The disposition of albendazole in sheep.

Albendazole (ABZ) was administered intraruminally at 4.75 mg/kg to sheep fitted with a permanent bile-duct cannula to determine if its metabolites might contribute to its flukicidal action. ABZ metabolism was consistent with first-pass clearance by the liver, resulting in ABZ sulphoxide (ABZ-SO) and ABZ sulphone (ABZ-SO2) being present in plasma at maximum concentrations (mean Cmax +/- SD) of 2.0 +/- 0.2 micrograms/ml and 0.4 +/- 0.1 micrograms/ml after 8 +/- 3 h and 24 +/- 5 h, respectively. ABZ-SO, but more particularly ABZ-SO2, appeared to bind to plasma proteins but their clearance rates from plasma were similar. Biliary ABZ metabolites were mainly unconjugated ABZ-SO and 2OH-ABZ-SO (8.0% dose) or conjugated glucuronide and sulphate esters (6.3% dose) mainly of 2OH-ABZ-SO and 2OH-ABZ-SO2. The concentration of the major biliary metabolite, unconjugated ABZ-SO, followed a similar time profile to that of ABZ-SO in plasma except that Cmax was much higher (6.2 +/- 2.2 micrograms/ml). Intraruminal administration of ABZ reduced bile flow rate by 30% which may be attributable to an inhibitory effect of ABZ on microtubule formation in hepatic secretory cells. It is suggested that ABZ is sequestered in the liver. This is unlikely to contribute to its flukicidal action, which is probably attributable to ingestion of ABZ-SO from bile and blood by the fluke.

Eosinophil responses in sheep selected for high and low responsiveness to Trichostrongylus colubriformis.

A breeding programme, based on selection for faecal egg counts, has produced lines of sheep which demonstrate either increased resistance (high responder) or susceptibility (low responder) to challenge infection with T. colubriformis after vaccination with irradiated larvae. Circulating blood eosinophilia, a hallmark of helminth infections, was examined in third generation lambs from two separate selective matings and random bred control lambs. Numbers of eosinophils were higher in high responder lambs when compared to low responders after vaccination and challenge infections. Analysis of eosinophil counts confirmed a strong line effect and there was no evidence of a sex effect. Random bred lambs showed wide individual variations in eosinophil numbers and their response to infection. It was concluded that peripheral eosinophilia was more a measure of host responsiveness to infection than an indicator of helminthiasis. As such the eosinophil may serve as an indicator of the hosts ability to respond to T. colubriformis vaccination and infection.

Prolonged exposure to an odor or deodorized air alters the size of mitral cells in the olfactory bulb.

The size and distribution of mitral cells in the olfactory bulbs of rats were determined using a computer-assisted morphometric technique. Rats were reared from 2 weeks of age for 10 weeks in an animal colony, or in cages through which a stream of deodorized air or cyclohexanone vapor passed. Statistical analyses indicated that each treatment produced a different distribution of cell sizes in the coronal but not along the rostrocaudal plane of the bulb. The mean size of mitral cells in rats reared in deodorized air was substantially smaller than that of normal rats, and the mean length of their mitral cell layer in the coronal plane was less than in the other groups. Overall, these findings indicate that mitral cells which were of normal size in rats exposed to cyclohexanone had been stimulated by this odor. Cells which had not been stimulated by an odor in either of the experimental groups were smaller than normal and were degenerating or underdeveloped. The results also suggest that there are bands of mitral cells aligned along the rostrocaudal axis of the olfactory bulb which are responsive to specific odors and other evidence is presented which supports this view. The functional significance of exposure effects and their implications for the spatial coding of odor quality are discussed.

The distribution of the size and number of mitral cells in the olfactory bulb of the rat.

A computer assisted method was used to measure the distribution of the size and number of cells in the mitral cell layer of ten olfactory bulbs from six Sprague-Dawley rats. The size of mitral cells was found to vary around the coronal but not along the rostrocaudal extent of the bulb. Cells were smaller in the ventral and dorsal aspects of the bulb, and larger in the medial and lateral aspects; possible causes of these differences are discussed. The pattern of cell size variation in the coronal plane was consistent both within and between animals, although the average size of mitral cells varied from rat to rat. These changes in mean cell size in the coronal plane were due to overall shifts in the size of cells and not to altered proportions of large and small cells. There was no consistent pattern however for cell density as measured by inter-cell distances of mitral cells, either in the coronal or the rostrocaudal planes. Estimates of the number of cells per bulb and the size of cells were observer dependent, whereas the pattern of cell size variation was observer independent. This characteristic pattern of size variation of mitral cells in rats reared in a normal rat colony environment may be due to a functional differentiation of mitral cells, as size has been shown to be associated with the amount of information processed by a cell. That mitral cells possess such a distinct pattern of size variation should therefore be considered if representative data are to be obtained from anatomical, electrophysiological and other studies of the olfactory bulb.

Evaluation of a rosette inhibition test for pregnancy diagnosis in pigs.

A rosette inhibition test was developed using pig lymphocytes and sheep red blood cells. Antilymphocyte serum (ALS) in the presence of complement inhibited rosette formation by greater than 95% at 1/250 declining to no inhibition at 1/8000. Sera obtained from a total of 14 pregnant sows before and 1, 2, 3 and 4 wk after mating were tested for their ability to augment the rosette depression caused by ALS. In one experiment in which the responses of 4 pregnant sows were compared to 4 non-pregnant sows by discriminant analysis, sera were classified correctly in 83% of the samples taken from either pregnant or non-pregnant sows. When the more usual method of calculating the rosette inhibition titre was used, the responses of sera from pregnant pigs were classified with 31% accuracy and those from non-pregnant pigs with 80% accuracy. In a second experiment, sera from 10 pregnant sows were classified with 25% accuracy using the rosette inhibition titre. Thus 4 of these pigs were classified as non-pregnant by this method. Data from the second experiment were not suitable for discriminant analysis. It was concluded that there was some factor present in the sera of pregnant pigs, particularly by 3 or 4 wk post-mating, which could be detected by the rosette inhibition test. However, the test is not sensitive enough to allow specific diagnosis of early pregnancy in pigs.