Ochratoxin A in porcine blood and in consumed feed samples.

The aim of the study was to estimate occurrence of ochratoxin A (OA) in feeds and the metabolite residues in porcine blood serum in Poland. Samples were collected in the period from February to May, 1999, in the southern Wielkopolska region. Altogether 40 and 45 samples of feed and porcine blood serum, respectively, were analyzed for OA. Percentage of samples contaminated with OA, both in case of feeds and blood, collected in the winter season was considerably higher than that for the spring season. The percentages for feeds were as follows: 47.6 and 26.3 %, while for porcine serum: 66.7 and 50.0 %, respectively winter and spring. In 25 % of cases ochratoxin A was present in both types of investigated material (feed, blood), whereas in 27.5 % of samples this metabolite was detected in blood only, or in 7.5 % only in the feed. The presence of OA was found neither in the feed nor in the serum in 40 % of all cases. In subgroups (feed, blood) the concentration in the whole collective of positive samples were in the range 0.3-13.5 ng/g and 0.3-69.5 ng/ml, respectively, while median values were 2.3 ng/g and 6.0 ng/ml. Only one feed and three porcine serum samples, were found to be contaminated at concentration levels higher than 10 ng/g or 10 ng/ml.

[Effect of ronidazole on the growth of weaned piglets and the levels of urea nitrogen in plasma and blood glucose]. / Wplyw ronidazolu na wzrost odsadzonych prosiat oraz poziom N-mocznikowego osocza i glukozy we krwi.

Four experiments were carried out on 412 piglets, reared in different environmental conditions in the period from 4 to 12 weeks of life. Ronidazole appeared to be the most valuable feed supplement among those studied: OTC, virginiamycin, LBC, SRE and bycitracin. In comparison with OTC it significantly improved weight increment of piglets from 8.1% to 15.4%, as well as utilization of feed from 4.0% to 9.1% with a significant decrease of morbidity and falls. The effect of the action of ronidazole was marked the strongest in young piglets directly after weaning, in less developed ones and those kept in unfavourable environmental conditions. Ronidazole did not cause changes in glucose concentration in blood, but in decreased the level of urea nitrogen in plasma. Mean concentration of urea nitrogen in piglets receiving ronidazole ranged from 16.9 to 17.6 mg/100 cm3, while in the control with OTC it ranged from 17.8 to 18.9 mg/100 cm3. A lower urea concentration in piglets in the group with ronidazole may indicate that, in comparison with OTC, it inhibited to a larger extent bacterial degradation of amino-acids and ureolysis of urea in tissues and alimentary canal content of piglets.

Ulcerative vulvitis in Reiter's syndrome. A case report.

In a case of acute Reiter's syndrome with severe vulvitis the diagnosis was based on the presence of a vaginal discharge and dysuria, arthritis, conjunctivitis, buccal ulceration, keratodermia blenorrhagica, and HLA B27 tissue-typing antigen. The vulval lesions were similar in appearance to those of circinate vulvitis. The acute histological change were confined to shallow ulceration with an inflammatory infiltration of the subjacent dermis. Coincidential lichen sclerosus et atrophicus was present, which could have been masked by the acute lesions.