Radioimmunologic determination of the mycotoxin ochratoxin A--a new diagnostic method in Czechoslovakia

A new radioimmunological method was developed for the determination of the mycotoxin ochratoxin A. The specific antibodies used in this method had been prepared by the immunization of rabbits by means of administration of ochratoxin A conjugate with bovine serum albumin. Their effective affinity constant was Ka = 5.1 X 10(-9) l. Mol-1. The substance used as radioligand was 125I-ochratoxin with a high specific radioactivity (Czechoslovak patent PV 6136, 1986). The average sensitivity of determination (ED 85%) was 10 to 15 picograms per 0.1 ml of sample. The range of the calibration curve was mostly from 5 to 360 picograms.     

Rapid detection of Aujeszky's disease (pseudorabies) virus infection of pigs by direct filter hybridisation of nasal and tonsillar specimens

A direct filter hybridisation method has been developed to diagnose acute Aujeszky's disease in live pigs. The advantages of the method are easy, fast sample processing; no DNA-purification is needed, and the hybridisation itself is simplified. The direct filter hybridisation method has been tested on pseudorabies virus infected cultured cells, experimentally infected pigs and on specimens from an outbreak of Aujeszky's disease. Virus isolation and filter hybridisation gave comparable results, indicating that the direct filter hybridisation method is a good tool for rapid diagnosis. It is independent of cell culture facilities and the disease can be diagnosed in live animals within 15 hours.     

Phage typing coagulase-positive staphylococci from rooks and gulls

Phage typing was performed on 86 strains of Staphylococcus aureus and 25 strains of Staphylococcus intermedius from rooks and gulls with human, bovine, chicken and canine phages. Eighty per cent of the S aureus strains and 64 per cent of the S intermedius strains were typable. The S aureus biotype D strains of rook origin were specifically lysed at routine test dilution (RTD) by chicken phages from groups I or I + IV, by human phages belonging to groups I and M, and partly by canine phage 58. The other rook and gull S aureus strains did not show characteristic phage patterns. The S intermedius strains isolated from both species of birds could be typed only with canine phages and this correlated with their classification into biotypes. All the biotype 1 strains tested but only two of 12 biotype 2 strains were lysed with canine phages at RTD.     

Hemoconcentration in calves and its relation to the hematologic, protein, mineral and electrolyte profile

The dynamics of hematological, protein, mineral and electrolytic profile was examined clinically in nine calves when the hemoconcentration was induced experimentally. The hemoconcentration occurred after diarrhea caused by the per os application of 12 g saccharose per one kg of live weight. The hemoconcentration culminated six hours after application. The calves where the hemoconcentration did not exceed the critical value were included in the first group, and the calves with the extreme hemoconcentration values in the other group. In the first group (with the increasing hemoconcentration degree), a statistically significant increase was found in the values of hematocrit, erythrocytes, hemoglobin, total protein in blood serum and total immunoglobins and a statistically insignificant increase in the levels of leucocytes, inorganic phosphorus, serum calcium and sodium. Serum potassium and magnesium showed the inverse dynamics, i. e. the decrease. In the second group (with the extreme hemoconcentration), hyperkalemia and slight hypermagnesemia were identified, while the other parameters showed deviations similar to those observed in the first group. After the rehydration of animals by a preparation without any influence on the studied parameters, the hemoconcentration and the parameters under study stabilized, while in the second group the hemoconcentration was increasing even during the rehydration and the levels of serum potassium and magnesium showed different tendencies. As follows from the results, in the calves suffering from scours accompanied by hemoconcentration the correction of the parameters of metabolic profile is necessary.     

The effect of vitamin A on trypsin inhibition activity of the blood and cervical mucus after the effects of hormones on the ovaries of sheep in the estrus period

Vitamin A (50,000 I. U.), administered after oestrus synchronization by PGF2 alpha (2 X 125 micrograms; 1st and 11th day) together with PMSG (750 and 1000 I. U.), had a stronger influence on the changes in the trypsin-inhibition activities (TIA) of the blood plasma, as compared with the effect of PMSG. The changes in the average TIA values within 120 hours after the administration of the stimulating dose were also observed more frequently to depend on vitamin A. After administration of 1000 I. U. PMSG, an increase was recorded only in the values of the fraction of low-molecular TIA, whereas the administration of the combinations of PMSG + vitamin A resulted in an increase of all the TIA's under study. This increase was directly correlated with an increased number of non-atretic tertiary follicles, with an increased number of ovulations (at the same dose of PMSG), and with a reduced ratio of changes in the concentration of progesterone (P) and 17-beta oestradiol (E): P/E = 1.1 after the administration of 1000 I. U. PMSG, P/E = 0.81 after I. U. PMSG + vitamin A, and P/E = 0.90 after 1000 I. U. PMSG + vitamin A. The increase in the average TIA of the cervical mucus is due to the increased secretory activity of the cervical glands rather than to the multiplication of these glands after ovary stimulation.