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Biomedical subjects

J H Morgan

Publications and source records attributed to J H Morgan.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

Isolation of Actinobacillus seminis from rams in the United Kingdom.

Actinobacillus seminis was isolated from the semen of five rams on four farms. Four of the rams had abnormal semen and three were also infertile. The isolates of A seminis showed similar phenotypic profiles and electrophoretic protein patterns to the type strain of A seminis but were distinct from Histophilus ovis previously isolated from rams with epididymitis in Scotland. The infection appeared to be subclinical but two of the five rams had palpable abnormalities of their testes. Three rams were treated with antibiotics but the infection persisted. No gross lesions were found in the genitalia of two of three rams examined post mortem but one had necrotic abscesses in the testes and epididymis. A seminis was isolated from the seminal vesicles and epididymis of one ram without gross lesions but not from the genitalia of the other two. On one farm the infection in a recently purchased ram led to the detection of another case as a result of the bacteriological screening of 11 stock rams not in contact with the initial case. These five subclinical cases, which included a supposedly healthy stock ram, suggest that A seminis infection may be widespread and should be considered in cases of infertility.

Actinobacillus

Protein recovery from the all-agarose ProSieve gel system.

Electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gels is one of the most powerful tools used for the analysis of proteins. However, this technique is not widely used for protein purification for a variety of reasons such as the following: less than quantitative recoveries; involved, time-consuming methodologies; and impurities in the protein preparations from gel-polymerization by-products that can modify the proteins and interfere with subsequent experiments. As an alternative, we have developed a simple and quantitative recovery procedure for proteins separated by electrophoresis in the all-agarose ProSieve gel system. Using this procedure, greater than 90% of each protein examined was recovered, and these proteins were unaffected by the recovery procedure.

Animals

A three-year study of Salmonella dublin infection in a closed dairy herd.

Over a period of three years, Salmonella dublin was isolated occasionally from the faeces of nine adult cattle in a closed dairy herd. The organism was also isolated from 12 of the samples collected after parturition; isolations were made from newborn calves on 11 occasions, from a vaginal swab once and from a milk sample once. Nine of the isolations from the calves were made from swabs obtained within 24 hours of birth. Throughout the investigation isolations were made from heifers, steers and older calves and 11 infected animals were detected. S. dublin was widespread in the farm environment and it was concluded that environmental contamination was an important source of infection for animals of all ages, some of which may have become latent carriers. The family history of one cow, seven of whose offspring were infected with S dublin, suggested the possibility of vertical transmission. Without reliable tests to detect latent carriers, it is suggested that control of this infection must be based on improved hygiene and the use of vaccination to improve the immunity of the herd.

Animals

Training functional skills following herpes simplex encephalitis: a single case study.

This paper presents a treatment program for the development of personal hygiene behavior in a patient who was 5 years post herpes simplex encephalitis. The patient has severe memory and organizational problems, but is of average overall intelligence. The program consists in part of chaining a series of nine discrete activities by using linking phrases. The program allowed the patient to structure his behavior and wash in a well-organized nonrepetitive way. Results are discussed in the light of previous failures to affect behavior using apparently similar methods.

Activities of Daily Living

Pathology of calves with diarrhoea in southern Britain.

Twenty-one moribund calves with diarrhoea were purchased from 11 farms, their faeces examined for enteropathogens and samples of intestinal tissue removed under anaesthesia. Lesions and presence of enteropathogens on the mucosal surface were scored by histological examination of immunostained paraffin sections. Two or more enteropathogens were detected in 19 calves. Cryptosporidium appeared to be the principal cause of diarrhoea in six calves, rotavirus in four, Salmonella typhimurium in two, bacteria adherent to the surface of the large intestine in two, coronavirus in one and K99+ Escherichia coli in one calf. Diarrhoea in four calves was the consequence of mixed infections in which no one enteropathogen appeared to predominate. In one calf no enteropathogen was detected. Diarrhoea was associated with infections and lesions throughout the small and large intestines. The enteropathogens most frequently associated with lesions in the small intestines were rotavirus, coronavirus and cryptosporidium; in the large intestines they were coronavirus and bacteria apparently adherent to the mucosal surface.

Animals

Microbiology of calf diarrhoea in southern Britain.

Faeces samples from calves with diarrhoea in 45 outbreaks were examined for six enteropathogens. Rotavirus and coronavirus were detected by ELISA in 208 (42 per cent) and 69 (14 per cent) of 490 calves respectively; calici-like viruses were detected by electron microscopy in 14 of 132 calves (11 per cent). Cryptosporidium were detected in 106 of 465 (23 per cent), Salmonella species in 58 of 490 (12 per cent) and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli bearing the K99 adhesin (K99+ E coli) in nine of 310 calves (3 per cent). In the faeces of 20 per cent of calves with diarrhoea more than one enteropathogen was detected; in 31 per cent no enteropathogen was found. Faces samples from 385 healthy calves in the same outbreaks were also examined. There was a significant statistical association of disease with the presence of rotavirus, coronavirus, Cryptosporidium and Salmonella species (P less than 0.001). Healthy calves were not examined for calici-like viruses and the association of K99+ E coli with disease was not analysed because there were too few positive samples. Rotavirus infections were more common in dairy herds and single suckler beef herds whereas Salmonella infections were more often found in calf rearing units. Cryptosporidium were more common in single and multiple suckler beef herds. K99+ E coli were found in one dairy herd and one multiple suckler beef herd both with unhygienic calving accommodation. Variations in coronavirus detection among different farm types were not statistically significant. In this survey rotavirus was the most commonly detected agent in calf diarrhoea and Cryptosporidium were found in approximately one quarter of affected calves. Infection with Salmonella species was widespread, but K99+ E coli infections were less common in the United Kingdom than in other countries.

Animals

Characterization of c-myc proteins from avian bursal lymphoma cell lines.

We have used a rabbit antiserum directed against a portion of the MC29 viral myc protein expressed in bacteria to characterize the cellular myc protein from three different avian bursal lymphoma cell lines (1104HI, 1104BI S13, BK25), and from normal chick embryo cells. The phosphorylated myc proteins immunoprecipitated from these cells varied in molecular weight from 58 to 62 kDa and localized to the cell nucleus, as shown by cell fractionation experiments. Pulse-chase experiments established that these proteins had short half-lives ranging from 12 min for the myc proteins from the 1104BI S13 cell line to 25 min for myc proteins from both the 1104HI and the BK25 cell lines. The structural relatedness of the proteins was established by comparing their partial proteolytic digestion products (Cleveland analysis) with the partial proteolytic digestion products of the MH2 viral myc protein. The anti-myc-serum also immunoprecipitated a 48-kDa protein from each of the bursal cell lines. We have identified this protein as a breakdown product of the bursal cell myc proteins. The different size and number of these bursal cell myc proteins may be a direct result of the specific site of integration as well as the orientation of the retrovirus LTR sequence relative to the adjacent cellular myc allele.

Animals

Isolation of antibodies specific for avian viral and cellular myc proteins.

The myc gene has been implicated in the genesis of various neoplasms in birds, mice, and humans and was originally identified as the cellular homologue of the transforming gene (v-myc) of the avian myelocytomatosis virus MC29. For specific antisera to be obtained for the myc gene product, a bacterial expression vector was constructed in which the coding sequences for approximately 20 kd of MC29 p110gag-myc (amino acid residues 502 to 678) were placed between the coding sequences for the amino terminal 13 kd of Rous sarcoma virus pp60src and the coding sequences for 112 kd of beta-galactosidase. Expression of this tripartite gene was driven by a hybrid trp-lac promoter under lac repressor control. Induction of expression resulted in the production of a 145-kd hybrid protein containing src, myc, and beta-galactosidase sequences. The hybrid protein was purified and injected into rabbits to produce antisera. The resultant antisera immunoprecipitated p110gag-myc and p58myc -p60myc from MC29- and MH2-infected nonproducer quail fibroblasts, respectively. In addition, the antisera also immunoprecipitated a 58-kd protein from the bursal lymphoma cell line BK25, which was identified as chicken c (cellular)-myc gene product.

Animals

Dysentery caused by Escherichia coli (S102-9) in calves: natural and experimental disease.

A dysentery syndrome was recognized among the Institute's calves at 18 to 21 days of age. It was reproduced experimentally in gnotobiotic calves with an atypical Escherichia coli (S102-9) isolated from the affected calves. In both natural and experimental disease the calves passed copious bright red blood in the feces and developed diarrhea. Walls of the colon and rectum were thickened, and the mucosa was reddened and covered by an exudate that contained mucus and blood clots. Bacteria were seen closely adherent to the luminal surfaces of enterocytes, often in cup-shaped depressions or on cytoplasmic pedestals. Microvilli were distorted, disorientated or absent. There was exfoliation of infected enterocytes and a mild acute inflammation of the underlying lamina. In two of five calves with natural disease, the adherent bacteria did not stain by the immunoperoxidase method with antisera raised against E. coli (S102-9). This indicated that there was possibly more than one bacterial cause of the syndrome. Lesions in experimentally infected calves were indistinguishable from those produced by some E. coli which are enteropathogenic for man, rabbits, and pigs.

Animals

Arenavirus inactivation on contact with N-substituted isatin beta-thiosemicarbazones and certain cations.

N-methyl and N-ethyl isatin beta-thiosemicarbazones inactivate cell-free Parana and Pichinde viruses as well as three strains of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus. This antiviral activity is abolished in the presence of the chelating agent EDTA. The rate of virus inactivation by N-methyl isatin beta-thiosemicarbazone is greatly enhanced and controlled by the addition of cupric sulphate. Divalent cations of other first transition series metals are less effective. A difference exists in the copper requirement for fast inactivation of the prototype arenavirus (lymphocytic choriomeningitis) and the Tacaribe Complex of viruses (Parana and Pichinde). In the presence of 20 muM-N-methyl isatin beta-thiosemicarbazone, LCM and Pichinde viruses can be inactivated at about the same rate if 20 muM-CuSO4 is added to the former and 160 muM-CuSO4 is added to the latter. Using 20 muM-N-methyl isatin beta-semicarbazone and CuSO4 the inactivation of LCM is reduced, but not eliminated, in the presence of an equal amount of infectious Pichinde virus. Crude and highly purified Pichinde virus are inactivated at the same rate when exposed to identical concentrations of N-methyl isatin beta-thiosemicarbazone and cupric sulphate. There is little detectable change in the inactivation rates when Pichinde or LCM viruses are grown in a variety of different cell lines.

Cell Line

Characteristics of the in vitro inhibition of arenavirus synthesis by bis-benzimidazoles.

The dihydrochloride salt of (S,S)-1,2-bis(5-methoxy-2-benzimidazolyl)-1,2-ethandiol (A37536) inhibits the synthesis of lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM), Parana, and Pichinde viruses in L-929 cells. The compound has no direct inactivating effect on LCM virus nor does it affect the adsorption of LCM virus to L cells. The drug-cell interaction is slow. Maximal activity is observed only by exposing cells to the drug at least 8 h prior to LCM virus infection, or by concomitant drug treatment and infection at a low multiplicity. Addition of serum-free media to L cells after LCM virus infection diminishes the activity of A37536. Whereas A37536 exhibits its antiviral activity at concentrations that have little or no effect on L cell division rate, a marked change can be noted in the cell's sensitivity to lysis by standard trypsin dispersal procedures. A37536 has no specific antiviral activity in LCM virus-infected BHK, HeLa, or Vero cells. All of the four tested derivatives of A37536 showed antiviral activity against LCM virus but only at concentrations that reduced the growth rate or were toxic to L cells.

Antiviral Agents

Evaluation of bis-benzimidazoles in the treatment of murine lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infections.

Seventy percent of the mice receiving (S,S)-1,2-bis(5-methoxy-2-benzimidazolyl)-1,2-ethandiol (A36683) in their drinking water lived at least four times longer than control mice when infected with 10 or 100 mean lethal doses of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus strain UBC. In the next 4 months, most of the survivors died with lymphocytic choriomeningitis-like symptoms. Drug treatment during the first 7 days after infection was found to have no significant effect on virus titers in various organs. The sparing effect of the drug is discussed in terms of immunosuppression.

Animals