Cerebral cortical dysfunction in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: role of transcranial magnetic stimulation.

SETTING: Chest and Neurology Departments, Assiut and Al-Azhar University Hospitals, Egypt. OBJECTIVES: To study a large population with respect to previous preliminary data, using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) as a prognostic method for evaluation of cerebral cortical functions during acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AE-COPD). DESIGN: In a case-control study, 41 patients with AE-COPD and 30 healthy controls were included. For all, TMS was used to assess corticospinal pathway function and cortical excitability. RESULTS: Patients demonstrated increased motor threshold (resting and active), central motor conduction time and increased cortical silent period. Significant correlation was identified between TMS parameters and pulmonary function tests (forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume 1%, forced expiratory volume in one second) and arterial blood gases (pH, paO(2) and HCO(3)), serum chloride and potassium. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that the motor cortex is less excitable during AE-COPD. This is attributed to reduction of cortical excitability due to chronic hypoxaemia. Therefore, early detection of cerebral changes might be in accordance with the importance of early O(2) therapy in reducing morbidity and mechanical ventilation dependency in COPD. This opens discussion for future early therapeutic use of GABAergic and glutaminergic modulating drugs with oxygen to protect the brains of COPD patients.

Effect of some antibiotics as growth promoters on performance of broiler chicks fed different protein levels.

This work was carried out to study the effect of different sources of dietary antibiotics (Zinc bacitracin, Flavomycin, Virginiamycin) in rations with optimal protein levels (starter phase: 23.5%, finisher phase: 20.0%) and low protein levels (starter phase: 19.6%, finisher phase: 17.0%) on broiler performance with 8 groups of 75 broiler each. The supplement of diets, containing the optimal and low protein level, with antibiotics increased the body weight after 7 weeks of age and improved the feed conversion as compared with control groups. Virginiamycin was superior in increasing body weights after 7 weeks of age and in improving the feed conversion with rations containing low protein level when compared with zinc bacitracin and Flavomycin. When broiler rations, low in the protein content, were supplemented with antibiotics, they could not substitute the difference in optimal protein level. Antibiotics supplementation increased the value of improvement in production efficiency and this was more pronounced with Virginiamycin.

Effect of reserpine on the performance of broiler chicks.

The effect was studied of tranquilizer reserpine on the performance of Hubbard chicks. The results can be summed up as follows: The supplementation with reserpine at levels of 0.25 and 0.5 ppm decreased the final body weight, and the growth depression was more pronounced at the higher doses. Supplementation by 0.25 ppm reserpine improved the feed efficiency as compared with the control group, whereas this efficiency deteriorated on supplementation with 0.5 ppm. The mortality rates were 13.5% for the control group and 0.0 and 2.7% for the groups with 0.25 and 0.5 ppm of reserpine, respectively. Reserpine supplementation had no significant effect on the percentage of the dressing carcass, edible giblets, feathers, head and feet.

[Pancreatic lipase activity in growing sheep]. / Untersuchungen zur Pankreaslipasektivität bei wachsenden Schafen.

The development of the activity of pancreas lipase was observed at lambs reared with and without ewes from their birth to an age of four weeks and in a second series between five and 18 weeks. A statistically significant influence of the age on the level of activity of pancreas lipase could be observed. It was also influenced by the feeding regime, that is, the lambs reared without ewes which were fed restrictively with milk replacer showed a significantly higher activity of pancreas lipase on comparison with lambs reared with milk replacer ad libitum or those reared by ewes. 8-week-old lambs after a suckling period of four weeks and the subsequent sole feeding with pelleted mixed feed reached approximately the same activity of pancreas lipase as adult wethers.

[Activity of disaccharidases in growing sheep. 3. Fattening lambs 5 to 18 weeks of age]. / Untersuchungen zur Aktivität von Disaccharidasen bei wachsenden Schafen. 3. Mitteilung. Mastlämmer im Alter von 5 bis 18 Lebenswochen.

Lambs at an age between 4 and 18 weeks were kept on perforated floor and received pelleted fattening feed for lambs as sole feed ad libitum. After the maltase activity in the duodenal mucosa resp. the contents of the duodenum at an age of 5 weeks was low, it amounted to 6.98 resp. 5.31 units per 0.1 g fresh weight at the end of the eighth week and in the duodenal mucosa it remained on this level to the age of 18 weeks. In the contents of the duodenum it decreased to 3.25 units in this period. The lactase activity in the duodenal mucosa resp. the contents of the duodenum decreased continuously from 30.5 resp. 25.7 to 13.6 resp. 14.8 units in the period investigated. The maltase activity in the pancreas remained constant in the period investigated (4 units per 0.1 g fresh weight). Saccharase activity could not be detected in both duodenal mucosa and contents of the duodenum.