Effect of type of intravaginal progestagen treatment of estrous response and reproductive performance of ewes

A comparison was made of the relative effectiveness of sponge pessaries impregnated with 40mg flourogestone acetate (FGA) or 60mg medroxyprogesterone acetate (MAP) to induce a synchronized estrus in ewes. Ewes were treated with sponge pessaries for 14 days and 500 IU pregnant mares' serum gonadotropin was injected i.m. at the time of sponge removal. The degree and pattern of mating response of ewes were similar, irrespective of the treatment used, approximately 92% of the ewes being marked by the ram by 72h after sponge removal. No significant differences in fertility or litter size were observed between the treatment groups. Ewes treated with FGA sponges had a fertility of 53% and litter size of 2.3 after mating at the synchronized estrus. The corresponding values for ewes treated with MAP sponges were 57% and 2.1. Use of MAP sponges was associated with a 17.8% sponge loss during treatment compared with 1% sponge loss in ewes treated with FGA sponges. Such losses could compromise the use of MAP sponges by reducing their overall efficacy.     

Protection by Desferrioxamine Against Histopathological Changes of the Liver in the Post-Oligaemic Phase of Clinical Haemorrhagic Shock in Dogs: Correlation with Improved Survival Rate and Recovery

Haemorrhagic shock was produced in anaesthetized dogs, by rapid arterial bleeding to mean arterial blood pressure 35 mmHg, and maintained oligaemic for 4 h followed by return of withdrawn blood(R0WB). Dogs were observed for 72 h after ROWB for survival and recovery, and, for histopathological (HP) studies on liver, dogs were sacrificed 2 h after ROWB in non-survival experiments. Desferrioxamine mesylate (25mg/kg) was administered intra-muscularly at 2,3 and 4h after blood loss in survival experiments and for HP studies the drug was given at 4 h in one group and at 2 h plus 4 h after blood loss in the second group. With the drug given at 3 or 4h, survival was 70% and 100% while in the 2h and the untreated groups it was 50%. Recovery was rapid in all the drug treated survivors, few became conscious within 30min. showed slight activity by 4-6 h, all were almost normally active by 24 and fully so by 72 h after ROWB. All the 5 control survivors remained unconscious/drowsy upto 24 h; 3 were sluggish at 72 h. By group analysis, serum iron elevation during the oligaemic and at the end of the post-oligaemic phase was less in the drug-treated animals. HP changes of shock in the liver studied by light microscopy, were markedly reduced in severity and were less prevalent in the drug-treated dogs. The salutory effects of desferrioxamine may be due to inhibition of iron catalyzed free-radical production and tissue damage, through its strong iron chelating action. It may have a therapeutic advantage in this emergency condition without the disadvantages of toxicity inherent in prolonged use.     

Lithium in drinking water and the incidences of crimes,suicides, and arrests related to drug addictions

Using data for 27 Texas counties from 1978-1987, it is shown that the incidence rates of suicide, homicide, and rape are significantly higher in counties whose drinking water supplies contain little or no lithium than in counties with water lithium levels ranging from 70-170 micrograms/L; the differences remain statistically significant (p less than 0.01) after corrections for population density. The corresponding associations with the incidence rates of robbery, burglary, and theft were statistically significant with p less than 0.05. These results suggest that lithium has moderating effects on suicidal and violent criminal behavior at levels that may be encountered in municipal water supplies. Comparisons of drinking water lithium levels, in the respective Texas counties, with the incidences of arrests for possession of opium, cocaine, and their derivatives (morphine, heroin, and codeine) from 1981-1986 also produced statistically significant inverse associations, whereas no significant or consistent associations were observed with the reported arrest rates for possession of marijuana, driving under the influence of alcohol, and drunkenness. These results suggest that lithium at low dosage levels has a generally beneficial effect on human behavior, which may be associated with the functions of lithium as a nutritionally-essential trace element. Subject to confirmation by controlled experiments with high-risk populations, increasing the human lithium intakes by supplementation, or the lithiation of drinking water is suggested as a possible means of crime, suicide, and drug-dependency reduction at the individual and community level.     

The effects of interleukin-1 therapy on peripheral blood granulocyte function in humans

During a phase I trial of interleukin-1 (IL-1) in patients with ovarian carcinomas, the effects of this treatment on blood granulocyte respiratory burst and locomotive responses were examined. Differences in baseline granulocyte function in patients as well as dose-related effects of IL-1 treatment were observed. Patients enrolled early in the trial (low-dose patients) had significantly lower locomotive responses before treatment than their paired controls; these low responses normalized after 5 days of continuous-infusion IL-1 treatment. Patients enrolled later (high-dose patients) had normal locomotive responses before treatment and IL-1 treatment was associated with suppression of responses to selected stimuli at the end of treatment. Pretreatment respiratory burst responses in both low-and high-dose patient groups were essentially normal, but the rates of granulocyte H₂O₂ production following phorbol myristate acetate stimulation became significantly less than control values at the end of treatment. In vitro exposure of either patient or control cells to 150 U/ml IL-1 did not alter their locomotive or respiratory burst responses, suggesting the observed in vivo effects were not mediated directly by IL-1. Treatment with IL-1 is associated with changes in ex vivo granulocyte function that are related to the IL-1 dose. Treatment with low doses of IL-1 may provide a means of normalizing abnormal polymorphonuclear leukocyte function in some patients with ovarian malignancies.     

Recovery of Lyme disease spirochetes from patients.

Since the summer of 1982, we have cultured patient specimens for Lyme disease spirochetes. Of 118 patients cultured, four specimens yielded spirochetes: two from blood, one from a skin biopsy specimen of erythema chronicum migrans (ECM), and one from cerebrospinal fluid. All four isolates appeared identical when examined with a monoclonal antibody. However, attempts to recover the spirochete from synovium or synovial fluid were unsuccessful. In addition, the organism could not be visualized in skin or synovial biopsy specimens using the avidin-biotin peroxidase complex detection system. Thus, the current yield in culturing spirochetes from patients is quite low, and it is not yet known whether the organism is still alive later in the disease when arthritis is present.     

Influence of free fatty acid anion on the binding of warfarin to cytoplasmic proteins from rat liver

In vitro binding studies have shown that warfarin binds strongly to both ligandins (Y) and Z protein obtained from rat liver cytosol with dissociation constants of 11.7 and 10.1 μM respectively. Increasing concentrations of oleate ion significantly increased the dissociation constant of warfarin with either protein, whereas laurate ion showed the same behavior only with Z protein. On the other hand, the binding of warfarin to liver cytoplasmic proteins in vivo was decreased in 72-h-pre-fasted rats, although such fasting failed to produce any increase in the in vivo levels of the cytoplasmic free fatty acids (FFA). However, based on the results of the in vitro binding study, it is suggested that changes in the composition of hepatic cytoplasmic free fatty acids as a result of fasting could reduce the in vivo binding of warfarin to Y and Z proteins and hence could lead to an increase of unbound warfarin in liver cytosol.     

Social interactions between adult male and infant rhesus monkeys in Nepal

In 1,506 hours of field observations on free-ranging rhesus monkeys in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, in 1974 and 1975 18 cases of favorable social interactions between adult males and infants were observed. Eleven of these were brief encounters of play or grooming; seven were more extended cases of male care. One of the latter was a complete adoption of a neonatal orphan by a dominant male. This adoption was possessive and restrictive and it resulted in the death of the infant by starvation within three days. A similar adoption involving the same male occurred in 1976 and it also resulted in the death of the infant. Most of the favorable male-infant interactions occurred during the winter and spring when the infants were 6 to 12 months of age. These favorable social interactions involved eight males in six different troops, out of a total of about 48 males in 12 troops in our study population of approximately 600 monkeys. These observations are discussed in light of current sociobiological theories.