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Biomedical subjects

J K Collins

Publications and source records attributed to J K Collins.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

Eperythrozoon wenyonii infection in dairy cattle.

Approximately 10 of 100 young heifers that had recently delivered their first calf--members of a large Colorado dairy herd--had a syndrome of swollen teats and distal portions of the hind limbs, prefemoral lymphadenopathy, transient fever, rough coat, decreased milk production, and subsequent weight loss and reproductive inefficiency. Acute clinical signs of disease were associated with large numbers of Eperythrozoon wenyonii seen on blood smears, and resolution of signs correlated with reduction or disappearance of the parasite. Other known causes of peripheral edema could not be documented. The parasite was transmitted to 4 of 7 nonlactating dairy cows destined to be culled and a splenectomized calf via IV inoculation of blood from parasitemic heifers, but clinical signs of infection were not induced.

Anaplasmataceae Infections↗

Tissue distribution of a coliphage and Escherichia coli in mussels after contamination and depuration.

Experiments were undertaken to determine the tissue distribution of Escherichia coli and a coliphage after contamination of the common mussel (Mytilus edulis). Mussels were contaminated with high levels of feces-associated E. coli and a 22-nm icosahedral coliphage over a 2-day period in a flowing-seawater facility. After contamination, individual tissues were carefully dissected and assayed for E. coli and the coliphage. Contaminated mussels were also analyzed to determine the tissue distribution of the contaminants after 24- and 48-h depuration periods. The majority of each contaminant was located in the digestive tract (94 and 89% of E. coli and coliphage, respectively). Decreasing concentrations were found in the gills and labial palps, foot and muscles, mantle lobes, and hemolymph. Our results indicate that contamination above levels in water occurred only in the digestive tract. Contaminated mussels were depurated in a commercial-scale recirculating UV depuration system over a 48-h period. The percent reductions of E. coli occurred in the following order: digestive tract, hemolymph, foot and muscles, mantle lobes, and gills and labial palps. The percent reductions of the coliphage were different, occurring in the following order: hemolymph, foot and muscles, gills and labial palps, mantle lobes, and digestive tract. Our results clearly demonstrate that E. coli and the coliphage are differentially eliminated from the digestive tract. The two microorganisms are eliminated at similar rates from the remaining tissues. Our results also clearly show that the most significant coliphage retention after depuration for 48 h is in the digestive tract. Thus, conventional depuration practices are inappropriate for efficient virus elimination from mussels.

Animals↗

Iodine deficiency impairs intellectual and neuromotor development in apparently-normal persons. A study of rural inhabitants of north-central China.

Intelligence was measured by means of the Hiskey-Nebraska Test of Learning Aptitude or the Griffiths Mental Development Scales in a sample of 369 patients from iodine-deficient rural villages (Baihuyao), iodine-sufficient rural villages (Huanglo) and urban populations to test for the damaging effects of iodine deficiency on the development of the nervous system in the presumed healthy section of a community. In urban school-children who were aged seven to 14 years (n = 78), a normal range of measured intelligence was found (mean +/- SD intelligence-quotient score, 107.0 +/- 18.3). By comparison, intelligence-quotient scores were lower in all rural cohorts (a rural suppression effect) but the distribution of intelligence-quotient scores showed a further shift to the left in the iodine-deficient township. In Baihuyaon villagers who were aged 30-35 years (n = 50), who were born during the period of severe iodine deficiency, 72% of villagers had an intelligence-quotient score of less than 70 compared with 41% (P less than 0.05) of villagers who were aged 28-35 years from Huanglo, a rural iodine-sufficient control group (n = 49). Although measured intelligence was higher in Baihuyaon children whose mothers had received iodized salt - 44% of seven- to 14-year-old children had intelligence-quotient scores of less than 70 (n = 141)--it remained significantly depressed compared with rural (n = 51) and urban (n = 78) control subjects (18% and 4%, respectively). These findings were consistent with other parameters (that is, the persistently-high rate of goitre), which indicated that the salt-iodization programme was inadequate. In the iodine-deficient village, lower intelligence-quotient scores showed a relationship with the detection by audiometry of nerve deafness and with the presence of abnormal neurological signs. The latter included spasticity and pyramidal signs which were of a similar pattern to the neurological deficits that have been demonstrated in overt neurological cretins. We conclude that iodine deficiency imposes a further suppressive effect on the intellectual performance of rural inhabitants, and results in a shift of the entire population distribution of cognitive skills to a lower level.

Adolescent↗

Epitope specificity of the bovine antibody response to the gIII glycoprotein of bovine herpesvirus type 1.

A panel of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to BHV-1, specific for gI and gIII glycoproteins and for a nonglycosylated core protein p100, was used to examine the epitope specificity of the immune response to the virus in naturally exposed and experimentally infected cattle. Sera from experimentally infected calves were analyzed in a competition ELISA (C-ELISA). Antibody to an epitope on gIII appeared as early as 4 days post infection, although virus-neutralizing antibody did not appear until day 8 or later. Antibody production peaked at 13 to 18 days post infection but the level of antibody to each gIII epitope varied. Competition by sera from cattle naturally exposed to BHV-1 was analyzed as a function of the virus neutralization (VN) titer of these sera. Competition with most of the MAbs correlated linearly with neutralization titer. However, competition with 2 of the MAbs, one specific for gIII and one specific for gI, was maximal even at the lowest neutralization titer, and competition with another MAb, specific for a non-glycosylated core protein, p100, was negative. Selected sera from the naturally exposed group were also examined by radioimmunprecipitation, and were shown to react predominantly with gI, gIII and gIV glycoproteins and in a few shown to react predominantly with gI, gIII and gIV glycoproteins and in a few MAbs were determined, and it was found that neutralization was enhanced by certain combinations. A mutually exclusive relationship between neutralization enhancement and competition for binding by MAbs (as determined by reciprocal C-ELISA) indicated an epitope-specific, rather than antibody-specific, mechanism for neutralization enhancement.

Animals↗

Differential depuration of poliovirus, Escherichia coli, and a coliphage by the common mussel, Mytilus edulis.

The elimination of sewage effluent-associated poliovirus, Escherichia coli, and a 22-nm icosahedral coliphage by the common mussel, Mytilus edulis, was studied. Both laboratory-and commercial-scale recirculating, UV depuration systems were used in this study. In the laboratory system, the logarithms of the poliovirus, E. coli, and coliphage levels were reduced by 1.86, 2.9, and 2.16, respectively, within 52 h of depuration. The relative patterns and rates of elimination of the three organisms suggest that they are eliminated from mussels by different mechanisms during depuration under suitable conditions. Poliovirus was not included in experiments undertaken in the commercial-scale depuration system. The differences in the relative rates and patterns of elimination were maintained for E. coli and coliphage in this system, with the logarithm of the E. coli levels being reduced by 3.18 and the logarithm of the coliphage levels being reduced by 0.87. The results from both depuration systems suggest that E. coli is an inappropriate indicator of the efficiency of virus elimination during depuration. The coliphage used appears to be a more representative indicator. Depuration under stressful conditions appeared to have a negligible affect on poliovirus and coliphage elimination rates from mussels. However, the rate and pattern of E. coli elimination were dramatically affected by these conditions. Therefore, monitoring E. coli counts might prove useful in ensuring that mussels are functioning well during depuration.

Animals↗

Use of an immunoperoxidase test for the detection of bovine herpesvirus-1 in aborted fetal tissue.

An indirect immunoperoxidase (IP) procedure using a specific monoclonal antibody and an avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex was developed and applied to detect virus antigen in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections. This IP procedure was compared with currently used diagnostic tests for detection of virus-induced abortions caused by bovine herpesvirus-1 (BHV-1). The IP procedure was applied to detect BHV-1 antigen in sections of liver and lung from 87 aborted fetuses. Sixteen of these cases were positive for viral antigen by IP staining. Sections from both liver and lung were positive in 15 of the 16 cases. A fluorescent antibody test (FA), which was applied to acetone-fixed frozen sections of liver and lung, gave positive results on 12 of the 87 fetuses, 11 of which were also positive by IP. Seven of the 12 FA-positive cases were positive on both sections of liver and lung. When FA and IP were compared. FA had a sensitivity of 67% and IP had a sensitivity of 94%. Virus was isolated from one of the 67 cases tested. The tissues in which antigen was most frequently detected by IP were liver, lung, and kidney. Distinct multifocal staining was seen in positive sections of all these tissues.

Abortion, Veterinary↗

Use of in situ hybridization with a biotinylated probe for the detection of bovine herpesvirus-1 in aborted fetal tissue.

Forty-five cases of bovine abortion were examined using in situ hybridization (ISH) with a biotinylated DNA probe specific for bovine herpesvirus-1 (BHV-1). Of the 45 cases, 16 were diagnosed as due to BHV-1, 15 were determined to be due to other causes, and 14 were of undetermined etiology. Direct comparisons between ISH and an immunoperoxidase (IP) test specific for BHV-1 were performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections of lung, liver, kidney, spleen, thymus, and placenta; fluorescent antibody tests for BHV-1 and virus isolation were performed on fresh lung and liver. In comparison to these routine BHV-1 detection techniques, ISH had an overall sensitivity of 88.2% and a specificity of 89.3% in detecting BHV-1 in aborted fetuses. Immunoperoxidase was more sensitive than ISH with tissue sections from lung (87.5% vs. 69%), liver (92% vs. 17%), spleen, and placenta; results of the tests on tissue sections from kidney were concordant. Liver sections presented special problems in that nonspecific reactions were frequently observed with hybridization. With thymus sections, the rate of detection was higher by hybridization than by IP, but the specificity of some of these reactions could not be confirmed.

Abortion, Veterinary↗

Validation of disease diagnoses reported to the National Animal Health Monitoring System from a large Colorado beef feedlot.

Clinical observation and collection of biological specimens from a large beef feedlot (approximately 30,0000 animals) were used to evaluate 6 approaches for validation of a disease reporting system. Data collected during a 12-month period were used to evaluate each approach. A subsample of disease cases reported to the National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) was compared with the clinical observations of the investigators. Although the agreement between clinical diagnosis by the NAHMS veterinarian and by feedlot health crews was high, the sensitivity and specificity of specific diagnoses varied from 100 to 18% and from 99 to 76%, respectively, which suggests that regular clinical observations by a veterinarian are needed to validate disease diagnoses reported to NAHMS by producers. Subsampling of a group of cattle by means of paired serologic determination of antibodies to infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus, bovine viral diarrhea virus, bovine respiratory syncytial virus, and parainfluenza-3 virus revealed a high serologic conversion rate to infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, and high levels of preexisting antibody to bovine respiratory syncytial and parainfluenza-3 viruses. It was concluded that the current method of data collection for Colorado feedlots provides an acceptable level of sensitivity and specificity for the program. However, disease events that are not of economic importance to the feedlot operator will be underestimated. If an objective of NAHMS is to develop a base line of animal health conditions, diagnosis of diseases by current methods will be satisfactory. Occasional validation through clinical observations by a veterinarian will suffice to monitor quality of collected data.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

Evaluation of an antigen-capture ELISA for the detection of bovine herpesvirus type 1 shedding from feedlot cattle.

A total of 457 nasal swab specimens from cases of respiratory disease in 2 feed lots were evaluated for the detection of bovine herpesvirus Type 1 (BHV-1) by ELISA. Thirty-three were found to be positive for BHV-1 by the recovery of infectious virus and 21 of these were positive by ELISA, yielding a sensitivity of 64%. Fifteen other virus isolations were made and included bovine viral diarrhea viruses, rhinoviruses and parainfluenza Type 3 viruses; none of these cases were positive with the BHV-1 ELISA. Specificity of the ELISA was 100%. Eighty percent of the specimens with BHV-1 titers greater than 10(5) TCID50 were detected by ELISA; the median amount of virus in positive specimens that were detected by ELISA was 7 X 10(5) TCID50 and the median amount of virus in specimens not detected was 1.5 X 10(4) TCID50. BHV-1 infection was most frequently diagnosed in feedlot cattle that had been in the feedlot for 40-80 days. Approximately half of the infected cattle were carrying virus-neutralizing antibodies in their serum.

Animals↗

Association of bovine respiratory syncytial virus with atypical interstitial pneumonia in feedlot cattle.

Thirty-three cattle with fatal respiratory tract disease were examined for gross and histologic lesions and for the presence of viral and bacterial agents in the lungs. Fifteen cattle had lesions characteristic of atypical interstitial pneumonia (AIP), and 18 had other respiratory tract diseases, including infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, shipping fever pneumonia, bronchopneumonia, pulmonary abscess, and edema of the trachea. Gross necropsy findings in the cattle with AIP were uncollapsed and emphysematous lungs; histopathologic findings included interstitial edema, thickening of alveolar walls, hyaline membrane formation, and hyperplasia of type-II pneumonocytes. The infective agents found in the lungs of the 33 cattle included bovine respiratory syncytial virus, bovine herpesvirus type 1, Pasteurella sp, mycoplasmas, and Corynebacterium pyogenes. Bovine respiratory syncytial virus was detected by use of immunofluorescence and immunoperoxidase on lung tissue sections; bovine herpesvirus type 1 was detected by these techniques and by isolation of the virus. Bovine respiratory syncytial virus was significantly (P = 0.01) associated with lesions of AIP (11 of 15), compared with those of other respiratory tract diseases (5 of 18).

Animals↗

Prevalence and specificity of antibodies to bovine respiratory syncytial virus in sera from feedlot and range cattle.

The specificity of serum antibodies for the polypeptides of bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) was examined, using sera obtained from feedlot and range cattle. Test results in sera from feedlot cattle indicated a 60% rate of seroconversion and 95% seropositivity to BRSV, associated with lack of clinical signs indicative of respiratory tract disease. Exposure to other common respiratory tract viruses also was high (greater than or equal to 92% to bovine herpesvirus type 1, bovine viral diarrhea virus, and para-influenza virus type 3). Test results in sera from range cattle indicated BRSV seropositive rates of 28% in calves, 49% in yearling cattle, and 70% in mature cows; clinical signs of respiratory tract disease were not observed in these cattle. Antibodies to BRSV in sera from cattle in both environments reacted predominantly with polypeptides of molecular weight 80,000 through 85,000, 40,000, and 28,000. Reactivity to a glycoprotein of molecular weight between 43,000 and 44,000 and to several glycopolypeptides of smaller molecular weight increased in serum specimens obtained from feedlot cattle between time of entry into the feedlot and slaughter.

Animals↗

Rapid, sensitive, competitive serologic enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detecting serum antibodies to bovine herpesvirus type 1.

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of cattle antibodies to bovine herpesvirus type 1 was developed on the basis of competition between serum antibody and a virus-neutralizing mouse monoclonal antibody. The assay showed improved sensitivity over the virus neutralization (VN) test and over an enhanced VN test in which incubation of antibody-virus mixtures was carried out for 24 h. With the ELISA, antibodies in sera from experimentally infected cattle were detected earlier after infection and showed more rapid increases in levels. A comparison of the ELISA with the VN tests by using a set of 85 field sera with low levels of antibodies demonstrated that the ELISA was the most sensitive test, detecting 10 positive serum samples that were negative by the VN tests. The ELISA was inexpensive, rapid, and highly reproducible and showed a significant improvement in sensitivity over VN tests.

Animals↗

Shedding of enteric coronavirus in adult cattle.

Electron microscopic examination of fecal specimens from adult dairy cows indicated seasonal coronavirus shedding. Fifty-two cows from a 300 cow herd were monitored for shedding of coronavirus. Approximately 50% to 60% of the cows monitored shed coronavirus during the winter months (November to March) of the first year of the study. During 2 subsequent years of monitoring the same cows, 20% to 30% of the cows shed coronavirus during the winter months. Virus shedding was not detected during the summer months (July to September). Half of the cows monitored were vaccinated with a modified-live rotavirus-coronavirus-Escherichia coli combination vaccine; however, vaccination did not influence seasonal shedding of coronavirus, as compared with shedding in the nonvaccinated cows. In nonvaccinated cows that calved in the winter months, the incidence of coronavirus shedding increased from 20% to 30% during the last 2 months of gestation to 65% to 70% at parturition. In vaccinated cows, the incidence of shedding did not increase at parturition.

Animals↗

A single dilution enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the quantitative detection of antibodies to bovine herpesvirus type 1.

Three serological assays were compared for detection of antibodies to bovine herpes-virus type 1. These were virus neutralization (VN), enhanced complement fixation (CF) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The ELISA was developed using an infected cell lysate antigen and purified virus and was optimized in relation to antigen and antisera dilutions. The CF assay was enhanced by the addition of bovine complement. These 3 assays were compared for detection of: specific virus antibody titers; sero-conversions; early antibody response in experimentally-infected cattle. Both ELISA end-point titers and single dilution values were found to be more sensitive than the CF or VN assays for specific antibody level quantitation. With a single dilution ELISA test procedure a correlation was obtained between ELISA values and VN titers. Using the single dilution ELISA test the assay also detected antibodies in experimentally-infected cattle before either the VN or CF assays, and agreed with the VN test in 35/38 seroconversions found by 4-fold or more VN changes between acute and convalescent paired sera from naturally-infected animals. The single dilution ELISA was a rapid and sensitive test for routine antibody detection in bovine sera.

Animals↗

Rapid detection of bovine herpesvirus type 1 antigens in nasal swab specimens with an antigen capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for the detection of bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BHV-1) antigens in nasal swab specimens collected from infected animals. Development of the ELISA involved screening and selection of BHV-1-specific monoclonal antibodies for their ability to capture BHV-1 antigens and for their stability and activity after conjugation to horseradish peroxidase. Forty combinations of capture-conjugate monoclonal antibody pairs were screened for detection of nanogram amounts of purified BHV-1 by using a double-antibody-sandwich ELISA in which antigen and conjugated antibody were simultaneously added to antibody-coated wells. Of the 40 monoclonal antibody pairs, 4 were analyzed further and 1 was selected for routine application to clinical specimens. Of 129 nasal swab specimens collected during the first 10 days after experimental infection with BHV-1, 66 were found to be positive by both virus isolation and ELISA and 34 were positive for infectious virus but negative by ELISA. One specimen was positive by ELISA but negative by virus isolation, and the remaining 28 specimens were negative by both tests. Quantitation of the virus-containing specimens showed that the ELISA had a lower detection limit of 10(3.5) median tissue culture infective doses. The ELISA was judged to be highly useful for diagnosis of BHV-1 infections, since all of the nasal swab specimens that were collected from 12 animals during the first 5 days of the infection, when the clinical signs were the most apparent, were positive.

Animals↗

Immune response to bovine herpes herpesvirus type 1 infections: virus-specific antibodies in sera from infected animals.

The virus specificity of antibodies against bovine herpes virus type 1 was determined with a radioimmunoprecipitation assay and serum collected from natural and experimentally induced infections. By using sequentially collected sera, the development of antibodies to 4 to 5 viral glycoproteins and 11 to 12 nonglycosylated proteins was followed for the first 50 days after infection. The major and most consistent responses in experimentally and naturally infected animals were to four glycoproteins with molecular weights of 102,000, 96,000, 69,000, and 55,000, as well as to a major virion 115,000-molecular-weight nonglycosylated protein. The four glycoproteins were all coprecipitated by a neutralizing monoclonal antibody and were probably involved as target antigens in virus neutralization. Another antigenically unrelated glycoprotein with a molecular weight of 82,000 and a nonglycosylated protein with a molecular weight of 91,000 were also precipitated, but the immune response to these two proteins was transient. Reactivity to gp82 was only weakly detected in serum from naturally infected animals. Contact control animals which did not contract a bovine herpes virus type 1 infection but were exposed to infected animals with signs of severe illness had antibodies which recognized gp102, gp96, gp69 and gp55 as well as p115. These antibodies were present in low amounts and, in contrast to infected animals, did not increase between acute and convalescent sampling.

Animals↗