Use of scintimetry to assess effects of exercise and polysulfated glycosaminoglycan on equine carpal joints with osteochondral defects.

Combined blood pool and delayed images produced by use of 99mTc-methylene diphosphonate (99mTcMDP) were evaluated as an objective measurement of the response of equine joints with osteochondral defects to postoperative exercise and intra-articularly administered polysulfated glycosaminoglycan (PSGAG). Osteochondral defects (approx 2.4 x 0.9 cm) were induced arthroscopically in the dorsodistal radial carpal bones of 18 ponies. These ponies were randomized (while balancing for age [range 2 to 15; median, 5.0; mean, 5.1 years]) to 2 treatment groups. Nine ponies were assigned to be exercised, and 9 were stall-rested. Six ponies in each group were administered PSGAG (250 mg) in 1 joint (medicated) and lactated Ringer's solution (LRS) in the contralateral joint. The 3 remaining ponies in each group were administered LRS in both joints (nonmedicated). Medication was given at surgery, then weekly for 4 weeks. The exercise protocol (begun at postoperative day 6 and conducted twice daily) started with 30 minutes walking (approx 0.7 m/s), and, by postoperative month 3, the ponies were being walked for 15 minutes and trotted (approx 1.6 m/s) for 25 minutes. Simultaneous dorsal images of both carpi were made 2 to 3 minutes after IV administration of 99mTcMDP (blood pool image) and 90 to 120 minutes later (delayed image). Scintimetry, in counts per minute per pixel per millicurie, was done before, and at 1, 2, 4, 8, 10, 13, and 17 weeks after surgery, prior to euthanasia. Radionuclide uptake on blood pool images decreased faster than that on delayed images, in which uptake remained high for 17 weeks. This indicated that bone was metabolically active for at least 17 weeks after surgery. Exercise significantly (P < 0.05) decreased uptake on the blood pool images of medicated joints up to 1 month after surgery. Thus, exercise (in the presence of PSGAG) probably had a transient, beneficial effect on soft tissues of the joint. Exercise, without PSGAG, promoted increased bone remodeling, because the highest uptake on delayed images was observed in exercised, nonmedicated ponies up to 3 months after surgery. This was consistent with development of osteoarthritis in these ponies. Medication alone stimulated bone remodeling, and data indicated that an identical effect may take place in contralateral LRS-injected joints, because of systemic circulation of the drug. However, the combination of exercise and medication appeared to moderate the independent effects of each. The combination of exercise and medication in individual joints resulted in notably (P < 0.05) decreased bone remodeling.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Within and between sample comparisons of Gompertz parameters for Salmonella enteritidis and aerobic plate counts in chicken stored in air and modified atmosphere.

The objective of this work was to compare between and within sample differences in aerobic plate counts (APC) and Salmonella in chicken held at abusive temperatures under air and modified atmosphere (MA). Three independent samples and three subsamples of ground raw chicken meat were inoculated with a nalidixic acid-resistant Salmonella enteritidis var. Rochester, packaged in barrier films containing air or 75% CO2, 20% N2, and 5% O2, and stored at 13 and 27 degrees C for 120 h. Samples were quantitatively enumerated for APC and S. enteritidis colony forming units (cfu/g). Gompertz function parameters for microbial growth in each sample and subsample were statistically compared in order to determine if within sample variation was different to between sample variation. At 13 degrees C, APC organisms averaged 1.27 log units lower in the MA compared to air while Salmonella counts averaged 1.44 log units higher. At 27 degrees C APC averaged 0.46 log units lower in the MA compared to air while Salmonella averaged 0.30 log units lower. The data fit the Gompertz function such that no systematic deviations from the curves were detected and the confidence bands were relatively narrow. Except for initial microbial load, there were no significant differences in variance of Gompertz parameters between the subsamples and the independent samples. This indicates that samples from different chickens with the same initial APC can be expected to be as similar in growth patterns and final counts as subsamples from the same chicken.

Growth of Listeria monocytogenes Scott A, serotype 4 and competitive spoilage organisms in raw chicken packaged under modified atmospheres and in air.

The development of Listeria monocytogenes Scott A, serotype 4 and aerobic plate counts on minced raw chicken were determined independently at 4, 10 and 27 degrees C. Samples were packaged in flexible film under two modified atmospheres (one containing oxygen and one containing no oxygen) or air. The anaerobic modified atmosphere (75:25, CO2:N2) resulted in the failure of both the aerobic plate counts and L. monocytogenes to grow at all temperatures. Both the L. monocytogenes and aerobic plate counts grew in air at all temperatures. The aerobic modified atmosphere (72.5:22.5:5, CO2:N2:O2), which more closely duplicates commercial practice, inhibited the increase in aerobic plate counts by more than 4 log10 cfu/g compared to air at 4 degrees C. However, the L. monocytogenes was not affected by this atmosphere and increased in numbers by nearly 6 log10 cfu/g at 4 degrees C in 21 days. Regression analysis of the log10 growth and 95% confidence intervals showed that the differences between aerobic plate counts and L. monocytogenes in modified atmosphere were large. The ability of L. monocytogenes to grow in the aerobic modified atmosphere was not affected by level of the L. monocytogenes inoculum nor by the initial level of aerobic plate counts. These data show that modified atmosphere packaging of raw chicken (and probably other meats) can substantially inhibit the aerobic spoilage flora while allowing pathogenic L. monocytogenes to increase.