Observations on acute gastric dilatation in nonhuman primates.

In the years 1967-1977 we diagnosed 23 cases of acute gastric dilatation in monkeys. Fourteen of these animals were Macaca mulatta, five Macaca fascicularis, and one each of Macaca nemestrina, Aotus trivirgatus, Saimiri sciureus, and Colobus guereza. Fourteen of the animals were males, nine were females, and all were adults or subadults. Mortality was 78% (18 of 23 animals). Thirteen of the animals had received on anesthetic, immobilizing, or tranquilizing drug 1-2 days before developing acute gastric dilatation; seven monkeys were overfed, and two had been transferred from one area to another the day prior to developing the disease. Two animals were found dead in their cages with no apparent cause for the gastric dilatation. Five Macaca mulatta and three Macaca fascicularis recovered following treatment, but two Macaca mulatta subsequently succumbed to another episode of acute gastric dilatation. Treatment consisted of evacuation of the stomach, correction of blood volume deficits and acid-base disturbances by administration of appropriate fluids, and supportive therapy for shock.

Limited survey of genital infection by guinea pig inclusion conjunctivitis agent.

Cervical or urethral scrapings were collected from 245 guinea pigs that had clinical signs of guinea pig inclusion conjunctivitis (GPIC) or were parents of newborn young having clinical signs of GPIC. Giemsa-stained smears were examined for cytoplasmic inclusion bodies, and samples were passaged in 6-day-old embryonating eggs. Complement-fixation tests were performed on 44 samples passaged through eggs in an effort to detect the presence of GPIC antigen. Unequivocal evidence of chlamydial infection of the genital tract was not found.

Disseminated staphylococcal disease in laboratory rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

The pathologic findings in 13 cases of staphylococcal disease in New Zealand white rabbits were described. Subcutaneous abscesses and embolic pyemic abscesses in kidney, heart, brain, and lung were found. Conjunctivitis, rhinitis, otitis media, and fibrinous pneumonia also occurred. One rabbit had a valvular endocarditis. Staphylococcus aureus, coagulase-positive, and fermenting mannitol were isolated from the lesions described. Staphylococcal disease was diagnosed in 13 of the 171 (7.6%) rabbits necropsied during a 3-yr period. Disseminated staphylococcal lesions were observed only in rabbits during this time.

Chlorpromazine excretion in chronically dosed primates. I. Occurrence of a previously unreported class of chlorpromazine conjugates.

The use of tritiated chlorpromazine to correlate total excretion of radioactivity with characterization of the radioactive metabolites had shown a substantial discrepancy. While radioactivity was totally excreted and accounted for within three weeks, recognizable chlorpromazine metabolites represented only about two thirds of the radioactivity in any given sample. To rule out tritium exchange, 14C-labeled chlorpromazine was administered to Rhesus monkeys. The same discrepancy was observed, primarily in the conjugated drug fraction. Therefore, all unconjugated chlorpromazine metabolites were exhaustively extracted, and an alkaline hydrolysis performed. The aglycones liberated thereby were again carefully removed, and the residual aqueous fraction was subjected to an acid hydrolysis. This procedure yielded an additional group of known and unknown phenolic chlorpromazine aglycones, representing approximately one third of the radioactivity in the whole urine. Preliminary trials on urine pools of patients chronically dosed with chlorpromazine yielded essentially the same results. The structure of this new class of chlorpromazine conjugates has not yet been elucidated, nor is the ligand known at this time. A glucoside-type bond may characterize this significant class of chlorpromazine.