoniae in 425 sets of pig lungs. Sera from the same animals were evaluated for antibodies to A. pleuropneumoniae by the complement fixation (CF) test. All samples were collected at 2 packing plants in Iowa. In 2 nonvaccinated herds with no history of respiratory disease, the difference between standard culture results and coagglutination was highly significant (P less than 0.001). None of the 57 pigs in this group were positive for A. pleuropneumoniae by conventional culture, but 7 were positive by the coagglutination test. There were 15 animals with CF titers between 1:8 and 1:32. Animals from 6 herds vaccinated for A. pleuropneumoniae and without recent respiratory problems were evaluated. One out of 118 animals tested was positive for A. pleuropneumoniae by standard culture as compared to 9 positive by coagglutination. The difference in positive results between culture and coagglutination was highly significant (P less than 0.001). Twenty-eight animals had CF titers to A. pleuropneumoniae (1:4 to greater than or equal to 1:128). Two hundred fifty lungs and sera samples were collected from 7 herds which had recently experienced varying degrees of respiratory disease. Thirty-nine lungs were positive for A. pleuropneumoniae by culture and 182 were positive by coagglutination. The number of positives detected by coagglutination was significantly different (P less than 0.001) from the number positive by culture. There were 172 animals with antibody titers ranging from suspect to greater than or equal to 1:128. There were significantly fewer positive animals detected by standard culture than with the CF test (P less than 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Potential of a recombinant antigen as a prophylactic vaccine for day-old broiler chickens against Eimeria acervulina and Eimeria tenella infections.

A genetically engineered Eimeria tenella antigen (GX3262), produced as a fusion protein with beta-galactosidase and identified with a monoclonal antibody, induced partial but significant protection in young broiler chickens against experimental E. tenella and Eimeria acervulina infections. The antigen appears to share a T-helper cell epitope with the parasite as evidenced by (a) booster inoculation with either the recombinant antigen or with a small number of live oocysts enhanced the protective immunity in GX3262 primed chickens, and (b) ability of the antigen to induce in vitro stimulation of T-cells from chickens immunized with antigen or parasite. These observations suggest the feasibility of a single vaccination of 1 or 2-day-old broilers with GX3262 to induce an acceptable degree of protective immunity. The implications of the observations reported here are far reaching in terms of a practical coccidiosis vaccine for poultry, and show for the first time that 1-day-old broiler chickens can be efficiently vaccinated with a recombinant antigen against one or more species of Eimeria.     

Behavioral and physiological effects of freeze or hot-iron branding on crossbred cattle.

Twenty-seven crossbred calves (1/2 Simmental, 1/4 Hereford, 1/4 Brahman) averaging 257 +/- 11 d of age were either hot-iron-branded (H), freeze-branded (F), or sham-branded (S). Calves were blocked for temperament, weight, and sex and were randomly assigned to day and order in which treatments were applied. To reduce stress from handling at treatment time, each calf was herded through the squeeze chute daily for 5 d before the experiment. Jugular cannulas were inserted in each calf 1 d before application of treatment. Blood samples and heart rate measures were obtained at -5, -3, 0, .5, 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, and 20 min after application of the treatments. Mean concentrations of plasma epinephrine (EPI) were higher for H calves at time .5 min than for either S or F calves (P = .10). To account for individual differences, prebranding heart rates and hormone concentrations were subtracted from subsequent samples and were also used to calculate a proportion for each subsequent sample. Analyses of subtracted values found that EPI concentrations were greater for H calves than for either S or F calves (P = .007) at .5 min postbranding. No other differences were found for the subtracted analyses. Analyses of proportion data also revealed that H calves had greater EPI than did either S or F calves (P = .027) at .5 min postbranding. Only three animals vocalized during branding, one H calf and two F calves. Despite the 5-d acclimation period, handling and restraint elevated plasma cortisol concentrations and heart rate.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Effect of initial restraint, weaning, and transport stress on baseline and ACTH-stimulated cortisol responses in beef calves of different genotypes.

The productivity and well-being of animals can be substantially affected by stress. This is particularly true in the case of beef calves that are subjected to a multitude of stressors over a short period during the first year of life. Perhaps the most often studied stress-responsive variable has been blood corticosteroid concentrations. Factors such as age, gender, genetics, and degree of prior experience, can influence how an animal perceives and responds to a given stressor. Few studies have tried to control these variables, and accordingly, many conflicting results have been published regarding the impact of various stressors on cortisol response. We measured baseline plasma cortisol concentration over a 44-day study in Bos indicus and Bos taurus calves. Plasma cortisol values in Bos indicus calves were higher (32.60 +/- 0.66 ng/ml) than values in calves of Bos taurus (25.81 +/- 0.76) breeding. A precipitous decrease in cortisol concentration was observed 7 days after transport stress in all calves. Baseline cortisol concentration did not provide any indication of the intensity of the various stressors. However, significant differences were readily observed after ACTH administration. On the basis of cortisol secretion, stresses of transport and weaning were similar and were the most stressful to calves, regardless of genotype.     

Diagnosis of sarcocystosis in sheep using the indirect fluorescence test and ELISA]

The indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) was compared with the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of specific antibodies to Sarcocystis sp. A set of 275 ovine blood samples was examined by both reactions. Cystozoites of Sarcocystis gigantea were used as the corpuscular antigen for the IFAT. For the diagnostics of sarcocystosis by the ELISA technique used the sandwich test of the antibody titration with a soluble antigen which was also prepared from S. gigantea macrocysts. Our studies confirmed that this antigen did not cross-react with Toxoplasma gondii. Titre 40 was determined as the limit one for the IFAT and titre 80 for the ELISA; which was confirmed by the direct detection of cysts in the muscles (Svobodová, 1989). The results of both methods are shown in Table I. 76.7% of the blood samples reacted positively in the IFAT and 83.6% in the ELISA. These methods were found to be suitable and can be utilized for the intravital routine diagnostics.     

Use of a shrub (Medicago arborea) to control water erosion on steep slopes

Abstract. The effect of Medicago arborea on erosion on a burnt area was studied in experimental plots near Valencia, Spain, between 1989 and 1992. Its growth and development was studied, and its effect was compared with the natural vegetation (matorral) and bare soil. Medicago decreased soil loss by 41.7% and runoff by 25.7% compared with bare soil. However, under natural vegetation soil loss was 27.5% less than under Medicago.     

Antibodies to bovine serum albumin in swine sera: implications for false-positive reactions in the serodiagnosis of African swine fever

Antibodies to bovine serum albumin were detected in swine sera by use of an immunoblotting technique. Such sera had false-positive reactions, as determined by results of African swine fever virus serodiagnostic techniques when bovine serum albumin was a contaminant in the soluble cytoplasmic antigen obtained from infected cells cultured in the presence of bovine serum. The soluble cytoplasmic antigen obtained from cell cultures infected with African swine fever virus in the presence of porcine serum did not react with the false-positive sera and, therefore, was used for African swine fever virus serodiagnostic methods, with 0% false-positive results.