Effect of xylazine on interovulatory interval and serum progesterone concentrations in the horse mare

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of the alpha(2)-adrenergic agonist, xylazine, on interovulatory interval and progesterone concentrations in the horse mare. Mares were assigned to one of four treatments: Group 1 (controls) received an intramuscular injection (i.m.) of 5 cc saline (n=6), Group 2 received 10 mg prostaglandin F(2alpha) (PGF(2alpha)) i.m. (n=5), Group 3 received 500 mg xylazine i.m. (n=6) and group 4 received an intravenous injection (i.v) of 350 mg xylazine (n=6). Treatment was administered on Day 10 of the estrous cycle (Day 0 = Day of detected ovulation). There was no difference in length of interovulatory interval between PGF(2alpha)-treated mares and control mares (mean +/- SEM; 18.8 +/- 1.0 versus 21.7 +/- 1.6 d). When compared with either xylazine-treated group, PGF(2alpha)-treated mares had a shorter interovulatory interval (18.3 +/- 1.0 d versus 22.2 +/- 0.6 and 22.8 +/- 1.3 d, respectively; P < 0.05). There was no difference in the length of interovulatory interval between control mares and either xylazine-treated group. At the time of treatment all mares had progesterone concentrations > 10 ng/ml, therefore the onset of luteolysis was defined as the day of the estrous cycle when progesterone concentrations decreased below 10 ng/ml. In PGF(2alpha)-treated mares, this event occurred earlier than in any other group (Day 11.2 +/- 0.2 of the estrous cycle versus 16.0 +/- 1.3 for control, Day 15.7 +/- 0.2 for Group 3 and Day 15.2 +/- 0.6 for Group 4; P < 0.002). It was concluded that a single treatment with xylazine, either by an intramuscular or intravenous route, had no significant effect on interovulatory interval or progesterone concentrations in horse mares.     

Testicular prosthesis in a Quarterhorse stallion: a case report

A testicular prosthesis was surgically removed from the scrotum of a Quarterhorse stallion presented for evaluation of a large, firm, unilateral scrotal mass. The prosthesis was constructed from methyl methacrylate moulded around a roll of fiberglass casting tape. The prosthesis had been surgically implanted in the scrotum approximately 4 yr prior to presentation in order to give the appearance of 2 testicles in the scrotum for showing and breeding purposes. The horse had been used to successfully breed mares prior to presentation and produced 4.046 x 10(9) progressively motile, morphologically normal spermatozoa in an ejaculate collected 4 mo after surgery to remove the prosthesis. Ethical issues raised by this case are discussed.     

Plasmid characterization and pulsed-field electrophoretic analysis demonstrate that ampicillin-resistant strains of Salmonella enteritidis phage type 6a are derived from Salm. enteritidis phage type 4

Plasmid incompatibility studies have demonstrated that strains of Salmonella enteritidis phage type (PT) 6a resistant to ampicillin possess a 36 megadalton incompatibility group (Inc) X plasmid coding for resistance to ampicillin which is capable of converting strains of Salm. enteritidis belonging to PTs 1 and 4 to PT 6a, and PT 8 to PT 13. However, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) has demonstrated that all clinical isolates of PT 6a have a characteristic Xba I pulsed-field profile which is distinct from that of PT 1 and which can only be differentiated from that of PT 4 by the presence of plasmid-associated fragments of less than 45 kb. It is concluded that ampicillin-resistant strains of Salm. enteritidis PT 6a are derived from strains of Salm. enteritidis PT 4 by acquisition of an Inc X ampicillin resistance plasmid.     

Equine body temperature and progesterone fluctuations during estrus and near parturition

Body temperature and serum progesterone concentrations were measured in mares to determine if a change in either could be useful in predicting estrus, ovulation or parturition. There was no significant correlation (P > 0.1) between rectal temperature and the environmental temperature or progesterone concentration. Progesterone concentration did correlate with stage of estrous cycle and the stage of pregnancy. Significant differences (P < 0.05) in temperature were noted at different times throughout the day. No change in temperature occurred that could be utilized to predict estrus, ovulation or parturition. The changes in serum progesterone concentration were only useful in detecting estrus.     

The invasive potential of Salmonella enteritidis phage types for young chickens

Strains of Salmonella enteritidis phage type 4 were more invasive for young chicks than strains of phage types 7, 8 and 13a. This may be one of the factors which has contributed to the establishment of Salm. enteritidis phage type 4 in poultry in the UK.     

Asymmetric incorporation of 4-(2′-carboxyphenyl)-4-oxobutyrate into phylloquinone by Zea mays

Radioactivity from 4-(2′-carboxyphenyl)-4-oxobutyrate-[2-¹⁴C] and 4-(2′-carboxyphenyl)- 4-oxobutyrate-[3-¹⁴C] was incorporated into C-3 and C-2 respectively of phylloquinone in maize shoots. These results show that this substrate is incorporated in the same asymmetric manner into phylloquinone as it is into the bacterial menaquinones.     

Complete structure of the hemagglutinin gene from the human influenza A/Victoria/3/75 (H3N2) strain as determined from cloned DNA

The complete sequence of a hemagglutinin (HA) gene of a recent human influenza A strain, A/Victoria/3/75, is 1768 nucleotides long and contains the information for 567 amino acids. It codes for a signal peptide of 16 amino acids, the HA1 chain of the mature hemagglutinin of 329 amino acids, a connecting region between HA1 and HA2 consisting of a single arginine residue and the HA2 portion of 221 amiino acids. The sequence is compared with the hemagglutinin of two members of other subtypes, the human H2 strain A/Jap/305/57 and the avian Hav1 strain A/FPV/Rostock/34, and with one of the same H3 subtype, A/Memphis/3/72. To align the HA1 chain of different major subtypes several deletions/insertions of single amino acids must be invoked, but two more extensive differences are found at both ends, one leading to an extension of the amino terminal sequence of HA1 and the other (four residues) occurring in the region processed away between HA1 and HA2. Comparison of the HA1 of two H3 strains suggests that drift probably depends on single base mutations, some of which change antigenic determinants. The HA2 region, which apparently is not involved in the immune response, is highly conserved even between different subtypes, and single base substitutions account for all the observed diversity. A hydrophobic segment of 24 residues is present in the same position close to the carboxyl terminus of HA2 in both Victoria and FPV, and presumably functions in implantation into the lipid bilayer. The many conserved features not only in HA2 but also in HA1 suggest a rather rigid architecture for the whole hemagglutinin molecule.     

The interaction of glycolysis, gluconeogenesis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle in rat liver in vivo

1. The equations derived by Heath (1968) were applied to data from experiments on rats in four metabolic states: fed, post-absorptive, starved and 2hr. after an eventually lethal injury. The data used were: (a) The fractions of label injected as C1-, C2- and C3-pyruvate (where the prefix indicates the position of labelling) that are incorporated into carbon dioxide and glucose in post-absorptive and injured rats (yields). Yields could be corrected to yields on label taken up by the liver. (b) The (C5-label in glutamate)/(total label in glutamate) ratio in the liver after C2-pyruvate in rats in all four states. (c) The distribution of label within glutamate after C2-pyruvate or C2-alanine in the livers of fed, post-absorptive and starved rats. (d) The distribution of label within glucose after C2-lactate or C2-pyruvate in starved rats. (e) The relative specific radioactivities of pyruvate, aspartate, glutamate and (in two states only) of glucose 6-phosphate after injection of [U-(14)C]glucose into rats in all four states. These data were previously published, except those after (e) and some after (b) above, which are given in this paper. 2. In addition the concentrations of pyruvate, citrate, glutamate and aspartate in the livers of post-absorptive and injured rats were found. Injury decreased glutamate and citrate concentrations and to a smaller extent aspartate and pyruvate concentrations. 3. Non-steady-state theory showed that most of the data could be used without serious error in steady-state theory. Steady-state theory correlated all but one observation (the relative yields of (14)CO(2) from C2- and C3-pyruvate) listed after (a)-(e) above within the experimental errors, and gave rough estimates of the rates of pyruvate carboxylation, conversion of pyruvate and fat into acetyl-CoA and utilization of glutamate. The main conclusions were: (a) symmetrization of label in oxaloacetate both in the mitochondrion and in the cytoplasm was far from complete, because oxaloacetate did not equilibrate with fumarate in either. From this and other findings it was deduced: (b) that malate or fumarate or both left the mitochondrion, and not oxaloacetate; (c) that there was a loss from the mitochondrion of a fraction of the malate or fumarate or both formed from succinate, and (d) the resulting deficiency of oxaloacetate for the perpetuation of the tricarboxylic acid cycle was made up from pyruvate in fed and post-absorptive rats, but (e) in the starved rat could only be made up by utilization of glutamate. (f) In the fed rat the tricarboxylic acid cycle ran mostly on pyruvate, but in the post-absorptive and starved rat mostly on fat. (g) In the injured rat the tricarboxylic acid cycle was slowed, label in oxaloacetate was completely symmetrized (cf. conclusion a), and the tricarboxylic acid cycle utilized glutamate. (h) The conclusions were not invalidated by isotopic exchange, i.e. flux of label without net flux of compound, nor by interaction with lipogenic processes. (i) In the kidneys interaction between the tricarboxylic acid cycle and gluconeogenesis was different from in the liver, and was much less. The effects on the theory were roughly assessed, and were small. 4. The experiments and optimum experimental conditions required to check the theory are listed, and several predictions, open to experimental confirmation, are made.     

Conversion of Salmonella enteritidis phage type 4 to phage type 7 involves loss of lipopolysaccharide with concomitant loss of virulence

Three strains of Salmonella enteritidis phage type 4 (PT4) and 33 strains of S. enteritidis phage type 7 (PT7) were examined for the ability to produce lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and for plasmid carriage. The LPS of all strains of PT4 gave a typical 'ladder' pattern by SDS-PAGE and silver staining, and on serotyping these strains were shown to express the O-antigens 9, 12. In contrast, strains of PT7 did not express long-chain LPS and were autoagglutinable. All strains of PT4 and the majority of strains of PT7 carried a single plasmid of 38 MDa, indistinguishable when characterised by restriction endonuclease fragmentation analysis. Epidemiological and experimental observations have demonstrated a relationship between strains of S. enteritidis PT4 and PT7, and our results, using mice, show that the loss of ability of strains of PT4 to snythesise LPS is responsible for the conversion of highly virulent strains of PT4 to avirulent strains of PT7. From epidemiological data of human infections in England and Wales, we suggest that strains of S. enteritidis PT7 may be less virulent for humans.