Biochemical and haematological changes following prolonged halothane anaesthesia in horses

Six healthy horses were anaesthetised with halothane (1·2 times the horse minimal alveolar concentration) in oxygen for more than 12 hours. Serum bilirubin, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase and L-iditol dehydrogenase values were significantly (P<0·05) increased for up to nine days after anaesthesia. These changes suggest au anaesthesia related liver dysfunction. Creatine kinase increased to an average of more than 1400 iu litre⁻¹ 24 hours after anaesthesia and this change is indicative of muscle cell disruption. Renal-associated biochemical results, (that is serum creatinine and inorganic phosphate concentrations) were significantly increased transiently and are indicative of reduced renal function during and immediately after anaesthesia. Plasma concentrations of eicosanoids (6-keto-PGF_1a, PGF_2a, pge and thromboxane) following anaesthesia were not different from preanaesthetic values. The magnitude of liver and muscle cell related increases in serum enzyme activities resulting from prolonged halothane anaesthesia was in excess of that previously reported for anaesthesia of shorter duration.     

Searching the world wide Web

The coverage and recency of the major World Wide Web search engines was analyzed, yielding some surprising results. The coverage of any one engine is significantly limited: No single engine indexes more than about one-third of the "indexable Web," the coverage of the six engines investigated varies by an order of magnitude, and combining the results of the six engines yields about 3.5 times as many documents on average as compared with the results from only one engine. Analysis of the overlap between pairs of engines gives an estimated lower bound on the size of the indexable Web of 320 million pages.     

Colonic adenocarcinoma with osseous metaplasia in a horse

Rectal palpation of a 30-year-old mixed-breed mare with chronic weight loss and intermittent, refractory abdominal pain revealed a mass in the right caudoventral portion of the abdomen. Hematologic and serum biochemical findings were normal except for slight mature neutrophilia and mildly high alkaline phosphatase activity and total bilirubin concentration. Cytologic examination of a specimen obtained by abdominocentesis revealed equal numbers of nondegenerative neutrophils and macrophages, but no evidence of neoplastic cells. The mare continued to have signs of abdominal discomfort and was euthanatized. Necropsy revealed a large mass at the junction of the right dorsal colon and transverse colon, and several smaller masses in the liver. Histologic characteristics of the small-colon mass were consistent with colonic adenocarcinoma with osseous metaplasia.     

Increased tolerance to annual ryegrass toxicity in sheep given a supplement of cobalt

SUMMARY To determine whether oral cobalt supplements could modify the clinical onset of annual ryegrass toxicity, groups (n = 5) of sheep were dosed orally with 0, 4 or 16 mg cobalt/day. After 3 weeks on this treatment, toxic ryegrass seed was added to their feed to provide 0, 0.15 and 0.30 mg corynetoxins/kg body weight, daily. Sheep receiving cobalt ingested 30% more toxin than did unsupplemented sheep before clinical signs developed (P = 0.03). There was no significant difference between groups receiving 4 and 16 mg cobalt. The results showed that cobalt delayed, but did not prevent, the onset of clinical signs of annual ryegrass toxicity.     

Serological response of turkey hens to vaccination with Salmonella hadar and its effect on their subsequently challenged embryos and poults

An inactivated Salmonella hadar vaccine was administered to parent turkey stock and the progeny were subjected to challenge with S hadar. There was some evidence that eggs from vaccinated birds were more resistant to growth of the organism. When compared with similarly infected poults from unvaccinated parents, a markedly different serological picture and pattern of salmonella excretion was seen. It appeared that the passive immunity induced by the vaccine encouraged the faster establishment of other gut Enterobacteriacae, even in the presence of large numbers of S hadar.     

A comparison of three methods of end-to-end anastomosis in the equine small colon

Six animals were used to compare simple interrupted, simple continuous, and stapled techniques for end-to-end rotated small colon anastomoses. Three ponies were evaluated three days after surgery for adhesion formation and luminal diameter at each anastomosis site. Two ponies and one horse were evaluated 14 days after surgery for adhesion formation. All anastomosis sites were examined histologically for alignment of tissue planes, and evidence of inflammation. No single technique was superior in all areas examined. While only three of the nine anastomoses had mild fibrinous adhesions at three days after surgery, all anastomoses had varying degrees of well-organized adhesions by 14 days after surgery. Three days after surgery luminal diameter was most comprised by the simple continuous technique. Although the simple interrupted technique was most consistent in its alignment of tissue planes, it was only slightly better than the simple continuous pattern. Stapled anastomoses were inverted or everted at all sites examined. Adhesion formation was less extensive, and histologic evidence of inflammation was less severe, in stapled anastomoses. The average times required to complete the simple interrupted, simple continuous, and stapled anastomoses were 22, 14, and 8 minutes, respectively.     

Histologic lesions in broiler chicks given cyclopiazonic acid orally

Cyclopiazonic acid dissolved in corn oil was administered by gavage to broiler chicks (n = 80) daily, from the day of hatching for 23 days. Chicks were assigned to 3 groups (1, 2, or 4 mg of cyclopiazonic acid/kg of body weight); a control group was given corn oil. Each group was composed of 10 male and 10 female chicks. Surviving chicks were euthanatized and necropsied on day 24. Histologic examination revealed that the most common lesions consisted of necrosis and hemorrhage or hyperplasia of the mucosa of the proventriculus and hepatocellular vacuolation. Skeletal muscle degeneration, characterized by myofiber swelling or fragmentation accompanied by an infiltrate of macrophages and heterophils, was detected in the group given 4 mg/kg. This degeneration was associated with an increase of plasma creatine kinase activity. Focal hepatocellular and splenic necrosis also developed in the groups given 4 mg/kg.