The IgG and IgM classes of antibodies to a water-soluble antigen preparation derived from microsporum canis were determined by ELISA in the sera of 79 cats with dermatophytosis confirmed by results of fungal culture, and of 46 specific-pathogen-free-derived, barrier-maintained cats with no previous exposure to dermatophytes. Of the 79 cats with dermatophytosis, the species isolated were: M canis from 72, M gypseum from 6, and Trichophyton mentagrophytes from 1. Concentrations of soluble M canis antigen-specific IgG and IgM were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in the cats with dermatophytosis than in the control cats. The IgG concentration was larger than or equal to 2.0 ELISA units/ ml in 71% of the cats with dermatophytosis and in 9% of the control cats, whereas IgM concentration was greater than or equal to 4.0 ELISA units/ml in 38% of the cats with dermatophytosis and in 11% of control cats. There was no significant difference in either IgG or IgM values between the cats with M canis infection and those with other non-M canis dermatophyte infections.

Age, species, and disease state may substantially alter the disposition and clearance of pharmacologic agents. This is particularly important when drugs with low therapeutic index are used in ill neonates. Pharmacokinetic variables for phenylbutazone were determined in 24- to 32-hour-old healthy and endotoxemic calves after IV administration of a single dose (5 mg/kg of body weight, IV). Elimination halflife was 207 and 168 hours, and clearance was 0.708 and 0.828 ml/kg/h in healthy and endotoxemic calves, respectively. Intravenous infusion of endotoxin at the dose (2 micrograms/kg over 4 hours) given did not significantly alter any of the calculated pharmacokinetic variables. Serum thromboxane B2 concentration was significantly (P = 0.05) suppressed for 3 hours after phenylbutazone administration in healthy calves and for 4 hours in endotoxin-challenged calves. Daily administration of phenylbutazone (10 mg/kg loading, then 5 mg/kg for 9 days) to healthy and endotoxemic calves failed to induce any lesions consistent with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug toxicosis.

Ground reaction force (GRF) patterns from 20 clinically sound Dutch Warmbloods were recorded at the right fore-leading canter, and a standard horse was composed. These GRF data for the standard can be used for evaluation of jumping horses. The GRF patterns were asymmetric for all 4 limbs. The leading right forelimb decelerated the body. The trailing left forelimb propelled the body and decelerated it slightly. The trailing left hind limb propelled, and the leading right hind limb contributed to deceleration and propulsion. Referred to the maximal vertical load of the leading right forelimb, the load of the trailing left forelimb was 25% more; the load of the right hind limb was slightly less, whereas the load of the left hind limb was about 80% of that value.

Concentrations of 3 alpha-hydroxylated bile acids were measured in serum and urine of clinically normal (healthy) cats (n = 6), cats with severe hepatic lipidosis (n = 9), and cats with complete bile duct occlusion (n = 4). Bile acid concentrations were measured by use of a gradient flow high-performance liquid chromatography procedure with an acetonitrile and ammonium phosphate mobile phase and an in-line postanalytic column containing 3 alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and a fluorescence detector. Specific identification of all bile acid peaks was not completed; unidentified moieties were represented in terms of their elution time (in minutes). Significant differences in serum and urine bile acid concentrations, quantitative and proportional, were determined among groups of cats. Cats with hepatic lipidosis and bile duct occlusion had significantly (P greater than or equal to 0.05) greater total serum and urine bile acids concentrations than did healthy cats. The proportion of hydrophobic bile acids in serum, those eluting at greater than or equal to 400 minutes, was 1.9% for healthy cats, 3.3% for cats with lipidosis, and 5.4% for bile duct-obstructed cats. Both groups of ill cats had a broader spectrum of unidentified late-eluting serum bile acids than did healthy cats; the largest spectrum developed in bile duct-occluded cats. The trihydroxy-to-dihydroxy serum bile acids ratio was 8.8:1 for healthy cats; 24.1:1 for cats with lipidosis: and 20:1 for cats with bile duct obstruction. There was a paucity of glycine-conjugated bile acids in all cats and small quantities of secondary bile acids in ill cats. A significantly (P < 0.05) smaller proportion of unconjugated primary bile acids was detected in sera from ill cats. Serum taurolithocholic acid was detected only in small quantities in cats of each group. There was significantly increased quantity, but lower proportion, of trihydroxy-cholestanoic acid in serum from ill cats, compared with healthy cats. A significantly (P < 0.05) greater proportional amount of unidentified moieties eluting at 130 and 277 minutes was detected in urine of cats with hepatic lipidosis; we believe that the unidentified moiety eluting at 277 minutes is tau- tauroallocholic acid. Large proportional amounts of taurocholic and cholic acids were detected in urine of all cats, but ill cats had significantly (P < 0.05) greater quantities (quantitatively and proportional). Ill cats had significantly (P < 0.05) more taurocholic than cholic acid in urine. Because taurine is an essential amino acid for cats and is a necessary daily dietary constituent, large urinary losses of taurine in conjugated bile acids may further compromise the health of anorectic cats with severe hepatic lipidosis.

During the spring of the first year of a vaccine study, 57 of 238 calves (24%), in which modified-live Pasteurella haemolytica vaccine (MLV) was injected twice, developed 1 or more abscesses. Abscesses were not observed after multiple visual examinations of 437 calves given killed P. haemolytica bacterin or placebo injections of similar adjuvants used in the vaccine and bacterin. Calves that developed abscesses after the second injection of MLV weighed significantly (P < 0.05) less (on the basis of body weight adjusted for weaning weight) at the second injection than did those that did not develop abscesses. Compared with calves given MLV that did not develop observable abscesses, calves developing abscesses after the second injection of MLV weighed 11.0 and 14.2 kg less, respectively, at 56 days and 112 days after injection, and they had 11.0 kg less gain at 56 days after injection. Abscess prevalence tended to be highest on certain days or at certain locations used for cattle processing, and the prevalence of abscesses increased in cattle processed later on a given day. Abscesses were not observed in 2 other groups of similarly treated calves vaccinated in the autumn or in the subsequent spring.

A commercially available radioimmunoassay kit for measurement of human osteocalcin was validated for use in horses. For accurate measurement of equine serum osteocalcin, blood samples may be collected at a temperature between 20 and 25 C, then centrifuged within 90 minutes; serum may be stored at - 20 C in plastic tubes for up to 26 weeks. Serum may be thawed and refrozen up to 5 times without significant change in measured equine serum osteocalcin concentration. Assay sensitivity was 0.16 ng/ ml. Recovery of bovine osteocalcin standard added to equine serum was linear. Intra-assay coefficient of variation (x 100) for 2 equine serum pools was 6.9 (mean +/- SD, 13.9 +/- 1.0 ng/ml) and 7.5 (10.6 +/- 0.8 ng/ml) %. Interassay coefficient of variation for 3 equine serum pools measured in 12 assays was 12.5 (16.1 +/- 2.0 ng/ml), 12.7 (11.5 +/- 1.5 ng/ml), and 24.6 (3.0 +/- 0.7 ng/ml) %. Dilutional parallelism was documented by assaying pooled equine serum at 4 dilutions and correcting the mean result for dilution. Significant change was not observed in equine serum osteocalcin concentration for various time-of-day blood sample collections in horses housed under continuous lighting.

Keratan sulfate (KS) is a glycosaminoglycan, distribution of which is confined mostly to hyaline cartilage. As such, it is a putative marker of hyaline cartilage catabolism. In experiment 1, a focal osteochondral defect was made arthroscopically in 1 radial carpal bone of 2 ponies, and in 2 other ponies, chymopapain was injected into the radiocarpal joint to induce cartilage catabolism. Sequential and concurrent plasma and synovial fluid concentrations of KS were measured, up to 13 months after induction of cartilage injury, to determine whether changes in KS concentrations reflected cartilage catabolism. In experiment 2, a large, bilateral osteochondral defect was made in the radial carpal bones of 18 ponies, which were subsequently given postoperative exercise and/or injected intra-articularly with 250 mg of polysulfated glycosaminoglycan (PSGAG). Medication was given at surgery, then weekly for 4 weeks. Blood samples were collected and synovial fluid was aspirated before surgery, when medication was given, and at postmortem examination (postoperative week 17). The KS concentration was measured in these fluids to determine whether changes in KS concentration indicated an effect of joint treatment. In experiment 1, the concentration of KS in synovial fluid was highest 1 day after joint injury, and the concentration in plasma peaked 2 days after joint injury. For ponies receiving chymopapain intra-articularly (generalized cartilage catabolism), a fivefold increase over baseline was observed in the concentration of KS in plasma (peak mean, 1.2 microgram/ml), and a tenfold increase over baseline in synovial fluid (peak mean, 2.0 mg/ml) was observed. On average, these maxima were threefold higher than values in fluids of ponies with osteochondral defects (focal cartilage disease). In experiment 2, nonexercised ponies had lower KS concentration (as a percentage of the preoperative concentration) in synovial fluid than did exercised ponies at all postoperative times, and at postoperative week 17, this effect was significant (P < 0.05). This may be related to decreased turnover of KS in articular cartilage attributable to stall confinement and late increase in turnover related to exercise. Seventeen weeks after surgery, synovial fluid from exercised, medicated ponies had significantly (P < 0.05) higher KS content than did fluid from exercised, nonmedicated ponies. This indicated that exercise, when combined with medication, may increase KS release from articular cartilage. Synovial fluid from medicated joints of nonexercised ponies had significantly (P < 0.05) lower KS concentration than did synovial fluid from nonmedicated joints of nonexercised ponies. This indicated that, in nonexercised joints, medication with PSGAG may have decreased either release of KS from the articular cartilage into the synovial fluid or inhibited synthesis of KS. Concentration of KS in synovial fluid was not related clearly to the development of osteoarthritis in these ponies. Exercise or medication did not affect plasma KS concentration, and synovial fluid and plasma KS concentrations were not correlated. Data indicated that KS concentration in plasma and synovial fluid may be increased in acute, marked, generalized articular cartilage catabolism and that KS turnover in cartilage of joints with large osteochondral defects was affected by intra-articular PSGAG and postoperative exercise.

To study increase of the Salmonella population in the cecum of chickens infected with Eimeria tenella, quantitative changes in mannose residues on the cecal mucosa were investigated. Inhibition of S typhimurium adherence to the cecum by a 2% carbohydrate (D-mannose, D-galactose, L-fucose, alpha-methyl-D-glucoside) in phosphate-buffered saline solution was examined. Only D-mannose had inhibitory effects. Whereas, D-galactose had somewhat enhancing effects on adherence of S typhimurium to the cecal mucosa of uninfected germ-free chickens. In infected and uninfected chickens, D-mannose inhibited adherence of S typhimurium. D-mannose significantly (P < 0.05) increased adherence of Bacteroides sp. In infected and uninfected chickens, D-mannose did not have any effect on adherence of Clostridium perfringens and Bifidobacterium thermophilum. Under microscopic observation, only concanavalin A and Lens culinaris agglutinin, of 8 lectins examined, were recognized as lectin-positive staining lines or spots in the cecal mucosa, indicating presence of mannose residues on the cecal mucosa. In E tenella-infected chickens, lectin-positive staining was seen strongly on the coarse surface of damaged cells and at the bottom of the crypts. These results indicate that coccidial infection may induce increase of mannose residues on the intestinal surface and allow adhesion of more salmonellae to the intestine.

To assess the role of enterotoxigenic (ETEC), verotoxigenic (VTEC), and necrotoxigenic (NTEC) Escherichia coli in cattle with diarrhea, 1,524 colonies of E coli isolated from 197 calves with diarrhea and from 112 healthy controls were investigated for production of heat-labile and heat-stable enterotoxins, verotoxins, and cytotoxic necrotizing factors (CNF1 and CNF2). The ETEC were isolated from only 2 (1%) calves with diarrhea and from 5 (4%) healthy controls. In contrast, VTEC and NTEC that produced CNF2 were frequently identified. The VTEC were isolated from 18 (9%) calves with diarrhea and from 21 (19%) healthy cattle (P < 0.05), whereas NTEC that produced CNF2 were detected in 39 (20%) ill calves and in 38 (34%) controls (P < 0.01). Therefore, VTEC and NTEC that produced CNF2 were isolated significantly more frequently from healthy than diseased calves. Serogroups to which VTEC belonged differed considerably from the O groups involved with NTEC. Although, VTEC belonged to 18 serogroups, only 4 (O26, O103, O113, and O157) accounted for 56% (25 of 45) of verotoxigenic strains. The NTEC that produced CNF2 belonged to 26 serogroups; however, 64% (69 of 108) were from 6 serogroups (O1, O3, O15, O55, O88, and O123). Our results are compatible with cattle being a reservoir of VTEC that are pathogenic for human beings and with ETEC being an unusual cause of bovine colibacillosis in Galicia (northwestern Spain). Furthermore, results of this study indicate that VTEC and NTEC that produced CNF2 may be part of the normal intestinal flora of cattle.

The ability of viral glycoproteins (VP) VP4/VP7 reassortant swine rotaviruses (RV) to induce cross-neutralizing antibody against parental serotypes was investigated in guinea pigs. Using selective culture conditions, we produced 10 reassortant viruses that contained gene segment 4 of the OSU RV strain and gene segment 9 of the Gottfried RV strain. These reassortant RV grew to high titer in cell culture and were neutralized by monospecific antisera against both parental RV strains. The reassortant RV were chemically inactivated with binary ethylenimine, adjuvanted with aluminum hydroxide, and used to produce antisera in guinea pigs. The hyperimmune antisera had high neutralization titer against both parent RV strains. These results indicate that several of the reassortant RV may be capable of inducing neutralizing antibodies to VP4 and VP7 and may have future use as bivalent vaccine strains.