Cell proliferation kinetic values were established for the hair root matrix of primary anagen follicles of 14 Beagles and 4 Cocker Spaniels with healthy skin and 9 Cocker Spaniels with primary idiopathic seborrhea. Indices were established by intradermal pulse labeling with tritiated thymidine, followed by cutaneous biopsy and autoradiography. The hair root matrix cell labeling index was 23.4 +/- 3.5% for Beagles, 24.4 +/- 4.0% for healthy Cocker Spaniels, and 24.9 +/- 4.3% for seborrheic Cocker Spaniels. These values indicate a rapidly proliferating cell population. Differences among these cell kinetic data for the 3 groups of dogs were not statistically significant. Although significant cell kinetic differences have been reported for other epidermal structures (interfollicular epithelium, upper hair follicle external root sheath, sebaceous glands) in seborrheic Cocker Spaniels, proliferation of hair root matrix cells apparently remains unaffected.

A genomic library to Eperythrozoon suis DNA was constructed in lambda gt11, and from this library, E suis clone KSU-2 was identified as a potential diagnostic probe. In hybridization experiments that used 100-microliter samples of blood collected in chaotropic salt solutions, the KSU-2 probe hybridized strongly with purified E suis organisms and blood samples from splenectomized swine that were parasitized with E suis. However, the probe under stringent conditions did not give radiographic indications of hybridizing with equine blood DNA, bovine blood DNA infected with Anaplasma marginale, canine blood DNA infected with Ehrlichia canis, feline blood DNA infected with Haemobartonella felis, or uninfected swine blood DNA.