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Experience in the eradication of enzootic plague in the north-west part of the Caspian region of the USSR.

The writer recounts the history of plague control in the north-west part of the Caspian lowlands from 1924 to 1956. Plague has long been enzootic in this area, the main rodent involved being the little sisel. Until 1932, sisels were exterminated only in small areas where epizootics occurred, but from 1933 to 1941 an extensive extermination campaign was waged, covering up to 7 million hectares annually. The excellent results achieved by these wholesale measures suffered a setback during the Second World War, but effective rodent control was re-established in 1947 and it is thought that complete eradication of enzootic plague from the area can now be expected.

Biomedical Research↗

The comparative power of the discriminant methods used in toxicological pathology.

It is highly desirable to use experimental methodologies in toxicological pathology that combine statistical power, practicality, and objective reviewability to detect small differences. The different ways of gathering data at the microscope can result in clear differences in power to discriminate small, but real, differences between treated and control rodent groups with nonneoplastic lesions. Six alternative methods of gathering and analysing results are compared. They are referred to as the Measuring, Ordering, Scoring (or Grading), Pair-contrast, Outside-control, and Affected methods. Measuring and Ordering methods are uniformly more powerful than other more common and highly esteemed methods, such as Scoring/Grading. From the practical perspective, Measuring and Ordering can be applied objectively, reviewed objectively, and interpreted to standards that are widely accepted as valid throughout experimental science e.g., using confidence limits and intervals. They also are intuitively natural extensions of routine toxicological histopathological examinations. Establishing a small difference between control and treated groups is commonly a problem when reporting no-observed-effect levels. Ordering is the recommended method for assessing if a small difference between treated and control groups is within chance variation or is the result of a true treatment effect, when measurement is impractical.

Animals↗

Is 2-dimethylaminoethanol (deanol) indeed a precursor of brain acetylcholine? A gas chromatographic evaluation.

Acute administration of deanol-p-acetamidobenzoate (Deaner; deanol) has been reported to elevate brain choline (CH) and acetylcholine (ACh) levels. We have developed a specific and sensitive gas chromatographic assay to measure deanol levels in tissue and have applied this assay to our studies of the effect of acute deanol administration on deanol, ACh and Ch levels in rodent brains. Details of the method are described in this text. This procedure is quantitative and yields reproducible results over a wide range of deanol concentrations (0.30-200 nmol). Seven endogenous and pharmacological parameters have been studied using this procedure. In control rodent brain, liver, heart, lung and plasma, we detected no free endogenous deanol (less than 1 nmol/g). After deanol administration, we were able to detect deanol in tissue and have attempted to determine a relationship between these levels and values of ACh in the same tissue. Regardless of deanol pretreatment time (1-30 minutes) or doses (33.3-3000 mg/kg i.p.) used, we detected no increase in mouse whole brain ACh levels. Likewise, there was no detectable elevation in ACh levels in rat whole brain, cortex, striatum or hippocampus after a 15-minute pretreatment with 550 mg/kg of deanol (i.p.). The only elevation in ACh levels which we detected occurred selectively in the striatum of mice pretreated with a massive dose (900 mg/kg i.p.) of deanol for 30 minutes. This selective increase in striatal ACh levels oculd not, however, be related to levels of deanol in the striatum because there was no greater accumulation of deanol in the striatum than in other brain areas tested or in whole brain. These data do not confirm the results of other investigators who reported elevations in whole brain or striatal ACh levels after acute administration of lower doses of deanol. The data emphasize the need for further investigation into the mode of action of deanol and question its suggested role as an immediate precursor of ACh synthesis in the central nervous system.

Acetylcholine↗

Testing for endocrine disruption post-EDSTAC: extrapolation of low dose rodent effects to humans.

The study of chemically-induced endocrine disruption in mammals is a relatively new field of endeavour, and it has been assailed by an unusual level of disagreement among investigators regarding the developmental effects produced by chemicals in animals. This article discusses the several sources of uncertainty in endocrine toxicity studies, and the intrinsic variability of many of the key experimental parameters. It is concluded that current uncertainties regarding extrapolation of rodent effects to humans are due to the absence of an extensive agreed rodent control database for the developmental parameters under study, coupled to the established intrinsic variability of these parameters between strains/species of test animals and test protocols. Only when these factors are generally accepted and well studied will it be possible to relate effects seen in rodents to humans.

Animals↗

Effect of intrastriatal and intranigral administration of synthetic neuromelanin on the dopaminergic neurotoxicity of MPTP in rodents.

Previous studies showed that the neurotoxin MPTP and its toxic metabolites bind with high affinity to neuromelanin (NM). Therefore, the presence of NM in human and primate but not in rodent substantia nigra, theoretically may be responsible for the species-selective dopaminergic (DA) toxicity of MPTP. We measured DA levels in rodent striatum 7 days after an acute single challenge with MPTP (40 mg/kg, s.c.) given alone or 24 h following unilateral intrastriatal injections of synthetic DA-NM in mice and intrastriatal or intranigral pigment administration in rats. Ipsilateral striatal DA levels were unaffected in control rodents treated with unilateral intrastriatal or intranigral DA-NM. In mice, systemic MPTP produced marked striatal DA depletions which were mildly increased in the striata given prior DA-NM injections. In rats, a species resistant to MPTP, administration of toxin did not affect striatal DA levels. However, after pretreatment with unilateral intrastriatal DA-NM, MPTP induced mild DA falls in ipsilateral striata. By contrast, intranigral administration of DA-NM followed by MPTP, did not alter ipsilateral striatal DA in rats. The findings suggest that intrastriatal DA-NM in mice and rats may augment or initiate, respectively. MPTP-induced damage to sensitive DA-nerve-terminals perhaps by its action as a depot for binding and protracted release and action of the toxin. Lack of effect of intranigral DA-NM which is retained extraneuronally suggests that role of NM in the toxicity of MPTP may depend on its location within DA cell bodies in the nigra.

1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine↗

Risk factors associated with poult enteritis mortality syndrome-positive turkey flocks.

Poult enteritis mortality syndrome (PEMS) has been an economically devastating disease in North Carolina since the early 1990s. Though much is known about the disease, many questions remain unanswered about the syndrome, including its cause, transmission of causative agent(s), and control methods. This study was designed to investigate the association between PEMS and farm management factors. A prospective longitudinal study was conducted by collecting farm data and monitoring weekly mortality in 54 commercial turkey flocks raised in PEMS-affected regions. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses revealed that enhancing rodent control methods was negatively associated (P = 0.0228) with PEMS.

Animal Welfare↗

Molecular dosimetry of endogenous and ethylene oxide-induced N7-(2-hydroxyethyl) guanine formation in tissues of rodents.

The formation of N7-(2-hydroxyethyl)guanine (7-HEG) in DNA was investigated previously in target and non-target tissues of F-344 rats and B6C3F1 mice exposed to >/=ISOdia>/=10 p.p.m. concentrations of ethylene oxide (EO) using fluorescence-linked high-performance liquid chromatography [V.E. Walker et al. (1992) Cancer Res., 52, 4238-4334]. In order to study the dose-responses for 7-HEG at lower exposures, a highly sensitive and specific gas chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (GC-HRMS) assay was developed. DNA was extracted from liver, brain, lung and spleen of B6C3F1 mice and F-344 rats exposed to 0, 3, 10, 33 or 100 p.p.m. EO for 4 weeks (6 h/day, 5 days/week). Analysis of DNA from control rodents showed that endogenous 7-HEG varied from 0.2 +/- 0.1 to 0.3 +/- 0.2 pmol/micromol guanine in tissues of rats and mice. 7-HEG exhibited tissue- and species-specific dose-response relationships in EO-exposed animals. Linear dose-response relationships were evident in mouse liver, brain and spleen at exposures between 3 and 100 p.p.m. Mouse lung exhibited a slightly sublinear response between 33 and 100 p.p.m. EO. The relationships were linear in liver and spleen of rats between 3 and 100 p.p.m. EO, but were slightly sublinear in brain and lung between 33 and 100 p.p.m. EO. The number of 7-HEG adducts present in rats exposed to 3 p.p.m. EO was 5.3-12.5 times higher than endogenous 7-HEG in unexposed controls. In contrast, mice exposed to 3 p.p.m. EO only had 1.3- to 2.5-fold greater numbers of 7-HEG adducts. The factors driving the exposure-response relationships are also likely to affect carcinogenic and mutagenic responses of rodents to EO. Likewise, a better understanding of the relationships between 7-HEG derived from low exposures to EO and endogenously formed 7-HEG may be important for the accurate extrapolation of risk to humans.

Animals↗

Hepatic calodium hepaticum (Nematoda) infection in a zoo colony of black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus).

Calodium hepaticum (syn. Capillaria hepatica), a nematode parasite commonly found in the liver of wild rodents, infects a wide variety of mammals, including humans. A retrospective study of black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) at the Baltimore Zoo showed that 5 of 21 (24%) of the prairie dogs submitted for postmortem examination between 1981 and 2001 had hepatic capillariasis, with all the infections diagnosed during or after 1997. Affected livers contained multifocal granulomas containing numerous eggs and occasional adult nematodes. Asymptomatic wild rats in the zoo with a high prevalence of infection may have served as a reservoir for the disease. Wild rodent control is essential to minimize exposure of susceptible exhibition animals as well as humans to C. hepaticum.

Animals↗

In vivo carcinogenesis assay of DL-methadone.HCl in rodents.

The extensive clinical use of methadone encouraged the performance of a carcinogenesis bioassay to support risk assessment in man. An oral LD50 of 178 mg/kg was obtained in B6C3F1 mice. Physiologic changes induced by mean oral doses of 15, 30, and 60 mg/kg for 90 days included dose-related central nervous system (CNS) stimulation, fighting, tolerance development, sex-related alteration of food consumption, and no drug-related pathology. In the chronic study dosages were 15 and 60 mg/kg for mice, 16 and 28 mg/kg for male rats, and 46 and 88 mg/kg for female rats. Survival incidences for treated and control rodents were 72-86% for mice and 80-90% for rats. Deaths related to morphologic changes of aging occurred in all groups. CNS stimulation and fighting were more common to male rodents. Growth rates were unchanged for mice but a dose-related inhibition occurred for rats. Higher doses stimulated food intake in both species. Neither the type nor incidence of neoplasia was drug related but a few nonneoplastic lesions may have been. Preliminary plasma methadone levels at necropsy were dose related in the rat.

Animals↗

Trichinae certification in the United States pork industry.

Control of Trichinella infection in U.S. pork has traditionally been accomplished by inspection of individual carcasses at slaughter or by post-slaughter processing to inactivate parasites. We propose that an alternative to individual carcass testing or processing can be used when pigs are raised in production systems where risk of exposure to Trichinella spiralis has been mitigated. Declines in prevalence of this parasite in U.S. domestic swine during the last 30 years, coupled with improvements in pork production systems, now allow Trichinella control to be shifted to the farm through implementation of specific pork production practices. Knowledge of risk factors for exposure of swine to T. spiralis was used to develop an objective audit of risk that can be applied to pork production sites. In a pilot study, 461 production site audits were performed by trained veterinary practitioners. The on-farm audit included aspects of farm management, bio-security, feed and feed storage, rodent control programs and general hygiene. Of the 461 production site audits, 450 audits (97.6%) indicated compliance with the required good production practices. These sites are eligible for certification under the U.S. Trichinae Certification Program and will be audited regularly to maintain that status. The described trichinae certification mechanism will establish a process for ensuring the Trichinella safety of swine, and ultimately food products derived from swine, at the production level.

Animal Husbandry↗

Neuroprotective effect of NMDA receptor glycine recognition site antagonism persists when brain temperature is controlled.

Several lines of inquiry have indicated that glycine plays an important role in both glutamatergic neurotransmission and pathophysiology of cerebral ischemia. However, subacute outcome trials demonstrating the efficacy of glycine antagonists as neuroprotectants have not been performed with rigorous control of brain temperature. In this study, we investigated the effect of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor glycine recognition site antagonism in a temperature-controlled rodent model of transient focal ischemia. Male Wistar rats underwent 75 min of intraluminal middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). During MCAO and the first 24 h of reperfusion, rats (n = 10) were administered e55-nitro-6,7-dichloro-2,3-quinoxalinedione (ACEA 1021) i.v. as a bolus infusion of 5 mg/kg followed by 3.5 mg/kg/h (Low-Dose) or 10 mg/kg followed by 7 mg/kg/ h (High-Dose) for 24 h. Cortical temperature was controlled at 38.0 +/- 0.1 degrees C during MCAO and the first 6 h of reperfusion. A 7-day recovery interval was allowed. Mean total infarct volume was reduced by approximately 40% in both high- and low-dose groups (p < 0.01). The preponderance of infarct reduction occurred in the cortex (p < 0.01). Neurologic function correlated with the size of cerebral infarct (p = 0.001). Neurologic grade was similarly improved by treatment with either dose (p = 0.01). These results demonstrate that neuroprotection achieved by antagonism of the glycine recognition site persists when brain temperature is controlled, indicating a potent mechanism of action other than attenuating a hyperthermic response to ischemia.

Animals↗

Melatonin: the dark force.

Although the pineal gland was described 2,300 years ago, its functions remained obscure and productive research was limited until 1958, when Lerner and associates defined melatonin. In 1965 Wurtman and Axelrod advanced the "melatonin hypothesis," according to which the pineal gland acts as a transducer responding to changes in circumambient light by changing its rates of melatonin output. Sites and mechanisms of melatonin action are still poorly understood. Two consistent effects are the induction of sleep and an antigonadotropic influence on reproductive structure and behavior. The former is demonstrable and clinically useful in human subjects; the latter has been shown in birds, rodents, and sheep. Alteration of skin color by the contraction of melanophores was effected by pineal extracts before the discovery of melatonin. This phenomenon, seen in reptiles, amphibians, and fish, has received little recent attention. Areas of greater interest and potential importance include the antimitotic effects of melatonin on some types of tumor cells in culture and the apparent in vivo protection of immunocompetent lymphocytes during chronic stress, which reduces the functional capacity of lymphocytes in control rodents. Clinical application of the antimitotic and immunosupportive properties of melatonin seems likely in the near future. Unfortunately, this innocent molecule has been touted in two recent books and many advertisements as an aphrodisiac, rejuvenator, protector against disease, and general wonder-worker. Because interest in melatonin is high, all physicians can expect questions and may have use for the information provided in this review.

Animals↗

Swine dysentery control in the German Democratic Republic and the suitability of injections of tiamulin for the programme.

In 1977 swine dysentery was made a notifiable disease in the German Democratic Republic, with the intention of eradicating it by the systematic treatment of clinically affected herds using intensive medication and hygiene control programmes. On individual farms the scheme appeared to be successful, but the national incidence of the disease did not decline, owing to the continuous presence of latently infected herds and the movement of carrier pigs to uninfected farms. In 1981 the scheme was re-appraised and a new scheme was introduced in one region where all the breeding herds were screened for the presence of Treponema hyodysenteriae; all positive herds were treated with either metronidazole or tylosin, and the movement of pigs into the region was controlled. This programme effectively eradicated the disease from the region and is being introduced to the rest of the country. Owing to concern about the safety of metronidazole and the development of resistance to tylosin, alternative antimicrobials were examined and tiamulin was selected to assess its suitability for inclusion in the programme. A 560 sow breeding herd and progeny were treated for five days with tiamulin at 10 mg/kg bodyweight. This was coupled with extensive cleaning, disinfection and rodent control programmes. The results of the trial showed that the clinical disease stopped in two days and that no further clinical signs were seen in the subsequent two-and-a-half years. Bacterial monitoring of faeces samples and colonic scrapings from dead pigs failed to identify viable T hyodysenteriae. There was a significant increase of 0.6 piglets weaned per litter and improvements in weaning weights and growth rates. It was concluded that tiamulin was suitable for inclusion in the swine dysentery eradication programme in the GDR.

Animals↗

Predicting the carcinogenic potential of pharmaceuticals in rodents using molecular structural similarity and E-state indices.

MDL QSAR (formerly SciVision QSAR IS) software is one of the several software systems under evaluation by the Informatics and Computational Safety Analysis Staff (ICSAS) of the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research for regulatory and scientific decision support applications. MDL QSAR software contains an integrated set of tools for similarity searching, compound clustering, and modeling molecular structure related parameters that includes 240 electrotopological E-state, connectivity, and other descriptors. These molecular descriptors can be statistically correlated with toxicological or biological endpoints. The goal of this research was to evaluate the feasibility of using MDL QSAR software to develop structure-activity relationship (SAR) models that can be used to predict the carcinogenic potential of pharmaceuticals and organic chemicals. A validation study of 108 compounds that include 86 pharmaceuticals and 22 chemicals that were not present in a control rodent carcinogenicity data set of 1275 compounds demonstrated that MDL QSAR models had excellent coverage (93%) and good sensitivity (72%) and specificity (72%) for rodent carcinogenicity. The software correctly predicted 72% of non-carcinogenic compounds and compounds with carcinogenic findings. E-state descriptors contributed to more than half of the SAR models used to predict carcinogenic activity. We believe that electrotopological E-state descriptors and QSAR IS (MDL QSAR) software are promising new in silico approaches for modeling and predicting rodent carcinogenicity and may have application for other toxicological endpoints.

Algorithms↗

Disinfecting poultry production premises.

Hygiene and sanitation play a major role in any effective disease control programme for poultry production premises. One of the important requirements to facilitate hygiene and sanitation is adoption of the 'all-in/all-out' method (i.e. all the birds within a single establishment should be of the same age group), together with the restriction of each enterprise to a single type or species of bird. Poultry premises and buildings should comply with requirements for isolation from the environment and strict observance of principles of hygiene and disease prevention (e.g. restrictions on movement of staff, equipment and vehicles). A poultry site must be prepared methodically for the entry of each new batch (removal of birds, litter and manure; vector and rodent control; dry and wet cleaning; disinfection; fumigation). Attention should be paid to the terminal sanitation of houses and equipment after depopulation (physical and chemical cleaning, pressure washing, disinfection, fumigation). Particular care should be exercised in the performance of sanitary procedures after a disease outbreak. Immediate disposal of dead and diseased birds is an important and effective tool in preventing the dissemination of any disease. Disposal methods include the use of burial pits, tanks, burial in trenches, burning, rendering and composting. Regular visual inspection, together with routine testing by microbiological monitoring methods, is very effective in checking the efficacy of cleaning and disinfection.

Animal Husbandry↗

[Antibodies against Hantaan virus and Leptospira in subjects at risk in Rome].

A survey on the prevalence of Hantaan and leptospiral antibodies on mammalogists and rodent control personnel was performed. None of the 66 trappers studied (using IFI ) had detectable Hantaan antibody, while only 2 out of 20 mammalogists presented antibody at low titer (1:32). For leptospiral antibody the microagglutination test (MAT) using live leptospires as antigen was performed. 14 out of 66 trappers, or 21.2 per cent, had antibodies, at titer of 1:50 or more, to various leptospiral serovars: L.icterohaemorrhagiae in 12 cases, L.hardjo in 1 case, L.bratislava in 1 case. On the contrary, none of the mammalogists showed positivity for any of 16 serovars used. The environmental risk factors could justify the high prevalence of leptospiral antibodies in the field workers (trappers), while continuous laboratory contacts with rodents explain the presence of Hantaan virus antibodies in mammalogists .

Agglutination Tests↗

Formation and repair of DNA adducts in vinyl chloride- and vinyl fluoride-induced carcinogenesis.

Vinyl chloride is a known human and animal carcinogen that induces angiosarcomas of the liver. We review here studies on the formation and repair of DNA adducts associated with vinyl chloride and vinyl fluoride in exposed and control rodents and unexposed humans. These vinyl halides induce etheno (epsilon) adducts that are identical to those formed after lipid peroxidation. Of these adducts, N2,3-ethenoguanine (epsilon G) is present in greatest amounts in tissues of exposed animals. After exposure to vinyl chloride for four weeks, epsilon G levels attain steady-state concentrations, such that the amount of newly formed adducts equals the number of adducts that are lost each day. We report the first dosimetry of epsilon G in rats exposed to 0, 10, 100 or 1100 ppm vinyl chloride for five days or four weeks. The number of adducts increased in a supralinear manner. Exposure to 10 ppm vinyl chloride for five days caused a two- to threefold increase in epsilon G over that of the controls, while four weeks' exposure resulted in a fivefold increase. This was confirmed with [13C2]vinyl chloride and by measuring exogenous and endogenous adducts in the same animals. Exposure to 100 ppm vinyl chloride for four weeks caused a 25-fold increase in epsilon G levels over that found in control rats, while exposure to 1100 ppm resulted in a 42-fold increase. The amount of endogenous epsilon G was similar in liver DNA from rats and humans. A comparable response to exposure was seen in rats and mice exposed to 0, 25, 250 or 2500 ppm vinyl fluoride for 12 months. There was a very high correlation between epsilon G levels in rat and mouse liver at 12 months and the incidence of haemangiosarcoma at two years. We were able to demonstrate that the target cell population for angiosarcoma, the nonparenchymal cells, contained more epsilon G than hepatocytes, even though nonparenchymal cells are exposed by diffusion of vinyl halide metabolites formed in hepatocytes. The expression of N-methylpurine-DNA glycosylase mRNA was induced in rat liver after exposure to either 25 or 2500 ppm vinyl fluoride. When this induction was investigated in hepatocytes and nonparenchymal cells, it was found that the latter had only 20% of the N-methylpurine-DNA glycosylase mRNA of hepatocytes, and that only the hepatocytes had induction of this expression after exposure to vinyl fluoride. Thus, the target cells for vinyl halide carcinogenesis have much lower expression of this DNA repair enzyme, which has been associated with etheno adduct repair.

Animals↗