Canadian journal of comparative medicine : Revue canadienne de medecine comparee最新文献

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was developed to detect bovine serum antibody to infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus. The specificity of this assay in 304 bovine sera, collected from an infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus-free herd, was 100%; in sera from 62 cattle inoculated with an intranasal vaccine, its diagnostic sensitivity was 27.4% at one month and 100% at six months, postvaccination. In 303 bovine sera with standard serum neutralizing antibody titers of greater than or equal to 1:2 it showed 100% sensitivity; and in 463 random diagnostic samples, comparative tests indicated that enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay detected more seropositive animals (61.6%) than the standard serum neutralizing test (49.9%). The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method was considered to be technically superior as a routine diagnostic test for the detection of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis viral antibody in bovine sera.

The antibiograms of 408 Salmonella species isolated from large animals were collected during a three year study from 1981 through 1983. The predominant Salmonella serogroup among these isolates was group B. A consistently high percentage of all isolates were resistant to ampicillin and tetracycline. A pattern of increasing resistance to chloramphenicol and gentamicin was documented for serogroup B isolates while the susceptibility of the isolates to neomycin increased. There was a decrease in the incidence of susceptibility to sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim among the group E isolates. These changes were not as remarkable, nor as alarming, as the overall decreased susceptibility to chloramphenicol and gentamicin. An evaluation of the principles concerning use of antimicrobial agents in veterinary medicine for treatment of Salmonella infections is recommended.

Three monoclonal antibodies produced against Leptospira interrogans serovar pomona have been studied for their diagnostic usefulness. All three monoclonals reacted strongly in the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and indirect fluorescent antibody test with serovar pomona and did not react with serovars grippotyphosa, canicola, icterohaemorrhagiae and hardjo.

Concentrations of immunoglobulins and total proteins in second-day post-partum serum samples of 62 beef calves from multiparous dams were measured by zinc sulphate turbidity, electrophoresis, radial immunodiffusion and refractometry. These results, together with health records and weight gains, were used to evaluate the practice of routinely force-feeding 1 L of stored colostrum to suckled beef calves immediately after birth. There was no apparent benefit from such force-feeding. It did not result in greater 48-hour serum immunoglobulin levels, nor did it improve weight gains at 42 days. None of the calves required treatment for neonatal disease, but one force-fed calf died from inhalation of regurgitated colostrum.

The results of gross and histopathological study of a near-term male hamster exencephalic lateral cephalothoracopagus are presented. There was minimal duplication of the internal organs to the point of division at the abdomen. The appendicular skeleton was relatively unaffected by the severe malformations of the axial skeleton. The studies suggested that the lateral relationship of the skull to the spinal columns was a consequence of the presence of two embryonic neural tubes; the chordomesodermal systems of the right and left twins apparently contributed the tissues for the right and left cephalic neural folds, respectively. Anomalies of the vertebral bodies and neural arches were not related to failure of closure of the neural tube as there was no evidence for rachischisis in either body half. Rather, the anomalous axial skeletal elements were apparently the result of competing fields of development by two chordomesodermal systems. The twins were recovered from a dam maintained on a diet consisting of 80% cassava, a cyanide-containing staple consumed by humans in tropical countries. Because the numbers of resorbed implantation sites and malformed litermates were low and the failure to produce conjoined twins in other litters recovered from dams given cassava diets, it appears unlikely that the malformation was related to the composition of the diet.

This report presents the normal rate of decay of maternal antibody and the influence of maternal antibody on responses to a single vaccination with modified-live bovine virus diarrhea and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus vaccines at 196 days of age and on response to vaccinations with the same vaccines given twice at 84 and 196 days of age. Passive immunity decreased to near zero over the first six months of life for both bovine virus diarrhea and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis controls. All calves seroconverted to bovine virus diarrhea vaccine at 84 days of age, even though high levels (greater than 1:32) of maternal antibodies were present. These calves did not seroconvert to infectious bovine rhinotracheitis vaccine at 84 days of age when high levels (less than 1:16) of maternal antibodies were present. Calves responded well to bovine virus diarrhea and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis vaccines given only once at 196 days of age after passive immunity disappeared. Calves which were revaccinated with infectious bovine rhinotracheitis seroconverted showing a more rapid response than the single vaccinates. Those revaccinated with bovine virus diarrhea showed an immediate response of small magnitude.

Potentiation of the antibody response to inactivated bovine viral diarrhea virus by immunological adjuvants was studied in guinea pigs and cattle. The inactivated bovine viral diarrhea virus alone was demonstrated to be a weak immunogen. Addition of either 2 mg per mL diethylaminoethyl-dextran or 5% alhydrogel to inactivated bovine viral diarrhea virus did not or only slightly stimulated the antibody response; the combined adjuvants induced a significantly higher titer. A higher concentration (20 mg per mL) of diethylaminoethyl-dextran, on the contrary, suppressed the immune potentiation by the dual adjuvants. Combination of Bordetella bronchiseptica and alhydrogel adjuvants stimulated a high titer of antibody. The titer was further elevated upon revaccination and was significantly higher than that induced by alhydrogel alone. In cattle, alhydrogel enhanced the immune response and the additional inclusion of diethylaminoethyl-dextran did not cause a significant potentiation of the immunity. However, the antibody decay rate was significantly slower when stimulated by the combined adjuvants.

Forty-eight hours after oral administration of a single dose (3.0 mg/kg BW) of T-2 toxin to mice on days 7, 8, 10, 11 and 12 of pregnancy, 17% maternal mortality following vaginal hemorrhage was encountered. Necropsy examination of the dead females revealed that massive hemorrhages originating from the placental regions had occurred into the reproductive tract. This observation supports the studies in which hemorrhagic disease has been described as characteristic for intoxications with T-2 toxin. The results suggest that fatal hemorrhage during pregnancy can occur in hemochorial and hemoendotheliochorial placental mammals as a result of T-2 toxin administration.

Six week old BDF1 female mice were exposed to cadmium chloride in the drinking water at concentrations ranging from 0 to 50 micrograms/mL cadmium for three weeks. The humoral immune response against sheep red blood cells which is T-lymphocyte and macrophage dependent, was suppressed in a dose dependent fashion with the maximum suppression of 28.2% observed in the highest exposure group (P less than 0.0001). Mitogen studies demonstrated that cadmium was a weak mitogen, producing a dose-dependent enhancement of blastogenesis (P = 0.026). T-lymphocyte responses which were induced by concanavalin A were not affected by cadmium exposure (P = 0.284). A dose-dependent enhancement of the B-lymphocyte activity was produced in the presence of cadmium when the lymphocytes were induced with Escherichia coli, lipopolysaccharide, a B-lymphocyte mitogen (P = 0.007). These results suggest that the immunosuppressive effects of cadmium associated with the humoral immune response are not due to an impairment of lymphocyte proliferation, an intermediate step involved in the generation of an immune response. The immunosuppressive effects were produced at relatively low cadmium exposures as indicated by the renal cadmium concentrations suggesting that the immune systems is very vulnerable to the toxic effects of cadmium.

Epidemiological studies on bovine ocular carcinoma were reviewed. Reports on the frequency and the distribution of the disease indicate that it is still a very prevalent and economically important disease. It is recognized throughout North America, but is more frequent in lower latitudes under range conditions. Etiological factors including ultraviolet light, circumocular apigmentation and viruses, as well as the pathogenesis, are considered in light of current knowledge on carcinogenesis of this tumor. It is likely that the induction of bovine ocular carcinoma is multifactorial and the precise roles played by each of the various factors are not yet understood.