Portosystemic shunts in cats: seven cases (1976-1984)

Congenital portosystemic venous shunt causing signs of hepatic encephalopathy was diagnosed in 7 cats. The left gastric vein served as the shunt in four of these. Increases in blood ammonia and postprandial serum bile acids were the most consistent serum biochemical abnormalities. Excessive variation in red blood cell shape was a common but nonspecific hematologic finding. The jejunal-mesenteric venous injection of contrast material was the preferred method of portography to diagnose portosystemic shunts. Two cats were treated successfully by partial surgical occlusion of their shunts.     

Heartwater. An overview of the clinical signs, susceptibility and differential diagnoses of the disease in domestic ruminants

Heartwater is a frequently fatal tick-borne disease of ruminants caused by Cowdria ruminantium. In domestic ruminants the incubation period varies considerably and depends on the route of infection, virulence of the isolate and amount of infective material administered. Adult cattle of all breeds appear to be equally susceptible to heartwater. It is generally accepted that calves up to the age of 3 weeks have a high degree of natural resistance which is not related to the immune status of the dam. Nervous symptoms are frequently seen in animals affected by the peracute and acute forms of heartwater and can easily be confused with similar signs caused by infectious conditions, toxic plants, acaricide and heavy metal poisonings.     

Failure of a recombinant Babesia bovis antigen to protect cattle against heterologous strain challenge

Groups of cattle were inoculated subcutaneously with (i) a recombinant DNA-derived Babesia bovis protein (KaBbl-GZ) fused to beta-galactosidase and combined with adjuvants, or (ii) native beta-galactosidase (GZ) plus adjuvant, or (iii) adjuvant only or (iv) a live, attenuated B bovis vaccine. KaBbl-GZ was produced in the lambda gt11-amp3 system as a 5-10 kD babesial polypeptide linked to GZ. KaBbl has previously been shown to be an immunodominant antigen of B bovis, localised at the apex of the parasite, and present in a range of B bovis strains. High levels of GZ antibodies were observed in KaBbl-GZ and GZ inoculated cattle, but specific KaBbl antibodies could not be detected by ELISA. Five months after primary inoculation, all cattle were blood challenged with a virulent heterologous B bovis strain. Despite four inoculations with KaBbl-GZ, significant protection against the challenge was not observed.     

The composition of adipose tissue and its usefulness as a parameter for carcass composition in growing pigs

Growing pigs, varying in body weight between 25 and 110 kg, showed differences in fat content between adipose tissues from different body sites. In all adipose tissues fat content increased during growth; the increase in fat content was, as shown for backfat, affected by the level of daily energy intake. It is concluded that the dry matter (DM) or fat content in a single sample of adipose tissue cannot be used as an accurate parameter for fatness of carcasses at a normal slaughter weight.     

Modificaciones ponderales y estructurales de la glándula submaxilar de rata, en respuesta a diversos estímulos incisales

A study of the influence of dietary alterations and extraction or amputation of the incisor teeth in young male rats is interpreted in light of a hypothesis concerning the mechanisms of control of mandibular salivary gland growth