To establish the protocol of a standardized exercise test for evaluating exercise intolerance and degree of fitness in Thoroughbred racehorses, we examined serum lactate concentrations related to exercise intensities using the high speed tradmill. Twelve clinically healthy Thoroughbred racehorses with or without previous training or racing history were assigned to two groups, fit and unfit group, respectively. The protocol used for the standardized exercise test was consisted of two stages:stage ofwarm-up and that of acceleration. During the warm-up, the horses exercised 5 min at 1.8m/s and 3 min 3.4m/s without inclination. At the acceleration stage, exercise test was performed at 10% slope and the speed was increased from the initial 5m/s to the maximal speed which each tested horse could keep up with. The speed was increased with incremental steps of 1 m/s every minute. During the last 15 sec of each step, blood samples were collected for serum lactate determination. V max (masimal treadmill speed which tested horses could keep up with) of the fit group (10.93+_0.33m/s, mean+_SE, n=6) was higher than that of the unfit group (9.52+_0.23m/s, mean+_SE, n=6). Serum lactate concentrations increased exponentially according to exercise intensities. V la4 (speed producing a serum lactate concentration of 4mmol/l) of the fit group, 6.45+_0.26m/s, was higher than that of the unfit group, 5.45+_0.23m/s. La peak (peak plasma lactate concentration during the exercise test) was lower in the fit group (20.34+_1.62mmol/l at 1 min after maximal intensity exercise) than in the unfit group (24.78+_1.09mmol/l at 2 min after maximal exercise step). t50% (time required for the recovery of lactate concentration to be one-half of La peak after maximal exercise) of the unfit group and the fit group were 40.0 and 18.0 min, respectively. Therefore, the protocol of the incremental standardized exercise test utilized in this study seems to be reliable for the assessment of fitness and exercise intolerance for the Thoroughbred racehorses.

Swine shipworm(Trichuris suis) is cosmopolitan nematode which can cause serious pathology in immature stage(larva2~larva5) of infected pigs, such as anorexia, diarrhea, anemia, and death in heavy infections. In this larval stages, it is very difficult to diagnose the infection of whipworm and to differentiate from other common swinegstrointestinal disorders such as 21 day scours which are associated with TGE virus, rota virus, coccidium, and the stress of weaning. In this experiment, the isolated antigens of Trichuris spp. were carried out to examine the structure and specificity of antigens and to select the resonable antigens which would be used in serological diagnosis by electrophoresis, Western blotting, ELISA. The results of this experiment were as follews: 1. The common fractions of each Trichuris suis antigen were identified 28,32,45, 80kDa by SDS-PAGE with silver stain and four major fractions could be detected in positive swine sera by Western blot analysis. 2. The OD(optical density) values of somatic and excretory-secretory antigens which were reacted against positive(negative) sera from pigs infected with Trichuris suis by ELISA reader were; 1) OD values(mean+_SD) of adult somatic antigen against positive(negative) sera were O.30+_0.12(0.09+_0.006) and third-stage larva of somatic antigen were 0.28+_0.038(0.10+_0.005). And OD values of excretory-secretory antigens of adult and third-stage larva were 0.24+_0.031(0.11+_0.005) and 0.08+_0.013(0.10+_0.003), respectively. 2) OD values of adult somatic, larval somatic antigen and adult excretory-secretory antigen response to positive sera were significantly (p0.01) associated with negative swine sera. And the Cut-off OD values(minimum positive value) were determined to be mean negative value plus 3 SD that would minimized the risk of false positives. 3. The OD values of somatic antigens of T suis and T vulpis against swine positive(negative) sera were 0.30+_0.120(0.09+_0.006) and 0.25+_0.141(0.09+_0.003). These data mean that the somatic antigens of T suis and T vulpis were able to diagnose T vulpis infection in dogs as well as T suis infection in pigs. These results suggest that somatic antigen of third-stage larva and excretory-secretory antigen of adult T suis could be used the diagnostic antigen by serological test(ELISA) in immature Trichuris spp. infection.

The effect of isoprothiolane(di-isopropyl-1,3-dithiolan-2-ylidenemalonate) aganist fat necrosis in Hanwoo(Korean Cattle) sire was evaluated. The 10 heads of Hanwoo sire suffering from fat necrosis were given 50mg/kg body weight of isoprothiolane(0.2g/kg of Fujix, Japan) orally once a day for 8weeks. In 30% of these, the size of thenecrotic fat masses had decreased significantly 7 months after the adminstration. Isoprothiolane did not affect on live body weight and semen characteristics. However the sire affected with fat necrosis had higher MCHC(Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration) than normal sire inhematologic values 10 weeks after administration. Number of RBC(red blood cell) and PCV(packed cell volume) 10 weeks after administration had been increased than those before administration(p0.05). The serum concentrations of creatinine, triglyceride, and total cholesterol 10 weeks after administration were higher than those before administration while the concentration of glucose was vice versa. the isoprothiolane may reduce the oxidation of glucose, increase the glucose transfer to lipids, and increase blood supply to necrotic masses. These results indicate that isoprothiolane may be useful as the therapeutic agent against fat necrosis.

The regional distribution and relative frequency of the endocrine cells in the pancreas of the bean goose were investigated by immunohistochemical methods using 6 types of the specific antisera. Spindle shpaed serotonin-immunoreactive cells were detected in the exocrine portions. Spherical or spindle shpaed glucagon-immunoreactive cells were observed in the exocrine and dark and mammalian type islets. In the dark type islets, numerous cells were dispersed throughout whole islets but they were located in the peripheral regions of the mammalian type islets. No glucagon-immunoreactive cells were detected in light type islets. Round or spherical shpaed insulin-immunoreactive cells were observed in the exocrine and dark, light and mammalian type islets. They were observed in the exocrine regions with a few numbers. Extremely rare cells were detected in central portion of the dark type islets but moderate to numerous cells were found in the central regions of the mammalian and light type islets, respectively. Spherical or spindle shaped somatostatin-immunoreactive cells were observed in the exocrine and dark, light and mammalian type islets. A few single cells were detected in the exocrine portions. In the dark type islets, numerous cells were dispersed throughout whole islets but a few to moderate numbers of cells were located in the peripheral regions of the light and mammalian type islet. Moderate numbers of the bovine pancreatic polypeptide-immunoreactiv ecells were found in the exocrime portions with round, spherical or spindle shape. But no bovine Sp-1/chromogranin-immunoreactive cells were observed in this study.

Anesthetic agents are useful in inducing the anesthesia for surgical operations and various biological experiments, but they can disturb the body homeostasis and cause the stress in animal. Much efforts have been directed on reducing such side effects of anesthesia. In this work, we measured the serum ACTH, corticosterone and glucose concentration in rabbits to compare the degree of stress induced by two commonly-used anesthetics, ketamine, xylazine, and the combination of xylazine and ketamine. 1. The anesthesia was induced in about 10 min in the rabbits treated with xyalzine, ketamine and xylazine-ketamine. The duraion of complete loss of righting reflex were 12, 13 and 115 min in the groups treated with xylazine, ketamine and xylazine-ketamine, respectively. 2. Serum ACTH concentrations in all treatment groups were gihger than those in control group. At 30 min after the administration of the drugs, serum ACTH levels in ketamine-treated group were significantly higher than those in control, xylazine- and xylazine-ketamine-treated groups. However, at 1, 2, 5 and 9 hours after the drug administration, serum ACTH levels in xylazine-treated-group were gihger than those in control. 3. Serum corticosterone levels in xylazine- and xylazine-ketamine-treated groups were lower than those in control or ketamine=treated groups at 0.5 and 1 hour after the administration. However, at 5 and 9 hours after the administration, serum corticosterone levels inxylazine- and xylazine-ketamine-treated groups were significantly higher than those in ketamine-treated group or control. 4. Serum glucose levels transiently increased to 3 tives of the pre-injection levels at 0.5 and 1 hours after the administration in xylazine or xylazine-ketamine-treated groups, but were not changed in control and ketamine-treated group. These results indicate that xylazine-induced stress lasts longer than ketamine-induced, suggesting that the difference in stress-related hormone levels during anethesia could be due to the differences in modes of actions of individual drugs used and the depth of anesthesia.