Antibody responses of sheep vaccinated with foot rot vaccines

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and crossed immunoelectrophoresis (IEP) were used to investigate antibody responses of sheep vaccinated with a double adjuvanted or single adjuvanted commercial foot rot vaccine. ELISA detected an antibody response of greater magnitude to the double adjuvant vaccine compared with the single adjuvant vaccine. Sera from sheep vaccinated with double adjuvant vaccine recognised at least six antigens of Bacteroides nodosus in crossed IEP while sera from the single adjuvant vaccinated sheep recognised one antigen. The use of non-denatured antigens of B nodosus in ELISA and crossed IEP enabled quantitative comparisons of antibody responses to the different foot rot vaccines to be made.     

A novel approach to growth promotion using auto-immunisation against somatostatin. I. Effects on growth and hormone levels in lambs

Nine three-week-old lambs were immunised against somatostatin linked to human serum globulin. Significant antibody titres were obtained in all these lambs. The rate of weight gain was greater in those animals immunised against somatostatin (treated) than in the control animals which were immunised against globulin alone (P < 0.001). The final height of the treated lambs was also significantly greater (P < 0.05) as a result of increased height velocity during the period of treatment (P < 0.01).Evaluation of the animals both before and after slaughter indicated that there was no effect of treatment upon body composition, but rather that there had been proportional growth. The carcass assessments revealed that the treated lambs had a longer leg-length (P < 0.01) and had a greater warm carcass weight (P < 0.05) than the control animals, but had similar scores for fat and muscle covering. There was no difference in wool weight between the two groups.No significant difference was found between the groups in the basal levels of either insulin or growth hormone. However, growth hormone release following arginine infusion was greater in the treated animals. There was also a small, but significant, difference (P < 0.05) in the levels of bioassayable somatomedin activity between the treated and control lambs, the treated lambs having higher somatomedin activity.Histological examination of the pancreas from control and treated lambs revealed an increased incidence of abnormalities (mainly acinar necrosis and loss of beta-cell staining) in the islets of Langerhans in the treated lambs, but it could not be concluded that auto-immunisation against somatostatin produced any specific morphological change in the betacells of the pancreatic islets.The results of this study suggest that somatostatin plays an important physiological role in regulating growth stimulation. Removal of the inhibitory effect of somatostatin (in this case by neutralisation of the effect with antibodies) can result in increased growth. The hormonal changes induced by this treatment have yet to be fully elucidated. Further investigations are required to assess the usefulness of this treatment as an alternative to the more conventional synthetic steroid treatments for growth promotion.     

Increased postnatal growth rates of offspring after antiestrogen treatment of rat dams during pregnancy.

The effects of administration of estradiol antiserum to pregnant rats on birth weight, subsequent growth velocity, carcass composition, and reproductive performance of their offspring were examined. Treated rats were injected i.p. with a potent antiestradiol serum on d 12 of gestation, whereas control rats received a similar injection of normal sheep serum. The pups from the treated rats were 12.2% heavier at birth than those from control rats (P less than .01) and had a greater postnatal growth rate (P less than .05). Chemical analysis of body composition at 56 d of age revealed that there was a tendency for female offspring from treated rats to exhibit carcass characteristics (such as increased percentage of body fat) that were more similar to those of normal male rats than to those of normal female rats. Neither onset of puberty nor reproductive performance was affected by the treatment. These results indicate that treatment of rats during pregnancy with antiestradiol may have potential as a technique for increasing postnatal growth rates.