Development and characterization of monoclonal antibodies against canine trypsin

Canine cationic trypsin was purified by salting-out, gel filtration and affinity chromatography. Purity was confirmed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The molecular weight was ca. 28 kDa by SDS-PAGE.

Thirty hybridomas were obtained which produced mAb to canine cationic trypsin by the cell fusion technique. Twenty-two of these recognized cationic trypsin only, while eight hybridomas recognized both cationic and anionic trypsin. Several of the anti-canine cationic trypsin mAb were purified by salting-out and DEAE ion-change chromatography using ascites fluid of immunized BALB/c mice. The mAb proved to have very high specificity to canine cationic trypsin as shown by immunoblotting and it may be possible to use them to develop clinical assays.     

Breeding distribution and maternal genetic lineages in Lulu,a dwarf cattle population in Nepal

Lulu is a dwarf cattle population bred in the Mustang district of western and central Nepal. This area is located around the habitat boundary between Bos taurus and Bos indicus. The peculiarities of Lulu are their small size (weight range in the adult female: 68–153 kg) and rearing in high mountain areas at 2800 m to 4000 m in altitude. There were 5770 head of Lulu cattle in the Mustang district in 1998, 4333 females and 1437 males. The morphological appearance of Lulu is Bos taurus. However, one of the five Lulu studied in Kagbeni, Mustang had a Bos indicus mitochondrial DNA type based on the D‐loop sequence, while the other four were Bos taurus. It is suggested that there are hybrids of Lulu with Bos indicus maternal lineage in a mostly taurine‐breed genetic background. Steps must be taken to preserve the unique Lulu.     

Alpha-fetoprotein in serum and tumor tissues in dogs with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) concentrations were measured before and after surgical removal of tumor masses in four dogs with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Localization of AFP was also examined immunohistochemically in tumor tissues. In three cases, the serum AFP concentration was 10 to 20 times higher than that of normal dogs. One to two months after surgery, the serum AFP concentration had decreased to normal range. AFP was localized in the tumor tissues in these three cases. One case, which had a low serum AFP, did not show AFP localization in tumor tissue.     

Evaluation of the inhibitory activities of the extracts of Indonesian traditional medicinal plants against Plasmodium falciparum and Babesia gibsoni

Twenty-four kinds of water extracts derived from 22 plants that are traditionally used for the treatment of malaria on Java Island, Indonesia, were screened for their antibabesial and antimalarial activities. Among the extracts, 8 extracts displayed strong antimalarial activity, with an inhibition range from 89.6 to 100%, and 15 showed strong antibabesial activity, with an inhibition range from 84.2 to 98.1%. The extracts of Achillea millefolium, Baeckea frutenscens, Brucea javanica, Curcuma xanthorrhiza, Strychnos lucida and Swietenia macrophylla showed both strong antibabesial and antimalarial activities. The antimalarial activities paralleled the antibabesial activities, but the converse was not true.     

Antibabesial activity of protoberberine alkaloids and 20-hydroxyecdysone from Arcangelisia flava against Babesia gibsoni in culture

Bioassay-guided fractionation of the boiled extract from the stems of Arcangelisia flava led to the isolation of palmatine (1), berberine (2), jatrorrhizine (3), dihydroberberine (4) and 20-hydroxyecdysone (5). The chemical structures of these compounds were elucidated on the basis of their chemical and spectral evidence. The isolated compounds were evaluated for their growth inhibiting effects on Babesia gibsoni in culture for a week. Compounds (1-4) showed significant inhibitions at concentrations from 100 to 1.0 microg/ml, while compound 5 at a concentration of 100 microg/ml, only.     

Rumen ciliate faunae of water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) and goat (Capra hircus) in Nepal

Rumen ciliate composition of river-type water buffalo and goat in Nepal was surveyed. As the result of survey, 13 genera representing 52 species and 20 formae of the ciliates were identified. Of them 13 genera with 44 species and 9 formae were found from the water buffalo and 8 genera with 21 species and 12 formae from the goat. The present paper shows the first report of Hsiungella triciliata, Entodinium brevispinum, E. convexum, E. javanicum, E. rectangulatum f. rectangulatum, E. rectangulatum f. lobosospinosum, Diplodinium nanum, D. psittaceum, D. sinhalicum and Ostracodinium quadrivesiculatum from water buffalo and Epidinium ecaudatum f. parvicaudatum from goat.     

Aggregability and post-transfusion survival of canine platelets in stored whole blood

The effects of whole blood storage time on platelet aggregation and on post-transfusion platelet survival time were assessed in dogs. Citrate phosphate dextrose adenine-1 (CPDA-1) was used as a blood cell preservative. Storage time dependent decay of platelet aggregability was assessed. Platelet aggregation responses to collagen and ADP were maintained for at least 8 hr at room temperature. During blood storage, immunoglobulin became nonspecifically bound to platelets, suggesting the potential for immune destruction of platelets by the mononuclear phagocyte system after transfusion. To assess this assumption, the survival times of infused platelets, which were stored for 0 to 8 hr in whole blood, were measured. Post-transfusion survival of platelets was not affected by these storage times. These results suggest that canine platelets maintain viability when stored at room temperature for up to 8 hr in CPDA-1 treated whole blood intended for transfusion.