Effect of oral administration of dantrolene sodium on serum creatine kinase activity after exercise in horses with recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of oral administration of dantrolene sodium on serum creatine kinase (CK) activity after exercise in horses with recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis (RER). ANIMALS: 2 healthy horses and 5 Thoroughbreds with RER. PROCEDURE: 3 horses received 2 doses of dantrolene (4, 6, or 8 mg/kg, p.o., with and without withdrawal of food) 2 days apart; 90 minutes after dosing, plasma dantrolene concentration was measured spectrofluorometrically. On the basis of these results, 5 Thoroughbreds with RER from which food was withheld received dantrolene (4 mg/kg) or an inert treatment (water [20 mL]) orally 90 minutes before treadmill exercise (30 minutes, 5 d/wk) during two 3-week periods. Serum CK activity was determined 4 hours after exercise. Plasma dantrolene concentration was measured before and 90 minutes after dosing on the first and last days of dantrolene treatment and before dosing on the first day of the inert treatment period, RESULTS: 90 minutes after dosing, mean +/- SEM plasma dantrolene concentration was 0.62 +/- 0.13 and 0 microg/mL in the dantrolene and inert treatment groups, respectively. Serum CK activity was lower in dantrolene-treated horses (264 +/- 13 U/L), compared with activity in water-treated horses (1,088 +/- 264 U/L). Two horses displayed marked muscle stiffness on the inert treatment. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: In 5 horses with RER from which food had been withheld, 4 mg of dantrolene/kg administered orally provided measurable, though variable, plasma concentrations and significantly decreased serum CK activity after exercise in 4 of those horses.     

The bispectral index during recovery from halothane and sevoflurane anaesthesia in horses

ObjectiveTo record the bispectral index (BIS) when horses moved during either halothane or sevoflurane anaesthesia and when they made volitional movements during recovery from these anaesthetics.Study designRandomized prospective clinical study.AnimalsTwenty-five client-owned horses undergoing surgery aged 8.8 (± 5.3; 1–19) years (mean ± SD; range).MethodsBaseline BIS values were recorded before pre-anaesthetic medication (BIS_B) and during anaesthesia (BIS_A) maintained with halothane (group H; n = 12) or sevoflurane (group S; n =13) at approximately 0.8–0.9 × minimum alveolar concentrations (MAC). Bispectral indices were recorded during the surgery when unexpected movement occurred (BIS_MA), during recovery when the first movement convincingly associated with consciousness was observed (BIS_M1) and once sternal recumbency was achieved (BIS_ST).ResultsNo significant difference in BIS_M1 was found between halothane- (85 ± 7; 75–93) and sevoflurane- (87 ± 10; 70–98) anaesthetized horses although BIS_A was significantly (p = 0.0002) lower in group S (62 ± 7; 53–72) than group H (74 ± 7; 60–84). Differences between BIS_M1 and BIS_A were significant in sevoflurane (p = 0.00001) and halothane recipients (p = 0.002) but were greater in group S (25 ± 9; 4–38) compared with group H (12 ± 10; ?9–25). In six of eight horses, BIS_MA values ranged between those recorded during anaesthesia and at first movement.Conclusions and clinical relevanceBispectral indices appear to approximate levels of unconsciousness, suggesting that monitoring the BIS may assist equine anaesthesia. However, it does not predict intra-operative movement.     

Three cases of a presumptive atypical myopathy in New Zealand horses

CASE HISTORY: Three weanling Thoroughbred fillies were presented during autumn with depression, muscle rigidity and, in one case, colic symptoms and cardiovascular shock.

CLINICAL FINDINGS: All fillies had abnormal physical examinations that included elevated heart rates and respiratory rates coupled with muscle rigidity through the back and rump. Biochemistry revealed markedly elevated creatinine kinase and aspartate aminotransferase which indicated a myopathy.

DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT: All three horses were diagnosed with presumptive equine atypical myopathy. The horses received supportive therapy as per the literature available at the time regarding this condition; two responded to supportive therapy and survived, and one was euthanased due to a rapid deterioration in clinical status.

PATHOLOGICAL FINDINGS: Following post mortem of one case, histology of the trapezius muscle demonstrated an acute, severe myofibre degeneration.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Atypical myopathy and a very similar disorder termed seasonal pasture myopathy in North America are potentially fatal, pasture-related syndromes that have been described in Europe and America but have not been previously described in New Zealand. This report describes three presumptive cases of this unique syndrome in New Zealand for the first time; it outlines the characteristics of the condition; and includes recently published information regarding diagnosis and treatment.     

ANGIOSTRONGYLUS CANTONENSIS INFECTION OF THE BRAIN OF A CAPTIVE BENNETT'S WALLABY (MACROPUS RUFOGRISEUS)

SUMMARY Eleven immature adult Angiostrongylus cantonensis were recovered from beneath the meninges of a captive Bennett's wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) which died after displaying posterior paresis followed by paralysis and intermittent opisthotonic spasms of increasing frequency for 7 days. Congestion and focal malacia with haemorrhage were seen in the brainstem and cerebellum. Sections of worms with scanty inflammatory response were seen beneath the congested haemorrhagic leptomeninges of cerebrum and in a cerebellar folium.
Infection was thought to have originated from feed or water contaminated with larvae released from a molluscan intermediate host.     

Selecting representative reserve systems in remote areas: A case study in the Nullarbor region, Australia

We present a procedure for the selection of a network of reserves representing the biological diversity of a large and biologically poorly known region. The quantitative analysis gives equal weighting to a wide array of different species: mobile and sessile, long-lived and ephemeral, heterothermic and homeothermic, etc.

Sampling was based on quadrats that were positioned through the region using a stratified random strategy. This provided a presence-absence matrix of the species composition at each quadrat. Numerical pattern analysis was used to identify 14 species assemblages and to re-order the sites and species in the data matrix. The geographic pattern of each assemblage throughout the region was described by contouring assemblage richness, the isolines being the proportion of the number of species in each assemblage. The data matrix was re-examined. Some assemblages exhibit several gradients in species composition. For example, a 0·1 isoline in the east may represent a different 10% of species than a 0·1 isoline in the west. Other assemblages exhibit only a single gradient in species composition.

The results were used to select the optimum positions of reserves needed to represent the compositional diversity of each of the 14 species assemblages.

Limited field checking confirmed the predicted isolines in assemblage compositional richness to a satisfactory extent.     

Inhibition of the complement cascade by the major secretory protein of vaccinia virus

The complement system contributes to host defenses against invasion by infectious agents. A 35-kilodalton protein, encoded by vaccinia virus and secreted from infected cells, has sequence similarities to members of a gene family that includes complement control proteins. Biochemical and genetic studies showed that the viral protein binds to derivatives of the fourth component of complement and inhibits the classical complement cascade, suggesting that it serves as a defense molecule to help the virus evade the consequences of complement activation.     

The frictional behaviour of wood

Summary The work described was primarily concerned with determining the more important variables affecting friction between wood and steel, but friction between wood and non-ferrous materials including wood itself was also investigated briefly. Deviations from the classical laws of friction were of interest, the most significant being variation of friction coefficient with sliding speed. With an increase in sliding speed up to 4 m/sec the curves for highly polished steel showed undulations, but with unpolished surfaces there was a monotonic reduction, somewhat greater in wet wood than dry. Other important factors, interacting with sliding speed, were steel roughness and wood moisture content. Effects of load, nominal contact area and fibre direction were minor. The results appear to be adequately explained in terms of adhesion and lubrication.A world wide selection of species was tested, and it appears that the nature and amount of extractives in most woods is such that they have similar friction coefficients except on very smooth steel, and only a few greasy species, have significantly lower coefficients. For most air-dry wood in contact with unpolished steel, the coefficient decreases from a static value about 0.65 to a value about 0.4 at 4 m/sec. For wet wood, the corresponding values are about 0.7 and 0.15.Coefficients of friction between wood and wood were similar to those between wood and rough steel, and those between wood and other materials varied in a manner which may be related to strength of adhesion.

---

Zusammenfassung Die ursprüngliche Zielsetzung der Arbeit, die Untersuchung der wesentlichen Einflußgrößen auf die Reibung zwischen Holz und Stahl wurde durch Einbeziehung von Nichteisen-Metallen und der Reibung zwischen Holz und Holz erwitert. Als bemerkenswert stellten sich die Abweichungen von den klassischen Reibungsgesetzen heraus, am auffallendsten die Änderung der Reibung mit der Vorschubgeschwindigkeit. Beim Anstieg der Vorschubgeschwindigkeit bis zu 4 m/s zeigten die Kurven für hochglanzpolierten Stahl Unstetigkeiten, während bei unpoliertem Stahl ein gleichförmiger Abfall eintrat, der bei nassem Holz etwas größer war als bei trockenem. Weitere wichtige Einflußgrößen waren Stahlart und Holzfeuchtigkeit. Die Wirkungen von Normaldruck, Kontaktfläche und Faserrichtung waren von untergeordneter Bedeutung. Die erzielten Ergebnisse lassen sich in etwa gleicher Weise durch Begriffe aus den Gebieten der Adhäsion oder der Schmierung beschreiben.Es wurde angestrebt, möglichst alle wichtigen Holzarten der Welt zu erfassen. Man kann sagen, daß die Inhaltsstoffe der meisten Hölzer nach Art und Menge zu ziemlich ähnlichen Reibungskoeffizienten führen, ausgenommen bei sehr glatten Stahlarten. Nur wenige fetthaltige Holzarten weisen deutlich niedrigere Reibungskoeffizienten auf. Für lufttrockenes Holz und unpolierten Stahl fällt der Koeffizient von 0,65 für Haftreibung auf 0,40 für gleitende Reibung bei 4 m/s Vorschubgeschwindigkeit. Bei nassem Holz lauten die entsprechenden Werte 0,70 und 0,15. Die Reibungskoeffizienten zwischen Holz und Holz waren ähnlich denen zwischen Holz und rauhem Stahl; diejenigen zwischen Holz und anderen Materialien variierten so, daß ein Zusammenhang mit den Adhäsionskräften anzunehmen ist.