Alternative low doses and routes of administering a prostaglandin F2 alpha analogue to induce luteolysis in Nelore cows

The present study was conducted in order to verify the efficacy of lower doses and alternative routes of a prostaglandin F2 alpha analogue, luprostiol (PGF), for the induction of luteolysis and the precipitation of estrus in nonlactating Nelore cows (Bos taurus indicus). A conventional dose (15 mg) of PGF was compared to doses lower than the conventional dose, which ranges from 10 to 50%, that were administered intramuscularly (IM), intravulvosubmucosally (IVSM), or in the Bai-hui acupuncture site located within the lumbosacral area. The cows were administered PGF 8 day after estrus in the presence of a corpus luteum, and randomly assigned to the following groups: G1 (positive control), 15 mg, IM (n = 23); G2, 7.5 mg, IM (n = 23); G3, 3.75 mg, I M (n = 24); G4, 7.5 mg, IVSM (n = 25); G5, 3.75 mg, Bai-hui acupoint (n = 24); and G6, 1.5 mg, Bai-hui acupoint (n = 25). The results indicated that 50% of a conventional dose of PGF (7.5 mg) resulted in a complete luteal regression (plasma progesterone < 1 ng/ml) at Hour 48, and hastened estrus, regardless of whether or not PGF was administered IM or IVSM. Comparatively, 10 or 25% of the conventional dose, even when administered to the Bai-hui acupoint, resulted in an initial reduction in the concentration of progesterone at Hour 24, followed by an increase observed at Hour 48. In conclusion, 25% of a conventional PGF dose administered via the Bai-hui acupoint proved inadequate to induce a complete luteal regression, whereas 50% of a conventional dose administered IM or IVSM was found to be the minimal dose required to induce effectively a complete luteal regression, and to precipitate the onset of estrus in nonlactating Nelore cows.

Effect of age and abomasal puncture on peritoneal fluid, hematology, and serum biochemical analyses in young calves

The goals of this study were to evaluate techniques for collection of peritoneal fluid from calves, establish reference ranges for fibrinogen in peritoneal fluid during the 1st month of life, and determine if abomasal puncture would alter peritoneal fluid or hematologic variables. Twenty-two healthy Holstein calves underwent 3 peritoneal fluid collections on day 1, day 15, and day 30 of age. Fibrinogen concentration in peritoneal fluid was 0.20 g/dL and 0.10 g/dL (P < .05) for day 1 and day 30, respectively, and 0.10 at day 15 (P > .05) for calves without abomasal puncture. Plasma fibrinogen concentration was 0.60 g/dL and 0.70 g/dL (P < .05) for days 15 and 30, respectively, in calves without abomasal puncture. There were no significant differences (P <= .05) in peritoneal fluid and peripheral blood total protein and fibrinogen concentrations, specific gravity, total and differential cell count, or erythrocyte counts between calves with or without abomasal puncture. We concluded that the reference ranges established for fibrinogen and total protein concentration are important for accurate evaluation of peritoneal fluid in calves for further comparison with similar-aged animals with gastrointestinal-tract or abdominal-cavity disease. Additionally, accidental abomasal puncture does not alter values of fibrinogen, total protein, and nucleated cell Count in peritoneal fluid and does not cause apparent clinical abnormalities.

Effect of lidocaine on the minimum alveolar concentration of sevoflurane in dogs

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Influence of experimental inflammatory response on hepatic hepcidin gene expression and plasma iron concentration in sheep

Hepcidin is a highly conserved disulfide-bonded peptide that plays a central role in iron homeostasis. During systemic inflammation, hepcidin up-regulation is responsible for hypoferremia. This study aimed to analyze the influence of the inflammatory process induced by complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on the liver expression of hepcidin mRNA transcripts and plasma iron concentration of sheep. The expression levels of hepcidin transcripts were up-regulated after CFA or LPS. Hypoferremic response was observed at 12 h (15.46 +/- 6.05 mu mol/L) or 6 h (14.59 +/- 4.38 mu mol/L) and iron reached its lowest level at 96 h (3.08 +/- 1.18 mu mol/L) or 16 h (4.06 +/- 1.58 mu mol/L) after CFA administration or LPS infusion, respectively. This study demonstrated that the iron regulatory hormone hepcidin was up-regulated in sheep liver in response to systemic inflammation. These findings extend our knowledge on the relationship between the systemic inflammatory response, hepcidin and iron, and provide a starting point for additional studies on iron metabolism and the inflammatory process in sheep. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Validation of Fingernail Fluoride Concentration as a Predictor of Risk for Dental Fluorosis

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Comparison of three concentration methods for the recovery of canine intestinal parasites from stool samples

The aim of present study was to compare the efficiency of a commercial assay and two conventional methods for fecal concentration in detecting canine gastrointestinal parasites. Fecal samples from 254 dogs were processed by centrifugation-sedimentation (CS), centrifugation-flotation (CF) and a commercial assay for fecal concentration (TF-test (R)). The following parasites were detected: Ancylostoma (37.8%), Giardia (16.9%), Toxocara canis (8.7%), Trichuris vulpis (7.1%), Isospora (3.5%), and Sarcocystis (2.7%). The calculated analytical sensitivity indicated that CF was more accurate (P < 0.01) in detecting Ancylostoma, T. canis, T. vulpis and Giardia infections. However, CF showed significantly higher sensitivity only for Ancylostoma, compared to the other two methods. The kappa index value of diagnostic agreement between TF-test and CF was high for T. canis (83%) and moderate for Giardia (72%) and Ancylostoma (63%). The advantages and limitations of each method were assessed for individual diagnosis and epidemiological investigation. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Optimisation of a continuous flash fermentation for butanol production using the response surface methodology

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Influence of nitrogen source and sucrose concentration on inulinase production by Kluyveromyces marxianus in fed-batch fermentation

This work studied the influence of nitrogen source and sucrose concentration in the feeding medium for biomass and inulinase production by Kluyveromyces marxianus var. bulgaricus. The results show that the best nitrogen source was a combination of 5 g/L of yeast extract and 10 g/L of peptone. Both cellular growth and enzymatic activity increased with sucrose concentration in the feeding medium (from 200 to 500 g/L). When the sucrose concentration reached 600 g/L, both cellular growth and enzymatic activity decreased.