Prednisone was given orally to 12 dogs daily for 35 days at an anti-inflammatory dosage (1.1 mg/kg of body weight in divided dose, q 12 h) to study its effect on thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) metabolism. Six of these dogs were surgically thyroidectomized (THX-Pred) and maintained in euthyroid status by daily SC injections of T4 to study peripheral metabolism while receiving prednisone; 6 dogs with intact thyroid gland (Pred) were given prednisone; and 6 additional dogs were given gelatin capsule vehicle as a control group (Ctrl). Baseline T4 concentration after 4 weeks of treatment was not significantly different in dogs of the THX-Pred or Pred group (mean +/- SEM, 2.58 +/- 0.28 or 3.38 +/- 0.58 microgram/dl, respectively) vs dogs of the Ctrl group (2.12 +/- 0.30 microgram/dl). A supranormal response of T4 to thyrotropin was observed in dogs of the Pred group, but the T4 response to thyrotropin-releasing hormone was normal. Baseline T3 concentration in dogs of both steroid-treated groups was significantly (P < 0.05) lower after 2 and 4 weeks of prednisone administration vs pretreatment values, but normalized 2 weeks after prednisone was stopped. Free T3 (FT3) and T4 (FT4) fractions and absolute FT3 and FT, concentrations were not altered by prednisone administration. Reverse T3 (rT3) concentration in vehicle-treated Ctrl dogs (26.6 +/- 3.5 ng/dl) was not different from rT3 concentration in dogs of the THX-Pred (25.7 +/- 4.3 ng/dl) and Pred (28.9 +/- 3.8 ng/dl) groups after 4 weeks of medication. These data indicate that daily oral administration of such anti-inflammatory dose of prednisone for 1 month reduces baseline serum T3 concentration, does not alter serum T4 concentration, and enhances thyroidal sensitivity to thyrotropin.

Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP) were recorded at the scalp and at various levels along the lumbar and caudal thoracic parts of the spine in response to tibial nerve stimulations. The SEP were observed in 24 diseased dogs, 2 with a vertebral fracture, 1 with a spinal cord tumor, 1 with a vertebral tumor, and 20 with disk herniation. Cord compression location was confirmed by myelography, laminectomy, or both. The clinical state had significant (P < 0.0001) influence on SEP characteristics. The scalp-recorded SEP latency changed only in association with the most severe lesions; spine-recorded SEP conduction velocity was lower in association with mild lesions; scalp-recorded SEP amplitude changed with lesions of intermediary severity. Because these 3 electrophysiologic variables were influenced differently by cord damage, it was possible to discriminate the various clinical grades by use of these techniques. However, dogs with signs of pain only could not be differentiated from clinically normal dogs. The evoked injury potential was observed in all but 4 diseased dogs, and its maximal amplitude corresponded, in all cases, with cord damage location. Increased duration (P < 0.05) of the spine-recorded SEP was associated with longstanding problems, but not necessarily with clinically detectable malfunction. Use of SEP and evoked injury potential for identifying lateralized cord damage may be of value.

Plasma concentrations of hypoxanthine, uric acid, and allantoin, which are breakdown products of adenine nucleotides, were measured in Standardbred and Finnhorse trotters during and after an exercise test on a high-speed treadmill, after an incremental exercise test performed on a racetrack, and after a racing competition. Fiber-type composition of the middle gluteal muscle and the muscle concentrations of adenine nucleotides and inosine monophosphate were measured after the racetrack test. Changes in the concentration of hypoxanthine were not observed in any of the tests. Peak concentration of uric acid was measured between 5 and 30 minutes after exercise, and it was three- to tenfold higher than the value at rest. The variability can be explained by intensity of the exercise test and variation among horses. The concentration of allantoin after exercise was 2 to 3 times as high as that at rest, depending on the intensity of the exercise, although the absolute increase was about 10 times as high as the increase in the concentration of uric acid. Peak values of allantoin for the treadmill and the racetrack tests were obtained 4 to 6 minutes after exercise and < 30 minutes after the races. Peak concentration of allantoin correlated positively with the percentage of type-II (IIA + IIB) fibers in the middle gluteal muscle. Significant correlations were not observed between plasma concentration of uric acid or allantoin and muscle concentrations of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) or inosine monophosphate. It can be concluded that in horses, breakdown of ATP during and after exercise continues until allantoin is produced. The peak concentration of allantoin increases with the intensity of exercise, is reached rapidly after exercise, and the variation in the time to the peak value is small among horses. It is suggested that the main source of allantoin is the fast-twitch, type-II fibers and that the mixed muscle concentrations of adenine nucleotides are of limited value when estimating the effects of exercise on ATP content of the muscle tissue.

Random fragments of DNA were obtained from a cosmid library of Salmonella agona genomic DNA. from this library, 2 fragments were chosen and pooled to probe isolates of S typhimurium obtained during an episode of salmonellosis in a veterinary medical teaching hospital. Chromosomal DNA from the Salmonella isolates was digested with restriction endonucleases, and was probed with the random fragments of chromosomal DNA. This procedure resulted in a fingerprint pattern for each isolate. We found that the method permitted discrimination between isolates involved in the disease episode and S typhimurium obtained prior to the episode. We conclude that random fragments of chromosomal DNA are useful for fingerprinting isolates of S typhimurium. Analysis of plasmid DNA obtained from the isolates was not as useful. Some isolates found to be identical by restriction site analysis, had plasmids of different molecular weight. These results indicate that plasmid analysis may not be as useful a fingerprinting tool as previously reported.

The effect of prior Rhodococcus equi-induced pneumonia on pulmonary health was investigated in 5 horses (< 24 months old) using endoscopy, radiography, hematologic and bronchoalveolar lavage analyses, and pulmonary function testing. Rhodococcus equi-induced pneumonia had been diagnosed in principal horses when they were foals. Diagnosis was based on positive results of transtracheal aspiration and thoracic radiography at the time of initial clinical examination. Results of reevaluation of the respiratory system of these horses (R+) were compared with those of 5 age-matched healthy horses (R-) that lacked clinical or historical evidence of foalhood pneumonia. Significant differences in variables between the 2 groups of horses were not evident. In both groups, most horses had radiographic evidence of an accentuated bronchointerstitial pattern, although results of analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage specimens were normal and mononuclear cells predominated. Variability in results of the pulmonary function tests was observed within and between the 2 groups of horses. Only normatized dynamic lung compliance was slightly lower in the previously infected horses, but this difference was not significant. We concluded that horses previously infected with and successfully treated for R equi-induced pneumonia do not have detectable evidence of residual lung damage.

Corticocancellous bone graft was obtained from the caudoventral portion of the mandible of 8 dogs. The recipient site was an alveolar jugal and alveolar defect from vital root amputation of the mesiobuccal root of the maxillary fourth premolar. Anatomic observations of 20 canine cadavers indicated that guidelines for harvesting bone from the caudoventral portion of the mandible of dogs were the mesial aspect of the masseteric fossa, the distal aspect of the roots of the first mandibular molar, and the ventral aspect of the mandibular canal. The mean weight of corticocancellous bone harvested was 0.4 +/- 0.1 g. Harvested corticocancellous bone was adequate to fill recipient sites measuring a mean volume of 105.0 +/- 28.5 mm3. Histologic evaluation of the recipient site revealed progressive osseous integration of the bone. graft site during a mean follow-up period of 3.5 +/- 1.9 months. There was normal bone healing of the donor site without adverse effects on the mandibular molars or neurovascular structures of the mandibular canal. Vital amputation sites receiving silver amalgam had evidence of plasmacytic/lymphocytic inflammation associated with residual silver amalgam in the bone-graft area. The caudoventral portion of the mandible may be used as a donor site for autogenous corticocancellous bone in periodontal surgery of dogs.

A six month-old sheep was entered into a control group in an experiment designed to study the effects of exposure to the bovine immunodeficiency-like virus (BIV). Anti-BIV antibodies were detected in the serum of this sheep prior to the start of the study; these antibodies persisted for 12 months at which time the animal was destroyed. The sheep was normal clinically and was grossly normal at postmortem examination. Blood from this sheep was inoculated into a recipient sheep which subsequently showed a transient anti-BIV antibody response beginning two months postinoculation. Sheep have been previously shown to produce anti-BIV antibodies after experimental inoculation with infected cell culture material or infected bovine blood and BIV infection was found in a sheep pastured with BIV-infected cattle. In the present case there was no contact with cattle; the source of the infection was not identified.

The impact of nematode parasitism of the digestive tract on milk output and milk quality was examined in dairy goats. In addition, the consequences of worm infection were compared in goats with different lactation performance (ie, with initial high or low milk production). Forty-eight goats in the second month of lactation were allotted equally to 2 groups. The first group was given 5,000 Haemonchus contortus and 20,000 Trichostrongylus colubriformis larvae. The 24 additional goats remained free of parasites. Parasitologic, serologic, and milk data were collected every 2 weeks for 5 months, and body condition of the goats was scored throughout the study. Results of strongyle egg count in feces, increase in pepsinogen values, and reduction in RBC count, PCV, and serum inorganic phosphate concentration indicated subclinical infection, This subclinical parasitism induced a decrease in body condition scoring and led to persistent decrease in milk yield, ranging from 2.5 to 10% reduction from control values. Changes in fat and protein contents were not detected. In contrast, the consequences of infection were more severe in the 6 goats with the highest milk production at the start of the study. Decrease in milk output ranged between 13.0 to 25.1%, and was associated with decrease in fat content. Comparison of the response to parasitism in the 6 goats with the highest lactation performance and the 6 goats with the lowest performance indicated differences be- tween both subgroups. According to parasitologic and pathologic data, high-producer goats had less resistance and/or resilience to infection associated with more severe consequences on milk production.

Objectives of this investigation were to extract and isolate protein fractions inhibitory to the cytotoxic properties of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). In this context, mixed populations of WBC were harvested from equine blood and were stimulated with a combination of a synthetic chemotactic peptide and a calcium ionophore. Several methods were subsequently applied for the initial preparation of cell-free crude protein extracts, including fractional precipitation with gradient concentrations of ammonium sulfate and preparative-scale isoelectric focusing. In addition, protein fractions were harvested from extracts of concentrated equine urine. Protein extracts of urinary origin were further separated by gel-filtration column chromatography. Identification of protein fractions possessing properties inhibitory to the cytotoxic characteristics of TNF-alpha was facilitated by a tissue culture-based technique for the biological assay of TNF-alpha-mediated cytotoxicity. Purified protein extracts possessed a marked ability to inhibit or neutralize the cytotoxic properties of TNF-alpha on the basis of survival of murine fibrosarcoma cell populations, compared with appropriate negative and positive reference controls. Relative purity of inhibitors and estimation of approximate molecular weight were established by conventional reducing and nonreducing sodium dodecyl sulfate. polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis. Equine inhibitory protein fractions from mixed WBC populations, purified in the manner described, had molecular weights of 70,000 to 80,000 and 28,000. An analogous protein fraction of 28 kDa also was isolated from equine concentrated urine. Estimated isoelectric point of TNF-alpha inhibitor protein fractions was between pH of 5.5 and 6.1. These physical characteristics of equine TNF-alpha inhibitor protein fractions were similar to those described for a membrane-associated TNF-alpha receptor protein shed from chemotaxin- and calcium-ionophor-stimulated human WBC populations.

A highly sensitive enzyme-linked immunoelectrotransfer blot (EITB) assay, capable of detecting aphthovirus-specific antibodies to replicating virus in sera from cattle with persistent infection, was developed. The assay uses a set of purified recombinant DNA-derived nonstructural viral antigens as serologic probes in lieu of the traditionally used virus infection-associated antigen(s) partially purified from baby hamster kidney-infected cells. Sera from cattle with experimentally induced aphthovirus infection were analyzed sequentially by EITB at various postinoculation days, and the results were compared with those obtained by currently used techniques. It was established that, in aU cases, EITB results remained positive at late stages of infection. At these times, results of virus infection-associated antigen-antibody determinations were negative by use of the conventional immunodiffusion in agarose gel test, and virus was recovered only occasionally from esophageal-pharyngeal fluid. Specificity of the EITB test was indicated by negative results for sera from cattle in aphthovirus-free areas, including samples from cattle infected with a variety of bovine viruses. Moreover, the test eliminated a substantial number of false-positive results (on the basis of the immunodiffusion in agarose gel assay) caused by reactivity of sera from vaccinated cattle. Use of additional nonstructural viral antigens, other than RNA polymerase, is proposed to differentiate between seropositivity resulting from vaccination or infection. This procedure may be considered to have potential applications as a sensitive, safe, rapid, and economic field test for specific diagnosis of persistent aphthovirus infection in affected animals.