The intensity of resistance by mature Merino ewes against Haemonchus contortus and Tichostrongylus colubriformis in single-species and combined-species infection

Three-year-old, non-lactating and non-pregnant Merino ewes, raised on pasture under a program of strategic treatment with anthelmintic and found to be extremely resistant to "trickle" infection with Haemonchus contortus, were given single-dose infections with either H. contortus or Trichostrongylus colubriformis or both species together. The purpose was to ascertain the intensity of protective immunity against the 2 parasites in sheep with immunity acquired from a presumably slight exposure to infection. To provide a criterion, some infected ewes were immunosuppressed with corticosteroid, dexamethasone. Untreated ewes were extremely resistant to challenge infection with either 15,000 or 150,000 H. contortus or 15,000 T. colubriformis. Surprisingly, when mixed infection was given, egg counts for H. contortus were significantly elevated compared with infection by that species alone. Antibody to antigens from infective larval and adult H. contortus was measured in serum by enzyme-linked-immunosorbent assay (ELISA) during the course of infection. Serum titres against larval antigens were significantly depressed when infections with either H. contortus or T. colubriformis were permitted by immunosuppression with dexamethasone, whereas those against adult antigen were depressed when infection with T. colubriformis was permitted.     

Patch test reactions to house dust mites in dogs with atopic dermatitis

The purpose of this study was to determine the percentage of dogs with spontaneous atopic dermatitis that show a positive patch test reaction to a commercially available 20% house dust mites mixture containing equal parts of Dermatophagoides farinae and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus in white petrolatum. In addition, we evaluated whether skin reactions induced after the epicutaneous application of house dust mites were clinically and histologically similar to naturally developed skin lesions of dogs with atopic dermatitis. Furthermore, we investigated if the reactions induced by house dust mites were true allergic reactions by comparing them to atopic lesional skin and to patch test reactions induced by an irritant substance (sodium lauryl sulphate). White petrolatum alone and nonlesional skin sites were used as negative controls. Macroscopic and microscopic evaluations of the patch test and control sites were performed in a blinded fashion at 48 and 72 h after patch test application. Microscopic results were evaluated in a qualitative and quantitative manner. A chi‐square test for homogenicity was used for the quantitative analysis to compare the proportion of each dermal inflammatory cell type among positive histopathological tested sites. P values ≤ 0.05 were considered significant. The study included 12 healthy nonatopic dogs and 13 dogs with nonseasonal atopic dermatitis. None of the nonatopic dogs reacted to house dust mites and white petrolatum. Ten (77%) of the 13 atopic dogs reacted macroscopically and histopathologically to house dust mites. Macroscopic reactions induced by house dust mites were characterized by erythema, oedema and papules. The macroscopic reactions induced by house dust mites were identical to lesional skin in 20% of the dogs and identical to reactions induced by sodium lauryl sulphate in 40% of the dogs. Qualitative histopathological findings showed that the reactions induced by house dust mites were similar to atopic lesional skin in 80% of the dogs and were similar to sodium lauryl sulphate in 20% of the dogs. Quantitative analyses showed that the proportion of neutrophils in reactions induced by sodium lauryl sulphate was significantly higher (P < 0.05) compared to house dust mites reactions, which could be a differentiator factor between an allergic and an irritant reaction. These results showed that the epicutaneous application of house dust mites in dogs with atopic dermatitis induced histopathological lesions similar to spontaneous atopic lesions in dogs. Therefore, this study demonstrated that house dust mites penetrated the skin of dogs with atopic dermatitis and induced an inflammatory response that resembled a true allergic reaction. Funding: Small Companion Animal Grant, University of Minnesota.     

Ergovaline does not alter the severity of ryegrass staggers induced by lolitrem B

AIM: To investigate a possible interaction between lolitrem B and ergovaline by comparing the incidence and severity of ryegrass staggers in sheep grazing ryegrass (Lolium perenne) containing lolitrem B or ryegrass containing both lolitrem B and ergovaline.

METHODS: Ninety lambs, aged approximately 6 months, were grazed on plots of perennial ryegrass infected with either AR98 endophyte (containing lolitrem B), standard endophyte (containing lolitrem B and ergovaline) or no endophyte, for up to 42 days from 2 February 2010. Ten lambs were grazed on three replicate plots per cultivar. Herbage samples were collected for alkaloid analysis and lambs were scored for ryegrass staggers (scores from 0–5) weekly during the study. Any animal which was scored ≥4 was removed from the study.

RESULTS: Concentrations of lolitrem B did not differ between AR98 and standard endophyte-infected pastures during the study period (p=0.26), and ergovaline was present only in standard endophyte pastures. Ryegrass staggers was observed in sheep grazing both the AR98 and standard endophyte plots, with median scores increasing in the third week of the study. Prior to the end of the 42-day grazing period, 22 and 17 animals were removed from the standard endophyte and AR98 plots, respectively, because their staggers scores were ≥4. The cumulative probability of lambs having scores ≥4 did not differ between animals grazing the two pasture types (p=0.41).

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: There was no evidence for ergovaline increasing the severity of ryegrass staggers induced by lolitrem B. In situations where the severity of ryegrass staggers appears to be greater than that predicted on the basis of concentrations of lolitrem B, the presence of other tremorgenic alkaloids should be investigated.     

Effects of tetracycline administration on the proteomic profile of pig muscle samples (L. dorsi)

Effect of tetracycline (TC) administration on the proteomic profile of pig muscle was evaluated by 2D electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The TC content at slaughter was determined in L. dorsi samples by HPLC-DAD. Mean residual concentration of TC in the muscle of treated animals, calculated as the sum of TC and epi-TC was 126.3 microg/kg, indicating a rapid elimination of TC in this tissue. Several differential spots (n = 54, p < 0.05) were observed in protein profiles from control and treated animals. MALDI-TOF identification gave a positive match for 5 differential spots, that is, glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase 1 (G3PD1), phosphoglycerate kinase 1, novelprotein (0610037L13Rik), leucine aminopeptidase 3 (LAP), and hypothetical protein isoform 2. Results show that proteomics could be a useful tool to reveal pharmacological treatments with TC, even if the possible uses of differential spots as biomarkers to detect illegal administration of TC require further studies. Different spot patterns as a consequence of TC treatments seem to be another interesting issue for the consequences on tissue metabolism and meat quality.     

Nonneurogenic urinary incontinence in a canine female pseudohermaphrodite

Nonneurogenic incontinence was observed in a 1-year-old Pekingese X Poodle with female pseudohermaphroditism. The dog had male external genitalia as well as a well-developed vagina, uterus, and ovaries. Urinary incontinence was caused by an anomalous communication of the prostatic urethra with the vagina. Ovariohysterectomy and surgical correction of the urethrovaginal fistula was followed by remission of urinary incontinence. Subsequently, the dog developed estrogen responsive urinary incontinence. Nonneurogenic incontinence to be a common finding in canine pseudohermaphroditism associated with abnormalities of the vagina or urethra (or both). Surgical correction should be considered to correct anomalous communications between the genital and lower urinary tracts.     

人员在岗培训在实施兽药GMP现场管理中的作用

论述了对兽药生产企业进行人员在岗培训的必要性,对实施在岗培训的基本程序和应注意的事项进行了总结,旨在为兽药企业进行GMP现场管理提供参考。     

Effects of intravesical hydrostatic pressure and volume on the distensibility of the canine prostatic portion of the urethra

Positive-contrast retrograde urethrocystograms were obtained serially on 12 male dogs weighing 11.4 to 23.2 kg before, during, and after the injection of contrast medium until the urinary bladder neck and prostatic and membranous portions of the urethra remained open and distended as viewed by fluoroscopy. Correlations of intravesical volumes and pressures required to achieve maximum distension of the midprostatic portion of the urethra with body weight and surface area were not significant. Because of the variability in intravesical volumes and pressures encountered at maximum distension of the prostatic portion of the urethra, a dose of contrast material expressed relative to body weight or surface area could not be determined for consistently providing maximum distension of the prostatic portion of the urethra.     

Morphometry,Morphology and Ultrastructure of Ring‐tailed Coati Sperm (Nasua nasua Linnaeus, 1766)

The ring‐tailed coati (Nasua nasua) is a procyonid whose population is in sharp decline. Therefore, studies are needed to better understand the reproduction of this animal. For this reason, this study aimed to evaluate the morphology, morphometry and sperm ultrastructure of ring‐tailed coati sperm. Four captive adult males were used for this study. Slides stained with Bengal Rose were used for the morphometric and morphologic analyses. The length and width of the head were measured, as well as the length of the midpiece and tail and the total length of the sperm. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy were used for the ultrastructural analyses. The most obvious morphological abnormalities observed were coiled tails (6.1 ± 8.7%) and the lack of acrosomes (5.4 ± 4.4%). Regarding the morphometry, the measurements of the head (length × width), midpiece (length) and tail (length) were (mean ± SD) 6.2 ± 0.4 × 8.1 ± 0.6 μm, 14.1 ± 0.5 and 63.9 ± 4.1 μm, respectively, and the total length of the sperm was 86.1 ± 4.3 μm. Through electron microscopy, the presence of electron‐lucent points in the nucleus and the presence of approximately 55 mitochondrial spirals in the midpiece were identified. The data obtained in this study provide detailed information on the sperm characteristics of coatis and may inform future research on germplasm conservation, both for this species and other threatened procyonids.     

Stabilizing Lead-Salt Diode Lasers: Understanding and Controlling Chaotic Frequency Emission

Lead-salt tunable diode lasers (TDLs) are the only devices currently available that can generate tunable monochromatic radiation at arbitrary wavelengths between 3 and 30 micrometers and are particularly useful for high-resolution spectroscopy over a wide range of spectral regimes. Detailed observations of TDLs show that the observed instrumental linewidth is actually a temporal average of many narrow (less than 0.5 megahertz) emission "modes." The time scale characteristic of these "modes," which appear to be of relatively constant intensity, is of the order of a microsecond. The laser's behavior is highly suggestive of a chaotic process, that is, seemingly random excursions of a dynamic variable (frequency) within a bounded range. This report shows experimentally that TDL emissions are indeed chaotic. Furthermore, in a simple and robust fashion, this chaotic behavior has been successfully controlled with the use of recent techniques that take advantage of chaos to produce a narrow band laser output.     

Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis detection of protein oxidation in fresh and tainted rainbow trout muscle

Protein oxidation is evaluated in rainbow trout muscle by labeling protein carbonyls with 2,4-dinitrophenyl hydrazine (DNPH) followed by immunoblotting of proteins separated by SDS-PAGE or two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2D-GE). The carbonylation level is accessed on proteins in a whole muscle homogenate or proteins soluble in a high-salt or low-salt buffer. Spoilage-related changes in carbonylation are followed in the high-salt-protein and low-salt-protein fractions by 2D immunoblotting, which reveals increases regarding total number and intensity of carbonylation in both protein fractions for fish kept at room temperature for 48 h. The major amount of carbonylated proteins is found among the high-salt-soluble proteins, and this protein fraction is also responsible for the biggest increase in carbonylation during fish tainting. The results give an estimate of the level of protein carbonylation in rainbow trout and reveal that oxidation increases for a distinct number of proteins during tainting.