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Biomedical subjects

R Batey

Publications and source records attributed to R Batey.

51 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Revised post-mortem inspection procedures for cattle and pigs slaughtered at Australian abattoirs.

Revised procedures for the post-mortem inspection of cattle and pigs at Australian abattoirs were developed as minimum national requirements. Comparative trials of current and revised procedures were conducted at 3 and 4 Australian abattoirs for pigs and cattle respectively. Residual pathological changes after inspection and removal of lesions from heads, carcases or viscera were recorded by an evaluation team with the data used to determine relative effectiveness. For cattle, there was no significant difference between current and revised procedures. Although it had been proposed to eliminate routine incision of cervical lymph nodes for pigs, it was found necessary to retain this procedure. The data also revealed a significant variation in detection of pathology between abattoirs for both species. Parasitic conditions accounted for the greatest proportion of undetected lesions in both species for both current and revised procedures. These comprised mainly fascioliasis in cattle and ascariasis in pigs. The former was associated with the study being conducted in eastern Australia. Chronic interstitial nephritis was also a common undetected lesion, reinforcing the need for intensified inspection of kidneys. However, such residual pathology was considered to be of only limited significance to human health. The revised procedures and findings are discussed in the context of animal and human health and of the importance of the meat industry to Australian exports. Some attention has been given to specific conditions likely to be affected by the proposals including tuberculosis, bovine cysticercosis, fascioliasis, porcine arthritis and salmonellosis. The role of meat inspection in monitoring for specific diseases is discussed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Abattoirs↗
PubMed1986

Alcohol-related disease in hospital patients.

Ninety medical records of patients with an alcohol-related diagnosis who were admitted to a major city teaching hospital over a 12-month period were reviewed to assess the ways in which the problem had been recognized and managed by hospital staff members. The overall frequency of an alcohol-related diagnosis of 1.8% suggested an under-reporting of this medical problem. Those patients who were identified were, in general, well managed, but patients with less obvious and permanent clinical problems, such as non-dependent abuse of alcohol or acute alcoholic intoxication, were more likely to have minimal or no attention directed to the drinking problem. Our review suggests that medically trained staff members identify significant organ damage readily. It also suggested that more attention needs to be directed to the education of medical students and staff members in the recognition of the early stages of alcohol dependency and misuse, so that its more serious complications might be minimized by effective intervention.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Acute renal insufficiency occurring during intravenous desferrioxamine therapy.

A patient of 14 years suffering from secondary haemosiderosis and thalassaemia major was treated with i.v. desferrioxamine in doses up to 3 g/d. Urine iron loss ranged from 46-158 mg/d. Despite improvement in cardiac and hepatic status the patient developed acute renal insufficiency of the pre renal type. The possible role of desferrioxamine in this complication is discussed. Desferrioxamine given s.c. or i.v. effects a marked urinary iron loss but its use may not be without significant complications.

Acute Kidney Injury↗
PubMed1977

Effect of iron stores and hysterectomy on iron absorption and distribution in pregnant mice.

Intestinal uptake (U) and transport (T) of 50Fe from a 1-mug oral dose was studied in the mouse. U increased to a similar degree in both pregnant and iron-deficient animals. The increase in T was greater in pregnant than in iron-deficient mice. In iron-loaded pregnant mice, U increased to levels found in pregnant animals, whereas T increased, but by a lesser amount. Termination of pregnancy by delivery or hysterectomy at days 20-21 resulted in a fall in U and T to normal levels within 24 h. Eighty percent of iron transported across the intestine in pregnancy was recovered from the fetuses, compared to 6.7% recovered in the maternal liver. Hepatic uptake was lower in pregnant than in iron-deficient mice or in postpartum mice with persisting iron deficiency. Hepatic uptake by the maternal liver after an intravenous dose of 2 mug 50Fe increased to levels in iron-deficient mice within 5 min of hysterectomy. The results demonstrate an effect of pregnancy on intestinal iron transport and its distribution that was dependent on the presence of fetuses and placentas.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Concordance between urinalysis results and self-reported drug use by applicants for methadone maintenance in Australia.

This study examined concordance between self-reported drug use and urinalysis data among 341 applicants for methadone treatment in Sydney, Australia. Rates of under-reporting of use of specific drugs were low (0% to 10%). Irregular drug use, short half-life of some abused drugs, and relatively low sensitivity of the TLC assay procedure led to most detected drugs being found in only one of two urine samples collected. Subjects reported having recently used nearly twice as many drugs as were detected in their urine. Agreement (kappa) between self-report and urinalysis results was in the fair to good range for most drugs. None of the six predictors of misreporting examined were found to be of practical value.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A histological study of the use of agar as a delivery vehicle for alcohol or iron to rats.

The supply of ethanol and other substances to the rat has necessitated the development of quite complex dietary preparation and feeding techniques. This study reports the use of ethanol/water solutions in conjunction with normal rat chow diet to provide up to 30 g/kg/day ethanol to study animals. By additionally supplying agar gels containing ethanol, voluntary intake of ethanol was raised to a possible maximum of 48 g/kg/day. Hepatic steatosis was produced in 7/18 rats supplied ethanol in this fashion. Agar gels were also used to provide carbonyl iron to rats and it produced grade 3 to 4 hepatocyte iron loading in all study animals. The study demonstrates a practical method for administering ethanol and iron to rats without altering normal dietary intake. Ethanol supplied in this way does produce hepatic injury in the rat.

Agar↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin in the ethanol-consuming rat model.

Regular ethanol consumption leads to the appearance of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin in the plasma of human subjects. The mechanism for this finding remains uncertain. We have exposed female Wistar rats to ethanol from 3 weeks of age to 22 weeks and have studied transferrin in these animals. Isoelectric focusing (IEF) of serum identified two additional transferrin forms in the ethanol-exposed rats. Routine staining and immunofixation demonstrated transferrin focused at pH 5.45 and 5.65. Neuraminidase-treated normal rat serum focused in 2 bands at pH 5.85 and 6.15 corresponding to the additional bands in ethanol-treated rats. Human transferrin exposed to neuraminidase focused at pH 5.7 as described by others. The results suggest that the rat may be used as an animal model to study the complex effects of ethanol on transferrin and iron metabolism.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Changing prevalence of hepatitis B virus in urbanized Australian aborigines.

Serological surveys of desert or rural Australian Aboriginal settlements report up to 85% positivity for hepatitis B virus (HBV) markers. We report the results of two cross-sectional HBV surveys carried out 5 years apart in the bi-racial town of Condobolin, New South Wales (population 3086; 14% Aborigines). In 1983-84, none of the 310 non-Aborigines tested were hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive but 7.2% were positive for hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc). Among Aboriginal subjects, 57.6% had detectable HBV markers and 16.9% were HBsAg positive. In 1987-88, no non-Aborigines were HBsAg positive and only 1% (of 422 individuals) had anti-core antibodies. In contrast, 36% of Aboriginal subjects had HBV markers and 6% were HBsAg positive. No significant difference in detectable HBV markers was found among 98 Aborigines who were included in both surveys. Migration was the main factor influencing the HBV prevalence between the two surveys. Clustering of HBsAg carriers occurred within households and the likely mode of infection was intrafamilial horizontal childhood transmission. There was a significant association between HBV markers and tattooing in Aborigines (P < 0.02). Overall, HBV markers were less frequent in this population than in other desert or rural Aboriginal populations surveyed. The prevalence of HBV infection in non-Aboriginal households was not significantly different from that in the Australian Caucasian population.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Ultrastructural filament organization of hepatocyte cytoplasm revealed by embedment-free sections of rat liver.

The cytoplasmic matrix of rat liver cells was examined by embedment-free electron microscopy of polyethylene glycol (PEG) embedded tissue from which the PEG had been removed subsequently. Non-ionic detergent extraction of fresh blocks of tissue permitted the major cytoskeletal components to be visualized in relatively thick embedment-free sections. Immunolabelling confirmed the presence of the major cytoskeletal proteins (actin, cytokeratin and tubulin) in these sections. Hence, this method permits the examination of the ultrastructural organization of the cytoskeleton of the hepatocyte in blocks of fresh hepatic tissue.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Ethanol consumption by rats is inversely related to hepatic alcohol dehydrogenase activity.

Under normal circumstances the rate of hepatic ethanol oxidation and the rate at which ethanol is removed from the blood are dependent on the hepatic activity of alcohol dehydrogenase. It is possible that ethanol metabolism, and thus hepatic alcohol dehydrogenase, could influence ethanol consumption. In this study 11 adult female Wistar rats were provided with 20% ethanol as their sole drinking fluid and ethanol consumption was measured. After a further period of drinking tap water, the hepatic alcohol dehydrogenase activity was determined. A significant inverse relationship was found between the ethanol consumption by the rats and the hepatic activity of alcohol dehydrogenase (P < 0.05). This enzyme could therefore play a role in determining the amount of alcohol an animal will consume.

Alcohol Dehydrogenase↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Cardiac function assessed by gated heart pool studies in an alcohol clinic population: a preliminary study.

The nuclear gated heart pool scan was used to assess the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in 19 patients attending the Drug and Alcohol Unit for treatment of their alcoholism. Eighteen of the patients were asymptomatic and had no signs of cardiac impairment. In 14 subjects (13 asymptomatic), the LVEF was subnormal. Repeat studies were performed in 10 of the subjects following a period of 4-9 months of reduced intake of alcohol or abstinence. The LVEF improved in four subjects, remained unchanged in four, and actually decreased in two others despite a reduction in reported alcohol intake.

Adult↗