Effect of the proteinase inhibitor aprotinin in the management of hemorrhagic shock in the dog.

Aprotinin, a proteinase inhibitor, was evaluated as a pharmacologic aid in dogs subjected to lethal hemorrhagic shock. Survival time, hemodynamic changes, and plasma enzyme analysis were measured as criteria for drug effects. Mixed-breed dogs (n = 14) were divided into 2 groups of 7 each: nontreated dogs in shock (group 1) and aprotinin-treated dogs in shock (group 2). One of 7 dogs in group 1 and 2 of 7 dogs in group 2 survived. Survival time, for the remaining dogs in group 1 (190 min, n = 6) and group 2 (188 min, n = 5) were not significantly different. There was no significant difference in mean arterial pressure, mean pulmonary arterial pressure, cardiac output, or left ventricle systolic pressure associated with aprotinin treatment at any time after hemorrhagic shock. There was no significant difference in plasma lactic acid, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, creatine phosphokinase, alpha-amylase, and beta-glucuronidase associated with treatment at any time; however, there were significant (P less than 0.05) increases with time. The gastrointestinal tract was the site of most obvious lesions found at necropsy. Lesions varied considerably in extent and severity without apparent correlation to the treatment regimen. These experiments did not show beneficial effects of aprotinin in dogs subjected to hemorrhagic shock, but neither did they completely rule out some valuable actions that may have been obscured by the type of model used.     

Skin blackening during the cooking of spent laying fowls

1. Blackening of the skin in factory processed cooked hens has been associated with elevated copper levels.

2. The degree of blackening was not directly related to copper content although the latter level was always higher than in control hens.

3. Simulated factory procedures, using scald water at 53 °C or 60 °C containing 50 mg Cu²⁺/1 and 50 mg C1₂/1, produced blackened skins of varying intensity on cooking.

4. It is suggested that the problem arose from a malfunction of the chlorination plant which produced excessive levels of chlorine and low pH, followed by erosion of copper from water pipes and subsequent interaction of copper and chlorine with the chicken skin.     

The use of n‐paraffin‐grown yeast as the main source of protein in diets for chicks

1. n‐Paraffin‐grown yeast and a mixture of soyabean meal and fish meal were compared in the net protein utilisation (NPU) test, and as protein supplements in diets for broilers up to 4 weeks of age.

2. The difference between the NPU values, 0.66 for yeast and 0.80 for the soyabean meal and fish meal mixture, could largely be attributed to the high nucleic acid content of the yeast.

3. Chicks given the diet containing yeast (190 g/kg) did not grow as rapidly as those given the soyabean meal and fish meal reference diet, and the reduced growth could only partly be explained by a marginal deficiency of methionine.

4. Food conversion efficiency with the yeast diet was improved by maize oil while responses to α‐tocopheryl acetate and sodium selenite were inconsistent.

5. Chicks grew well when yeast replaced fish meal in the mixture of soyabean meal and fish meal, and when fish meal (194 g/kg diet) was the sole protein supplement.     

Prophylactic use of antibiotics in surgery

"Sound and careful surgery is the sine qua non of wound management; antimicrobials are adjunctive." The key to successful use of prophylactic antibiotics in surgery is careful selection of cases and medication. There are no final rule or formulas that will always give optimal results. Listed below are some guidelines that may assis the clinician in determining the need and form of antimicrobial use. 1. The operation must carry a significant risk of bacterial contamination. Refined-clean and clean procedures should not be given prophylactic antibiotics. 2. Bacterial cultures should be taken when possible, and the medication used for prophylaxis should be effective against the organisms expected to be encountered. 3. Narrow spectrum antibiotics should be used to conserve the body's normal flora. Broad spectrum antibiotics needed to combat resistant infections should not be used for prophylaxis. 4. The antibiotic should be present in the wound in effective concentrations at the time of the incision and be maintained only as long as the risk of new bacterial contamination exists.     

Some characteristics of a natural infection by parainfluenza-3 virus in a group of calves.

Parainfluenza-3 (Pi3) virus infection in a group of 25 calves is described. The virus was isolated from the lungs of four calve at days 6, 7, 13 and 55 after they were housed together at birth. Intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies were seen by light microscopy in bronchial and bronchiolar epithelial cells of two of these calves. Virus infected cells were detected by electron microscopy in three of the four calves. Haemagglutination inhibition antibodies to Pi3 virus were found in the sera of the calves. Despite the virus being present in the group from one week, a significant increase in antibody titre was found in only two animals although all the calves were in contact with each other during the study period. The pulmonary lesions in the four infected calves consisted of a bronchitis and bronchiolitis with infiltration of the walls and lumena of these structures by neutrophils and an adjacent neutrophil infiltration of alveoli some of which were collapsed.     

Characteristics of inapparent Aleutian disease virus infection in mink.

Inapparent of nonprogressive Aleutian disease virus (ADV) infection is a subclinical but persistent virus infection of mink. Mink with the inapparent type of ADV infection when subjected to stress did not develop the progessive form of the disease. However, when challenged with a large dose of the virus, these mink did develop progressive Aleutian disease indicating that they were not highly resistant to the virus. Sera of mink with either the progressive of the inapparent type of ADV infection did not neutralise the virus. The anti-ADV antibody activity in mink with inapparent type of ADV infection was in the IgG fraction of the serum the same as in mink with progressive Aleutian disease. These data indicate that the resistance of the mink with inapparent infection as compared to mink with progressive Aleutian disease was not due to a difference in the class of immunoglobulin response to the virus. However, mink with progressive Aleutian disease showed a greatly increased immunoglobulin response.