Three laparoscopic procedures were performed on each of 6 adult jersey cows in the first trimester of gestation to describe normal laparoscopic anatomy of the bovine abdomen. Also, a technique for laparoscopy of the cranioventral portion of the abdomen was described. Right paralumbar fossa, left paralumbar fossa, and cranioventral midline laparoscopy were performed 72 hours apart on each cow. Physical examination findings, CBC, serum biochemical analysis, and peritoneal fluid analysis before and 72 hours after the first surgery were used to assess the effects of the procedures on the cows. Exploratory celiotomy was performed 2 weeks after the last laparoscopy. The cows were then reexamined 6 weeks after the last procedure. The t-test for paired data was used for statistical analysis; the level of significance was P < 0.05. Laparoscopy was performed without complication in all cows. Adverse effects of laparoscopy, individually or serially, were not observed. Significant differences were not found between CBC, serum biochemical, and peritoneal fluid variables taken before and 72 hours after surgery.

Albendazole, administered orally at a dose rate of 25 mg/kg of body weight to presumed pregnant cows or heifers on days 21, 31, 41, 51, and 61 of gestation, did not induce toxicosis in embryos or fetuses, and all calves born were structurally normal. Albendazole administration at a rate of 25 mg/kg to cows at 7 and/or 14 days of gestation decreased the apparent conception rate (ie, embryolethality), but did not have a teratogenic effect. Apparent embryolethality was greater in cows administered 25 mg/ kg only on day 14, compared with those administered the drug only on day 7. Single dosage of 25 mg/kg given in the final 3 months of gestation did not induce abortion. There were no adverse effects of albendazole at a dosage of 10 or 15 mg/kg on developing embryos or fetuses when administered to presumed pregnant cows at various times in early gestation.

Haptoglobin (HP), an acute-phase protein, is detected in serum of cows with hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver). To assess the relevance of Hp in fatty liver, induction of Hp was examined, using conditions similar to those involving development of fatty liver in cows. Induction of Hp was achieved by a combination of dexamethasone administration (0.1 mg/kg of body weight) and 2 days' starvation. Haptoglobin appearance in serum was not associated with the increase of alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (a marker for inflammation). This treatment increased serum nonesterified fatty acids concentration and decreased serum triglycerides concentration. Protein kinase C activity was decreased in the cytosolic fractions of liver and mononuclear cells. Reduction of protein kinase C-catalyzed endogenous protein phosphorylation also was observed, particularly in the cytosolic fractions of the tissue and cells. Detection of Hp in serum of cows with fatty liver appears to be explained by the fact that Hp is induced by dexamethasone administration and starvation, which are similar to the condition responsible for fatty liver development. The change of protein kinase C-catalyzed phosphorylation was suggested to be involved in the induction of Hp in cows.

Two experiments were performed to study the relationship between leukotriene B4 (LTB4) synthesis and placental separation and uterine involution in the cow. In experiment I, the concentration and synthesis of LTB4 by caruncular tissue was lower in cows with retained fetal membranes (RFM cows, n = 11) than in cows that expelled the fetal membranes normally (NFM cows, n = 19). The presence of bacterial cell wall, especially of alpha-hemolytic streptococci and coagulase positive staphylococci enhanced LTB4 synthesis by allantochorion only in NFM cows. In the RFM group, Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide decreased allantochorionic LTB4 synthesis. With caruncle, only epidermal growth factor increased LTB4 production in NFM cows. In experiment II, the caruncular and endometrial secretion of LTB4 was lower in cows with subuterine involution (SUI cows, n = 5) or cows with SUI and RFM (SUI+RFM cows, n = 4) than in cows with normal uterine involution (NUI cows, n = 8). This decrease was especially noticeable in the previously gravid horn. In the three uterine involution groups, there were no differences in LTB4 synthesis by caruncular tissue taken from the previously gravid horn. However, progesterone and a bacterial suspension of E. coli reduced the synthesis of LTB4. Estradiol had no effect on LTB4 synthesis at the end of the postpartum period. These results suggest that LTB4 may play an important role in both placental separation and uterine involution in cattle and LTB4 synthesis may be modulated by endocrine and bacterial factors.

Procedures were developed to count neutrophils in milk using a flow cytometer. Milk samples from 2 experiments were counted: 1 with 4 noninfected cows and a second with 5 noninfected cows that were injected with endotoxin in 2 mammary quarters. Thus, the procedures were evaluated on normal milk and on that with high somatic cell count. Flow cytometric procedures involved fluorescence detection (from the dye carboxydimethylfluorescein diacetate) to distinguish intact and viable from fragmented cells, forward light scatter to detect cell size differences, and right-angle side scatter to detect cellular granularity. High fluorescence, large size, and high degree of granularity identified viable neutrophils. For all samples, neutrophils were also counted manually, using the cytologic centrifugation approach to create the slides; manual counts were used as the standard for comparison. In experiment 1 (normal milk), mean values for percentage of viable neutrophils estimated by manual and flow cytometry procedures agreed closely (26% vs 25.8% for foremilk and 28.8% vs 26.6% for bucket milk). Sources of variation in manual and flow cytometric estimates of percentage of neutrophils were examined. Cow variation was significant (P < 0.01) for manual and flow cytometric counts, but was larger for flow cytometric counts. Day-to-day variation in counts on milk from the same cow was negligible for manual counts, but was significant (P < 0.01) for flow cytometric counts. Coefficients of variation were considerably Larger for manual counts than for flow cytometry. In experiment 2 (milk with high cell count, foremilk), agreement between mean values obtained by flow cytometry and by manual counting was somewhat less. However, predicting manual percentage of neutrophils, using the flow cytometric estimate, had R2 of 0.77. Regression of the manual percentage of neutrophils value on the flow cytometric percentage of neutrophil value was close to 1.0, with only a small negative intercept. Some additional refinement of flow cytometric procedures may be required before flow cytometric estimates of percentage of neutrophils can be accepted without simultaneous validation by use of manual counting. In particular, causes of day-to-day variation in flow cytometric results should be identified and reduced.

Five cows in the last month of gestation, provided with uterine electrodes and in which catheters had been chronically installed in the fetal aorta, were used to study patterns of fetal heart rate (FHR) and the influence of periods of myometrial electrical activity during gestation (contractures) on FHR. The FHR was calculated by counting the number of blood pressure pulses on the tracings during alternate periods of 12 seconds. Three 1-hour recordings without contractures and 10 recordings during the time of a contracture were randomly selected for each cow. The calculated data points were plotted on a graph to display FHR patterns. In 41 periods associated with single contractures, FHR data points were taken every 72 seconds. Changes in absolute and relative FHR in these periods were determined to analyze a possible effect of contractures on FHR. Three types of variation in FHR patterns could be distinguished: a short-term, low-amplitude variation of basal FHR; a second type in which the duration was < 4 minutes and the amplitude was greater than or equal to 15 beats/min; and prolonged periods with increased or decreased FHR values (> 4 minutes and greater than or equal to 15 beats/min). The relationship between these types of variation and fetal activity states remains to be established for cows. During the 60 hours of recordings that were analyzed, a period of several minutes during which FHR values were extremely high (> 180 beats/min) was found 3 times. There were no significant differences in absolute or relative FHR before, during, or after a contracture.

Three laparoscopic procedures were performed on each of 6 adult jersey cows in the first trimester of gestation to describe normal laparoscopic anatomy of the bovine abdomen. Also, a technique for laparoscopy of the cranioventral portion of the abdomen was described. Right paralumbar fossa, left paralumbar fossa, and cranioventral midline laparoscopy were performed 72 hours apart on each cow. Physical examination findings, CBC, serum biochemical analysis, and peritoneal fluid analysis before and 72 hours after the first surgery were used to assess the effects of the procedures on the cows. Exploratory celiotomy was performed 2 weeks after the last laparoscopy. The cows were then reexamined 6 weeks after the last procedure. The t-test for paired data was used for statistical analysis; the level of significance was P < 0.05. Laparoscopy was performed without complication in all cows. Adverse effects of laparoscopy, individually or serially, were not observed. Significant differences were not found between CBC, serum biochemical, and peritoneal fluid variables taken before and 72 hours after surgery.