[Clarification of teat stenoses in cattle by ultrasound]. / Die Abklärung von Zitzenstenosen beim Rind mittels Ultraschall.

Ultrasonography and radiography were used as an adjunct to clinical examination in the evaluation of 73 obstructed teats in 63 dairy cows. The images obtained with a 3.5 MHz and a 5 MHz linear array transducer were compared with radiographs and correlated with findings obtained at surgery. Ultrasonography and radiography allowed a correct assessment of the lesions in 68 respectively 58 teats. In five cases the obstructive lesions in the teat canal were not clearly discernible when ultrasonography was used. Radiography was the method of choice for the evaluation of the teat canal and small mucosal folds in the milk cistern. Ultrasonography was the method of choice for the detection of obstructive lesions at the base of the teat; all 14 of these cases were assessed correctly using ultrasonography versus three of 14 when radiography was used. Ultrasonography is a useful tool for the practitioner to evaluate obstructive teat lesions.

Decreased feeding and supraphysiological plasma levels of glucagon after glucagon injection in rats.

The effects of intraperitoneally injected pancreatic glucagon on feeding and on plasma levels of pancreatic glucagon as well as on blood glucose levels and liver glycogen content were investigated in rats, in order to test the physiological relevance of exogenous glucagon's satiety effect. The rats were intraperitoneally injected with various doses of glucagon [60, 240 or 480 micrograms/kg body weight (b.wt.)] or vehicle when they started to eat after a 12 hr period of food deprivation. Only the highest dose of pancreatic glucagon (480 micrograms/kg b.wt.) decreased the size and duration of the first meal after injection. Hepatic vein, hepatic portal vein and aortal plasma pancreatic glucagon levels were increased about 10 fold by 60 and 240 micrograms/kg b.wt. of glucagon and about 30 to 70 fold by 480 micrograms/kg b.wt. of glucagon. All glucagon doses reduced liver glycogen content and increased hepatic vein blood glucose levels similarly. The results indicate that decreased feeding after intraperitoneal injection of glucagon is a pharmacological effect of the hormone, at least under the conditions tested.