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Biomedical subjects

J Armour

Publications and source records attributed to J Armour.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Ascorbate prevents microvascular dysfunction in the skeletal muscle of the septic rat.

Septic patients have low plasma ascorbate concentrations and compromised microvascular perfusion. The purpose of the present experiments was to determine whether ascorbate improves capillary function in volume-resuscitated sepsis. Cecal ligation and perforation (CLP) was performed on male Sprague-Dawley rats. The concentration of ascorbate in plasma and urine, mean arterial blood pressure, and density of continuously perfused capillaries in the extensor digitorum longus muscle were measured 24 h after surgery. CLP caused a 50% decrease (from 56 +/- 4 to 29 +/- 2 microM) in plasma ascorbate concentration, 1,000% increase (from 46 +/- 13 to 450 +/- 93 microM) in urine ascorbate concentration, 20% decrease (from 115 +/- 2 to 91 +/- 2 mmHg) in mean arterial pressure, and 30% decrease (from 24 +/- 1 to 17 +/- 1 capillaries/mm) in the density of perfused capillaries, compared with time-matched controls. A bolus of intravenous ascorbate (7.6 mg/100 g body wt) administered immediately after the CLP procedure increased plasma ascorbate concentration and restored both blood pressure and density of perfused capillaries to control levels. In vitro experiments showed that ascorbate (100 microM) inhibited replication of bacteria and prevented hydrogen peroxide injury to cultured microvascular endothelial cells. These results indicate that ascorbate is lost in the urine during sepsis and that a bolus of ascorbate can prevent microvascular dysfunction in the skeletal muscle of septic animals. Our study supports the view that ascorbate may be beneficial for patients with septic syndrome.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Allelic imbalance on chromosome 1 in human breast cancer. I. Minisatellite and RFLP analysis.

In order to characterise the role of chromosome 1 more fully in breast cancer, polymorphic markers mapping along the length of the whole chromosome were used to assess a panel of 71 tumour-lymphocyte pairs for allelic imbalance. Complex patterns of alterations were established that are consistent with cytogenetic data in the literature. Deletion mapping of individuals with loss of heterozygosity identified five independent smallest common regions of deletion, two of which are novel. There are also three discrete regions showing a gain in copy number of one homologue. The two arms of the chromosome may be subject to different events; the short arm primarily undergoes interstitial deletions, whereas the long arm is subject to whole arm events (as both gains and losses) as well as regional deletions.

Alleles↗
PubMed1995

A 4-year study on the effectiveness of alternate grazing of cattle and sheep in the control of bovine parasitic gastro-enteritis.

In many farming enterprises, animal management systems which could provide a practical and effective alternative to chemotherapy for the control of bovine helminthosis would be readily accepted. One system which has been proposed and shown to be effective in the short or medium term involves grazing different host species on a rotational basis. The study described here examined the effect of alternating cattle and sheep annually over an extended period of 4 years. Up to the second grazing season the system appeared to be successful, with a marked reduction in the cattle worm burdens. However, by the end of the study period the parasite burdens in calves grazed on the alternated pasture were equal to, or greater than, those of set-stocked control animals. It was thus clear that the alternate grazing strategy had failed. Data obtained from other parameters measured, i.e. faecal egg counts, pasture larval numbers and plasma pepsinogen levels, confirmed this observation.

Animal Feed↗
PubMed1993

Efficacy of abamectin against nematodes in cattle.

Eight controlled trials were conducted, using 96 cattle of European breeds, to evaluate the efficacy of abamectin against natural and artificially acquired infections of adult and fourth-stage larvae of all the economically important gastrointestinal nematodes and lungworms in Germany and the United Kingdom. Half the animals were treated on one occasion with abamectin at a dose of 200 micrograms/kg bodyweight given subcutaneously while the other half remained untreated. Worms were counted 14 or 21 days after treatment or 28 days after the last infection. The treatment was highly effective (> 99 to 100 per cent) (P < 0.05) at removing immature (L4) stages and adult worms of the following species: Ostertagia ostertagi (inhibited larvae included), Trichostrongylus axei, Haemonchus contortus, Bunostomum phlebotomum, Cooperia species Oesophagostomum radiatum and Dictyocaulus viviparus. Naturally acquired adult C surnabada and Trichuris discolor infections were also significantly (P < 0.05) reduced. For Nematodirus helvetianus the efficacy varied from 89.8 to > 99 per cent (P > 0.1 to < 0.01). Abamectin gave full protection against the gastrointestinal nematodes O ostertagi, H contortus, Cooperia species and O radiatum for at least seven days and against the lungworm D viviparus for at least 14 days after treatment.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Survival and development of ivermectin-resistant or susceptible strains of Haemonchus contortus under field and laboratory conditions.

The free-living development of three strains of Haemonchus contortus was studied in two experiments. Day 21 faecal samples were collected from lambs infected with either a susceptible strain, a laboratory-selected ivermectin (IVM) resistant strain or a South African field strain showing multiple anthelmintic resistance, which included IVM. No eggs hatched in samples cultured at 4 or 10 degrees C. At 22 degrees C the laboratory-selected strain showed the highest rate of development while at 27 degrees C the susceptible strain produced the highest yield of third stage larvae (L3): at both temperatures the field strain showed the lowest percentage development to L3. The second experiment was a field study carried out in southern Brazil. Faeces containing either an IVM-susceptible or an IVM-resistant strain of H contortus were placed in two series of grass plots during each of three summer months. Soil subsequently yielded more larvae than did grass suggesting migration or mechanical transport into the soil. For plots contaminated during the first two months there was no significant difference in recovery rate between the two strains (P > 0.05). When contamination occurred during the third month, the IVM-resistant strain produced significantly higher recovery rates (P < 0.05) from both pasture and soil.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Use of reseeded pastures as an aid in the control of gastrointestinal nematodes.

The degree of nematode infectivity of a previously contaminated pasture which was reseeded after harvesting of a soya bean crop was determined by use of four tracer lambs and four tracer calves. The eight tracers were put to graze for 14 days and housed for another 14 days before being slaughtered, when faeces and the intestinal tracts were examined for worm eggs and parasites. With the exception of one animal, which was found to be harbouring 20 Cooperia punctata, the tracers had no adult or immature nematodes. The implications of the use of such pastures are discussed in relation to their possible role in parasite control and anthelmintic resistance in Brazil.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Laboratory selection for ivermectin resistance in Haemonchus contortus.

A strain of Haemonchus contortus, susceptible to ivermectin (IVM), was submitted to a selection procedure using IVM at 0.02 mg kg-1 during nine successive passages in lambs. Treatment reduced worm egg counts (epg) by more than 99% up to the seventh passage, but thereafter there was no significant reduction in epg. The efficacy of ivermectin against the ninth selected generation compared with the original susceptible strain was assessed. The results showed that animals infected with the selected strain and treated with IVM did not show any significant reduction (P > 0.05) in epg compared with a 99.9% reduction in the susceptible group. At necropsy, post-treatment worm burdens confirmed that the selection pressure applied to the original strain had been successful in stimulating resistance to IVM.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

The large lungs of elite swimmers: an increased alveolar number?

In order to obtain further insight into the mechanisms relating to the large lung volumes of swimmers, tests of mechanical lung function, including lung distensibility (K) and elastic recoil, pulmonary diffusion capacity, and respiratory mouth pressures, together with anthropometric data (height, weight, body surface area, chest width, depth and surface area), were compared in eight elite male swimmers, eight elite male long distance athletes and eight control subjects. The differences in training profiles of each group were also examined. There was no significant difference in height between the subjects, but the swimmers were younger than both the runners and controls, and both the swimmers and controls were heavier than the runners. Of all the training variables, only the mean total distance in kilometers covered per week was significantly greater in the runners. Whether based on: (a) adolescent predicted values; or (b) adult male predicted values, swimmers had significantly increased total lung capacity ((a) 145 +/- 22%, (mean +/- SD) (b) 128 +/- 15%); vital capacity ((a) 146 +/- 24%, (b) 124 +/- 15%); and inspiratory capacity ((a) 155 +/- 33%, (b) 138 +/- 29%), but this was not found in the other two groups. Swimmers also had the largest chest surface area and chest width. Forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) was largest in the swimmers ((b) 122 +/- 17%) and FEV1 as a percentage of forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC)% was similar for the three groups. Pulmonary diffusing capacity (DLCO) was also highest in the swimmers (117 +/- 18%). All of the other indices of lung function, including pulmonary distensibility (K), elastic recoil and diffusion coefficient (KCO), were similar. These findings suggest that swimmers may have achieved greater lung volumes than either runners or control subjects, not because of greater inspiratory muscle strength, or differences in height, fat free mass, alveolar distensibility, age at start of training or sternal length or chest depth, but by developing physically wider chests, containing an increased number of alveoli, rather than alveoli of increased size. However, in this cross-sectional study, hereditary factors cannot be ruled out, although we believe them to be less likely.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

The pattern of faecal egg output in lambs infected with a multiple resistant strain of Haemonchus contortus after treatment with albendazole.

Worm-free lambs (n = 6) were infected with 5,000 L3 of an ivermectin/benzimidazole/closantel resistant strain of Haemonchus contortus. On Day 21 post infection animals were allocated, according to worm egg counts, to 2 groups of 3 animals each and on Day 29 one group was treated with albendazole at 3.8 mg kg-1, while animals in the other group remained untreated as controls. All animals were slaughtered on Day 44 when the treated group was found to have 2,083 +/- 1,718 worms and the controls 2,783 +/- 633, a reduction of 25.2% in worm burdens. The pattern of egg output was monitored and it was found that 2 d after dosing, worm egg counts had been suppressed by 89% in the treated group; thereafter the egg counts increased, but never returned to the pretreatment levels and by Day 15 post treatment, they were still 41.1% lower in the treated group than in the controls.

Albendazole↗
PubMed1992

Establishment and pathogenicity of two strains of Ostertagia ostertagi and Cooperia oncophora in calves in different locations.

An experiment was carried out simultaneously in Glasgow and in Wageningen to investigate possible differences between the local strains of Ostertagia ostertagi and Cooperia oncophora. In each location calves of the local Friesian breed were infected with 100,000 larvae of either the Glasgow or Wageningen strain of O ostertagi or C oncophora. At both locations the calves received the same diet. The Glasgow strain of O ostertagi was more pathogenic than the Wageningen strain and a larger proportion of the worm burden was found in the abomasal mucosa. The number of ova per female was greater in the Wageningen strain. For C oncophora the Wageningen strain gave rise to higher worm burdens and longer worms. Differences were also present between locations. The British Friesians had higher worm burdens of C oncophora and the worms of this species were longer in this host. Compared with the Dutch Friesians the British calves had a higher proportion of O ostertagi in the mucosa. This experiment showed how difficult it is to compare data from the literature because of differences in parasite and host strains and laboratory techniques.

Abomasum↗
PubMed1992

Response to ivermectin treatment of parasitic stages of Haemonchus contortus resistant or susceptible to ivermectin.

Two groups of 33 helminth-naive lambs were infected with 5,000 L3 of an ivermectin-resistant or -susceptible strain of Haemonchus contortus (groups R and S). On days 6, 10, 16, and 21 postinfection, 5 animals from each group were chosen at random and orally treated with 0.2 mg/kg of ivermectin. On each occasion, 2 randomly selected lambs from each group were also killed to determine the number and stage of development of the worms present at the time of treatment. These necropsies revealed that by day 6 early and late fourth-stage larvae were present, whereas on day 10 the early fifth stage had been reached; by days 16 and 21 all worms had reached the adult stage. Necropsies on day 28 postinfection revealed that although animals treated at day 6 had 26.3% fewer worms than the controls, there was no significant difference (P greater than 0.05) between worm burdens from any of the animals infected with the R strain and treated at different times after infection when compared with the untreated controls. With ivermectin significant reductions were obtained in the worm burdens of the animals infected with the susceptible strain; these were reduced by 96% when treatment was given on day 6 against fourth-stage larvae and 98.9% when the drug was given on day 21 against adult stages. From these results it is clear that resistance to ivermectin in this strain of H. contortus is present as early as the fourth larval stage.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Effect of development of resistance to benzimidazoles, salicylanilides and ivermectin on the pathogenicity and survival of Haemonchus contortus.

Two groups of six lambs were infected either with an anthelmintic-susceptible strain of Haemonchus contortus or with a strain resistant to benzimidazoles, ivermectin and salicylanilides. The pathogenicity of the two strains of parasite was compared by monitoring the development of anaemia, changes in plasma proteins and abomasal damage in the two groups of lambs. There were no significant differences between the groups, suggesting that the development of resistance to several anthelmintics did not correlate with an increase in the pathogenicity of the parasites. Furthermore, the establishment rates and egg production of the susceptible and resistant parasites were similar. However, fewer of the eggs of the resistant parasites survived and developed at a variety of temperatures.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Fecundity of anthelmintic resistant adult Haemonchus contortus after exposure to ivermectin or benzimidazoles in vivo.

A strain of Haemonchus contortus resistant to the benzimidazoles, ivermectin and salicylanilides was used to study the effect of exposure to ivermectin or oxfendazole on the number of eggs produced by adult female parasites. After anthelmintic administration there was a reduction in the faecal egg count of the infected lambs. Ivermectin caused a reduction in the number of eggs within adult parasites for up to 72 hours but this returned to higher than pre-treatment levels at 168 hours after treatment. After oxfendazole treatment there was an increase in the number of eggs stored in the adult parasites at 24 hours and then a significant reduction in the number of eggs for over 168 hours. This suggested that both ivermectin and oxfendazole have a deleterious effect on the reproductive potential of female H contortus although the parasites are resistant to these drugs. These results confirm the importance of allowing up to 10 days to elapse between the time of administration of an anthelmintic and the collecting of faecal samples when using the faecal egg count reduction test to identify anthelmintic resistance, especially when using benzimidazoles. The more prolonged effect on fecundity produced by oxfendazole may reflect the antimitotic action of the benzimidazole anthelmintics.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Efficacy of some anthelmintics on an ivermectin-resistant strain of Haemonchus contortus in sheep.

Following evidence of reduced efficacy of ivermectin in a field population of Haemonchus contortus in Brazil, this strain of the parasite was submitted to a controlled anthelmintic test. Eighty worm-free lambs were randomly split into two groups of 40. Each lamb in the first group was infected with 5000 third stage larvae (L3) of the ivermectin-resistant strain; the remaining 40 lambs were each infected with 5000 L3 of a H. contortus strain of known susceptibility to the major groups of anthelmintic compounds used in sheep. On Day 28 post-infection, each group was subdivided according to egg counts and at random into four sub-groups of ten lambs, each of which was treated with albendazole (ABZ) at 3.8 mg kg-1, levamisole (LEV) at 7.5 mg kg-1 or ivermectin (IVM) at 0.2 mg kg-1, or was left as untreated control. At slaughter, 7 days later, all the anthelmintics reduced worm burdens in animals infected with the susceptible strain (ABZ 98.9%, LEV and IVM 100%). By contrast, in the lambs infected with the ivermectin-resistant strain, LEV was 99.8% effective, but ABZ reduced worm counts by only 14.7% and IVM by only 10.4%. Interestingly at necropsy on Day 7 post-treatment, the egg counts in the resistant strain treated with ABZ had been reduced by 92.5%, although worm counts were reduced by only 14.7%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Albendazole↗