Clinical studies on daily low dose oxytocin in mares at term

The aim of this study was to test whether low dose oxytocin i.v. injection once a day to mares diagnosed as being ready for birth by mammary secretion calcium strip test measurements could be used as a reliable method to induce parturition and/or predict the mare would not foal during the following night if parturition did not occur within 2 h of treatment. Fifty-one near-term Haflinger mares were used and a single injection of 2.5 iu oxytocin was given between 1700 and 1900 h, including 10 mares used as controls which were administered a placebo. Administration of oxytocin resulted in the delivery of a normal foal within 120 min in 95% of mares. Twenty-four out of 38 (63%) treated animals foaled in response to the first oxytocin injection, 9 out of 38 (24%) in response to the second injection and 3 out of 38 (8%) in response to the third treatment. Two out of 38 (5%) treated mares foaled during the night irrespective of treatment whereas 7 out of 10 (70%) control mares foaled during the night. It was concluded that the major advantage of injecting a daily low dose of oxytocin appears to be that such a low dose induces delivery only in mares carrying a mature fetus and which are ready to foal.     

Ulcerative duodenitis with luminal constriction in two horses

Proximal enteritis was diagnosed on the basis of clinical signs of disease in 2 Standard-bred yearlings from the same farm. Large volumes of fluid were repeatedly obtained during gastric decompression. The horses did not respond to treatment with IV administered fluids, antimicrobial agents, cimetidine, and metoclopramide. Postmortem findings confirmed severe focal chronic active duodenitis with stricture formation. An etiologic agent was not identified.     

Veterinary and nonveterinary costs of disease in 29 California dairies participating in the National Animal Health Monitoring System from 1988 to 1989

Twenty-nine California dairy herds were studied over a 12-month period from 1988 to 1989 as part of the National Animal Health Monitoring System. Monthly interviews administered to dairy producers were used to measure the costs of all health-related expenditures and disease incidence in these herds. Of the total $1,523,558 reported, $1,355,467 (89%) was attributed to cost of disease events and $168,091 (11%) to cost of disease prevention. Most (78%) of the cost of disease events was attributable to death and culling losses. Veterinary services accounted for only $54,099 (4%) of total costs, 64% of which was used for disease prevention, compared with 36% for disease treatment. Udder disease was the most costly category of diseases reported at an average of $49.85/head at risk annually, followed by reproductive problems at $38.05. Through the use of sampling strategies less biased than those used in other surveys, the National Animal Health Monitoring System is designed to provide statistically-valid estimates of disease incidence and costs across broad geographic areas, potentially benefiting all those interested in the economics of livestock diseases in the United States.     

Ovine ceroid-lipofuscinosis is a proteolipid proteinosis

The pathogenesis of the ceroid-lipofuscinoses, inherited storage diseases of children, was studied in an ovine model. This was shown to have clinical and pathological features most in common with the late infantile and juvenile human forms of the disease. The ability to study sequential changes allowed the retinal lesions to be described as a dystrophy of photoreceptor outer segments which preceded loss of the photoreceptor cells. An early decrease in amplitude of the c-wave electroretinograph was attributed to a decrease in the transpigment epithelial component. The decreased a- and b-wave amplitudes were attributed to the changes in and loss of, photoreceptor cells. The chemical components of isolated storage cytosomes were analyzed and shown to consist mostly of protein. Sequence analysis of the dominantly stored protein showed that it was identical to the DCCD reactive proteolipid or subunit c of mitochondrial adenosine triphosphate synthase and that it comprised approximately 50% of storage material. Based on the adage that the dominantly stored species should reflect the underlying biochemical anomaly, it was concluded that it was of pathogenic significance. This highly hydrophobic protein tends to extract with lipids in chloroform/methanol and is thus known as a proteolipid. Some of the remainder of the stored proteins also had this characteristic. It was concluded that ovine ceroid-lipofuscinosis was a proteinosis, more specifically a proteolipid proteinosis and as such it forms the prototype of a new class of storage diseases. Recognition of the nature of the dominantly stored chemical species has helped understanding of a variety of chemical and physical characteristics attributed to the whole pigment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Primary intestinal lymphangiectasia in three dogs: a morphological and immunopathological investigation

Morphological and immunological findings of three dogs with primary lymphangiectasia are described and compared with three normal dogs. Scanning electron microscopy showed distended and fused intestinal villi in dogs with intestinal lymphangiectasia, and morphometric evaluation revealed deeper crypts in the small intestine of dogs with intestinal lymphangiectasia. Although plasma cells of all classes were diminished in the cranial parts of the small intestine, there was an absolute and relative increase of immunoglobulin G-containing plasma cells in the caudal small intestine in dogs with intestinal lymphangiectasia.