[The effect of antibiotics on the development of enterotoxemia-- experimental study]. / Vliv antibiotik na vznik enterotoxémie--experimentální studie.

When testing antibiotics in rabbits Dalacin was shown to be the most effective in inducing enterotoxaemia in rabbits. Autopsy disclosed signs of enterotoxaemia even in some animals without previous symptoms. Histopathological lesions were found even in intestines macroscopically normal. Experiments proved that after application of tested antibiotics spread through intestinal mucosa and produced a loss of microbial balance. Rabbit is to be considered suitable for modelling antibiotic-induced enterotoxaemia.

[The characteristics of the development of bacterial enterotoxemia and endotoxemia in combined radiation and thermal lesions]. / Osobennosti razvitiia bakterial'noi énteroéndotoksemii pri kombinirovannykh radiatsionno-termicheskikh porazheniiakh.

Thermal burn of irradiated rats increases the level and the length of the postirradiation enteroendotoxemia and aggravates the postirradiation impairment of the hematoenterocitic barrier. The pharmacological correction of the small intestine motility and introduction of ciproheptadine, an agent that blocks serotonin receptors, ameliorates the above phenomenon in radiation and thermal injuries.

Salutary effects of the prostacyclin analogue CG 4203 in lethal endotoxemia in rats.

In pentobarbitone anesthetized rats infusion of E. coli endotoxin (0.42 mg.kg-1.min-1 for 4 hours) produced 96% lethality within 6 hours. Transient decrease in mean arterial blood pressure, thrombocytopenia, leukopenia, loss of plasma fibrinogen, fibrin deposits in renal glomeruli, hemolysis and decrease in arterial oxygen tension and pH were observed. Infusion of the prostacyclin analogue CG 4203 (0.464 and 1.0 micrograms.kg-1.min-1 for 6 hours), starting concomitantly with the endotoxin infusion, improved the survival rate to 95 and 100%. Blood pressure during endotoxemia was slightly lower in CG 4203 treated rats than in vehicle controls. CG 4203 infusion marginally attenuated thrombocytopenia and obviously inhibited leukopenia, but did not effect fibrinogen consumption in endotoxemic rats. Incidence of glomerular fibrin deposits was dose dependently and significantly reduced by CG 4203. The lower dose reduced and the higher dose completely prevented the occurrence of hemolysis. Acidotic changes were not observed in CG 4203 treated endotoxin-shocked rats. Also with treatment starting 1 hour after the onset of endotoxemia CG 4203 in the same doses significantly inhibited the endotoxin-induced lethality. As protective mechanisms against lethal rat endotoxemia the prostacyclin-like hemodynamic, fibrinolytic, rheological and membrane stabilizing properties of CG 4203 are discussed.

Experimental production of hemorrhagic enterotoxemia by Clostridium perfringens type C in maturing lambs.

Maturing lambs, eight to nine months old, were dosed by the intraduodenal route with various preparations of Clostridium perfringens type C. Whole cultures of this organism or cells suspended in fresh medium, both supplemented with soybean flour as a protease inhibitor, produced acute fatal hemorrhagic enterotoxemia in these animals. The latter preparation was more effective than the former in causing disease. Without the soybean supplement the inocula did not produce fatal disease. Dosing with toxic cell-free culture supernatant fluid, with or without soybean supplement, had no lethal effect. Animals that died showed severe hemorrhagic enteritis with necrosis and sloughing of the mucosal epithelium, involving jejunum, ileum and part of duodenum. These lesions were similar to those seen in natural cases of hemorrhagic enterotoxemia in neonatal animals. This experiment demonstrated that nonimmune animals are normally protected against C. perfringens type C enterotoxemia by adequate levels of pancreatic proteases in the intestine, and that factors which inhibit or reduce these enzymes predispose animals for the development of this disease.

Experimental and spontaneous clostridial enteropathies of laboratory and free living lagomorphs.

The enteric diseases of hares, European and cottontail rabbits, which are caused by members of the genus Clostridium are reviewed. Disease caused by C. perfringens Types A and E, C. spiroforme, C. difficile, C. sordellii, C. tympany cuniculi and clostridial enterotoxins are included. Tyzzer's disease also is discussed.

Infectious nature of Clostridium spiroforme-mediated rabbit enterotoxaemia.

Newly weaned rabbits had diarrhoea only if they were infected with Clostridium spiroforme. In adult rabbits exposure to both clindamycin and C. spiroforme was necessary to induce disease. All diseased animals harboured C. spiroforme and its toxin. Adult rabbits given a course of clindamycin survived when held in a protected environment as did those challenged with C. spiroforme alone. At necropsy none of these apparently healthy animals showed signs of diarrhoea or caecitis. These findings suggest that, in the development of enterotoxaemia, weaning or clindamycin treatment and infection with C. spiroforme are separate events and that disease follows infection with this organism from the environment, as opposed to overgrowth by undetectable levels of C. spiroforme resident in the gut. Our data indicate that C. spiroforme is not a normal component of the rabbit gut flora and that the normal bowel ecology of the adult must be disrupted before C. spiroforme will colonize.

Enterotoxaemia involving Clostridium perfringens iota toxin in a hysterectomy-derived rabbit colony.

During an explosive outbreak of fatal enteropathic disease involving Clostridium perfringens iota (i) toxin, a total of 183 deaths occurred in 18 weeks. The clinical signs and post-mortem findings are reported. Examinations for virus, Bacillus piliformis and coccidia were negative. Clostridium perfringens i toxin was detected in 22 of 27 animals examined (81.5%), but clostridia were not isolated. Various treatments were attempted. It is concluded that i toxin and the syndrome described are closely related.

Clostridium perfringens in animal disease: a review of current knowledge.

The diseases caused by various types of Clostridium perfringens are critically reviewed in the light of current knowledge. Particular emphasis is placed on information concerning these diseases in Canadian livestock. There are two etiologically clearly-defined acute C. perfringens diseases recognized in Canada: hemorrhagic enteritis of the new born calf, caused by C. perfringens type C, and enterotoxemia of sheep, caused by type D. Clostridium perfringens type A may play a role as a secondary pathological agent in various disease conditions, such as necrotic enteritis of chickens. It may also cause wound infections and may provide a source for human food poisoning outbreaks. There appears to be a considerable lack of knowledge regarding the distribution of C. perfringens types, their pathogenesis, diagnosis and the incidence of diseases caused by this organism.

Enterotoxemia in rabbits.

The presence of Clostridium perfringens Type E iota toxin was confirmed from the cecal contents of 23 of 46 rabbits which died of enteritis complex. The most consistent lesions observed were hemorrhage and edema in the cecum. Rabbit toxicity tests showed the toxic cecal contents were lethal for young rabbits unless incubated with Clostridium perfringens Type E antiserum.