Catecholamines in ovarian follicles during the ovulatory cycle of White Leghorn hens

Dopamine (DA) concentrations in the largest ovarian follicle (F1) showed significant decrease at 12 and 8 h prior to ovulation. Nor-epinephrine (NE) and epinephrine (E) concentrations in the F1, sampled at different times of the ovulatory cycle, were found to increase with the approach of ovulation time. However, the concentration of epinephrine in the F1 was low just after oviposition compared with the immediate two previous stages investigated. The concentrations of DA, NE and E in the second largest follicles (F2) did not vary significantly during the ovulatory cycle. Average concentration of DA was low and that of NE and E high in the F1 compared with the respective concentrations in the F2.     

Monoclonal antibodies potentially detecting bovine MHC products

Three monoclonal antibodies reacting with lymphocytes from some but not all cattle have been studied to find whether they detect internationally agreed BoLA workshop specificities defined by bovine alloantisera.Two of the monoclonals reacted with BoLA w6 but gave too many cross reactions to be used as typing reagents. The third showed no BoLA specificity.     

Esophagotomy in the pony: comparison of surgical techniques and form of feed

Esophageal healing was studied in 12 ponies after cervical esophagotomy. The esophagus was sutured, feed and water were withheld for 48 hours, and then all ponies were permitted to eat. In group I (n = 6), a longitudinal esophagotomy was made. In group II (n = 6), a rotational esophagotomy was made with the mucosal incision 180 degrees away from the incision in the esophageal muscle. Three ponies in each group were fed a soft diet ad libitum for 9 days, and then were allowed access to hay and grain. The remaining ponies were fed hay and grain. The esophagotomies of all hay-fed ponies dehisced and healed by second intention, whereas esophagotomies healed by first intention in the ponies given a soft diet. Endoscopic and radiographic examinations indicated that the progression of healing in the present study was a function of diet (form of food), rather than surgical technique. The cross-sectional width of the muscularis externa at the incision site was 39.6% greater in mash-fed ponies than in hay-fed ponies. Based on density-dependent image analysis, average elastin content and reticulin fiber of the submucosa and muscularis externa at the incision were not influenced by the form of feed or surgical technique, although elastin fiber regeneration did not occur at the site of the incision.     

Feline miliary eczema: megestrol acetate does not suppress immune responses

Megestrol acetate was found to have no influence on immunological skin and corneal reactivity nor on antibody responses in guinea pigs. Its curative effect in feline miliary eczema is probably not, therefore, the result of interference with the immune response.     

Bacterial overgrowth associated with a naturally occurring enteropathy in the German shepherd dog

Quantitative and qualitative bacteriological studies were performed on duodenal juice from 19 dogs with chronic small intestinal disease. Bacterial overgrowth was demonstrated in seven German shepherd dogs with minimal histological but specific biochemical abnormalities in the jejunal mucosa. Most frequently this overgrowth comprised bacteria of the normal flora, particularly Escherichia coli and enterococci, but these were occasionally accompanied by bacteria rarely present in the proximal small intestine of the normal dog, particularly Clostridium species. In most cases this overgrowth was associated with raised serum folate and reduced serum vitamin B12 concentrations, a finding consistent with the capacity of many enteric bacteria to synthesise folate and bind vitamin B12.     

Death of an African elephant from probable toxemia attributed to chronic pulpitis

A 31-year-old captive male African elephant (Loxodonta africana) of 5,000-kg body weight died suddenly in ventral recumbency. Lesions seen at necropsy were bilateral purulent pulpitis and periodontitis of both tusks, serous atrophy of coronary groove fat, Grammocephalus cholangitis, myocardial and skeletal lipofuscinosis, and scattered segmental necrosis in the pectoral muscles. Nonhemolytic streptococci, Corynebacterium sp, Peptostreptococcus anaerobius, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and Bacteroides sp, were recovered from the exudate around one or both tusks. We postulated that the elephant died of hypoxia from prolonged ventral recumbency because of weakness and inability to rise secondary to toxemia from bilateral pulpitis and periodontitis.