Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) antigen was detected in cell culture with an indirect immunoperoxidase (IP) procedure using a specific monoclonal antibody, and an avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex. Cytopathic and noncytopathic strains of the virus showed similar patterns of IP staining until 3 days post-infection. At six days post-infection, intensity of staining decreased in cell cultures infected with noncytopathic virus, but not with cytopathic virus. The IP procedure detected BVDV antigen in cells used to isolate virus from tissues of aborted bovine fetuses and peripheral blood lymphocytes of adult cattle. Immunoperoxidase detected BVDV isolates from 10 of 44 cases of abortion of which seven of these were noncytopathic. Noncytopathic BVDV isolates from the peripheral blood lymphocytes of 7 of 65 animals were identified.

Abortion, Veterinary↗

PubMedDate not supplied

An evidence-based evaluation of EMS protocols.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the extent to which prehospital patient care protocols incorporate the findings of the peer-reviewed scientific EMS literature. METHODS: Using a computerized literature search, articles published from eight institutions known to be active in prehospital care research were identified and obtained from the local health sciences library. Animal or bench research, analysis of administrative practices, evaluation of educational or quality assurance techniques, collective reviews, and air medical articles were excluded. We compared the findings of each article with the guidelines contained in 12 sets of prehospital care protocols, ranking them as: 1) consistent; 2) partially consistent; 3) not discussed; or 4) not consistent. The rankings for the article-protocol comparisons for each EMS system were compared using the Kruskal-Wallis test. RESULTS: Forty-nine papers were compared with 12 sets of protocols, resulting in 588 comparisons. More than half (53.1%, n = 312) of the comparisons were ranked as "consistent." Only 28 (4.8%) of the comparisons were found to be "not consistent." There was no significant difference in the rankings assigned to the comparisons for protocols from each individual system, nor in the rankings for protocols from the EMS system associated with the source of the article, from other systems with academic affiliations, and from systems without academic affiliations. CONCLUSION: Most EMS protocols are consistent with the published peer-reviewed research. There is no difference in the level of consistency when comparing protocols from EMS systems associated with the source of the articles, those associated with other academic institutions, and those without strong academic affiliations.

Clinical Protocols↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Probiotics: from myth to reality. Demonstration of functionality in animal models of disease and in human clinical trials.

The enteric flora comprise approximately 95% of the total number of cells in the human body and are capable of eliciting immune responses while also protecting against microbial pathogens. However, the resident bacterial flora of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) may also be implicated in the pathogenesis of several chronic conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The University College Cork-based Probiotic Research Group has successfully isolated and identified lactic acid bacteria (LAB) which exhibit beneficial probiotic traits. These characteristics include the demonstration of bile tolerance; acid resistance; adherence to host epithelial tissue; and in vitro antagonism of potentially-pathogenic micro-organisms or those which have been implicated in promoting inflammation. The primary objective of this report is to describe the strategy adopted for the selection of potentially effective probiotic bacteria. The study further describes the evaluation of two members of the resulting panel of micro-organisms (Lactobacillus salivarius subsp. salivarius UCC118 and Bifidobacterium longum infantis 35624) under in vitro conditions and throughout in vivo murine and human feeding trials. Specifically, an initial feeding study completed in Balb/c mice focused upon (i) effective delivery of the probiotic micro-organisms to the GIT and evaluation of the ability of the introduced strains to survive transit through, and possibly colonise, the murine GIT; (ii) accepting the complexity of the hostile GIT and faecal environments, development of a method of enumerating the introduced bacterial strains using conventional microbiological techniques; and (iii) assessment of the effects of administered bacterial strains on the numbers of specific recoverable indigenous bacteria in the murine GIT and faeces. Additional research, exploiting the availability of murine models of inflammatory bowel disease, demonstrated the beneficial effects of administering probiotic combinations of Lactobacillus salivarius UCC118 and Bifidobacterium longum infantis 35624 in prevention of illness-related weight loss. A further ethically-approved feeding trial, successfully conducted in 80 healthy volunteers, demonstrated that yoghurt can be used as a vehicle for delivery of Lactobacillus salivarius strain UCC118 to the human GIT with considerable efficacy in influencing gut flora and colonisation.

Animals↗