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Biomedical subjects

J O Slocombe

Publications and source records attributed to J O Slocombe.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1980

An investigation of variables in a fecal flotation technique.

Several variables in a standard vial fecal gravitational flotation technique were investigated. These were the specific gravity of the sodium nitrate flotation solution, duration of flotation and mesh sizes of strainers. The number of eggs which floated and adhered to a coverslip were counted and estimates of the number of eggs remaining in the strained fecal suspension and in the feces trapped on the strainer were made. Eggs from hookworms, Trichuris vulpis and Toxocara canis in feces from dogs, Nematodirus spp. from sheep and Parascaris equorum from horses floated equally well in solutions with specific gravities (SpGr) ranging from 1.22-1.38. Taenia spp. from dogs had a slightly narrower range (SpGr 1.27-1.38) for best recovery. Eggs from Haemonchus contortus from sheep appeared to float best between SpGr 1.22- 1.32. Strongyles from one horse floated best with SpGr 1.27-1.32 and from another with SpGr 1.11-1.38. Coccidial oocysts from sheep floated best in a narrow range of SpGr from 1.22-1.27. However, as the SpGr of the solution was increased the recognition of eggs under the coverslip was increasingly difficult and especially so at SpGr 1.38 with sheep feces. This was due to the increasing amount of debris and the more rapid formation of crystals with evaporation with solutions of higher SpGr. It appeared, therefore, that solutions with SpGr of 1.22-1.35 would be best for routine laboratory use. At specific gravity 1.27, there appeared to be no difference in the number of eggs recovered for a four, eight and 12 min flotation period. Only 3-7% of the eggs in 4 g of feces were counted under the coverslip. This poor efficacy resulted first because approximately 50% of the eggs were trapped in the feces and retained on the strainer. Secondly, only one half of the strained fecal suspension, containing approximately 25% of the eggs, was placed in the vial for examination. Thirdly, of those eggs in the vial only 16-29% were counted under the coverslip. When the second half of the strained fecal suspension was placed in another vial, the amount of debris and air bubbles adhering to the coverslip was much less than that for the first vial. Egg counts for both vials appeared similar and it may be that when debris is excessive the fecal examination should involve counts from a second vial. The use of strainers finer than the standard tea strainer and the addition of minimal amounts of detergent did not increase the egg count.

Ancylostomatoidea↗
PubMed1980

Evaluation of pyrantel pamoate, nitramisole and avermectin B1a against migrating Strongylus vulgaris larvae.

Trials were conducted in ponies to evaluate the efficacy of pyrantel pamoate (Strongid-T(R)) and two newer anthelmintics not yet commercially available, nitramisole and avermectin B(1)a, against migrating Strongylus vulgaris larvae. Ponies were removed from their mares within 24-48 hr after birth and reared in isolation, worm free. Between six and 14 weeks of age they were infected with 2000 or 2500 infective S. vulgaris larvae. Subsequently, they were monitored daily for clinical signs until the experiment terminated at 28 days postinfection. All ponies showed increased body temperature and reduced appetite within the first week of infection. All anthelmintics were administered on day 7 and in addition pyrantel pamoate was given on day 8 postinfection. The anthelmintics were in liquid formulation. Nitramisole and pyrantel pamoate were given by stomach tube and avermectin B(1)a by subcutaneous injection.Following administration of these compounds toxic reactions were not observed. All anthelmintics caused a reduction in body temperature and increased appetite and effected a clinical cure. In ponies which were not treated with an anthelmintic, temperatures remained elevated and appetites never returned completely to normal. These ponies also showed variable degrees of lethargy, depression, recumbency and colic and the majority died between two and three weeks postinfection. At necropsy, these control ponies showed variable degrees of adhesions involving the abdominal organs, necrosis of the ileum and cecum and severe arteritis and thrombosis of the major abdominal arteries and their branches.Although pyrantel pamoate, used at eight times the therapeutic dose for intestinal nematodes in the horse, effected a clinical cure it did not produce a radical cure. At necropsy, ponies treated with pyrantel pamoate had arteritis and thrombosis of the cranial mesenteric artery and its major branches. Nitramisole and avermectin B(1)a were able to effect both a clinical and radical cure.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Prevalence and treatment of tapeworms in horses.

A study was initiated to determine the prevalence of tapeworms in horses in Southern Ontario and to investigate the efficacy of pyrantel pamoate, niclosamide and mebendazole. Fecal samples were taken from 580 horses of various breeds, ages and sexes in 24 locations and Anoplocephala perfoliata was found in 13.6%. This was regarded as a minimum, the true rate being probably significantly higher and the reasons for this are discussed. A brief review of the life cycle and effects of tapeworms in horses and a comparison of two flotation techniques for the diagnosis of A. perfoliata eggs in feces is given. Pyrantel pamoate, niclosamide and mebendazole were compared for efficacy in field and critical trials. In field trials, pyrantel base and niclosamide at 6.6 and 50 mg/kg respectively were found to be effective, but in critical trials their efficacy was poor, 15 and 5.6% respectively. These anthelmintics at these dose rates caused only an elimination of the terminal egg bearing segments and were without significant effect on the entire tapeworm. When pyrantel base was administered at 13.2 and 19.8 mg/kg (twice and three times the therapeutic dose rate for nematodes respectively) the efficacy was 97.8 and 100%. It would appear that pyrantel pamoate administered at 13.2 mg pyrantel base/kg is an effective therapeutic dose for tapeworms in horses. Further dose titration studies are needed for niclosamide. Mebendazole was without effect at up to four (35.2 mg/kg) times the therapeutic dose for nematodes.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Strongylus edentatus: development and lesions from ten weeks postinfection to patency.

Pony foals inoculated with infective Strongylus edentatus larvae were examined at necropsy from ten to 72 weeks postinfection. At ten weeks postinfection larvae were visible retroperitoneally in the liver and flanks and were recovered from the ligaments of the liver. The fourth molt was detected at 16 weeks postinfection and larvae were also recovered from the wall of the cecum at this time. By 40 weeks adult S. edentatus containing eggs were found in the contents of the cecum and colon. While many larvae migrate to remote parts of the body, it is likely that only those that attain the base of the cecum are successful in establishing in the cecum and colon as adult forms. By 36 weeks postinfection no larvae were found in the liver and up to this time none were found in the peritoneal cavity. Larvae were not recovered from the parenchyma of the lungs. Adhesions and disruption of omental architecture were frequent changes observed throughout infection. Casts of necrotic eosinophils enclosing tracks and larvae were observed beneath the intima of major veins of the cecum and colon. The liver was rough and the capsule thickened at 16 and 20 weeks postinfection and the flanks remained edematous until 36 weeks postinfection.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Arteriography in ponies with Strongylus vulgaris arteritis.

Radiographs of the aorta and abdominal arteries were obtained from a normal anesthetized pony following catheterization of a femoral artery for nonselective, semiselective or selective arteriography. The arteries had smooth borders and regular diameters and the branches of the cranial mesenteric artery could be followed distally on the angiogram through to the smaller branches proximal to the bowel wall. Following arteriography, the pony walked normally and there were minimal alterations of the levels of serum muscle enzymes and blood lactate. The procedures for arteriography were repeated in three days. At that time the femoral artery was patent and satisfactory angiograms were obtained. Similiarly, radiographs were obtained from two ponies artificially infected with Strongylus vulgaris. The cranial msenteric artery and some of its branches, the right renal artery and segments of the aorta had irregular borders and were enlarged. Branches of the cranial mesenteric artery could not be followed distally because the flow of the contrast material was blocked. Following the above procedures, euthanasia of all ponies was expedited and the findings of arteritis, thrombosis and dilatation of arteries at necropsy compared favorably with interpretations from the radiographs. At least in the pony, arteriography can be a valuable research and diagnostic tool for the demonstration of lesions associated with verminous arteritis.

Angiography↗
PubMed1976

Experimentally induced Haemonchus contortus infections in the rabbit.

Haemonchus contortus originally derived from an Ontario field strain was used to infect laboratory rabbits. Both enshealthed and artificially exsheathed larvae were given at doses of up to 10 million larvae per rabbit. Only artifically exsheathed larvae were infective and a dose of at least 50,000 was required to produce a significant level of infection. H. contortus completed its development in the rabbit, but at a slower rate than in the sheep. Although a few fecund females were found 35 days after infection no eggs were observed on faecal examination. A high proportion of early fourth stage larvae were recovered from numerous rabbits including some which were examined well beyond a postinfection period when all worms should have been in the adult stage. This phenomenon occurred when freshly harvested and exsheathed larvae were used. Post-exsheathed cold conditioning of larvae at 5degreesC further increased the proportion of early fourth stage larvae (maximum proportions were found after 21 and again after 79 days of cold conditioning and thereafter declined). Whether such larvae were inhibited cannot be stated definitely. However, several of these larvae contained crystalline rods within their soma, and the structure of the crystals was similar to those previously described from inhibited H. contortus larvae recovered from sheep. It was concluded that the laboratory rabbit could be a useful host for further studies on some aspects of the biology and pathogenicity of H. contortus.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Suppression of the pathogenic effects of Strongylus edentatus larvae with thiabendazole.

Four pony foals were inoculated with Strongylus edentatus infective larvae and on days 3 and 4 postinfection two of the ponies were treated with thiabendazole, each at the rate of 440 mg/kg of body weight. Total circulating eosinophil counts in untreated ponies increased to over 1700 per cu mm after the second week postinfection. In the treated ponies as well as in an uninfected untreated pony eosinophil counts did not increase beyond 100 per cu mm. At necropsy on day 35 postinfection the cecum, colon and omentum of treated ponies were normal and few tracks were present on the surface of the liver. In untreated ponies nodules were observed on the serosal surface of the cecum and right ventral colon and white foci and tracks were numerous on the surface of the liver. A total of 53 fourth stage larvac was recovered from the livers of the thiabendazole treated ponies and 1194 from the untreated ones.

Animals↗
PubMed1974

Abomasal nematodes in cattle in Ontario.

During 1970, 93 abomasa from cattle in Ontario were examined, and from 63 of these abomasa nematode species of the genera Ostertagia, Haemonchus and/or Trichostrongylus axei were recovered. The abomasa were from cattle six months to two years of age and were collected either from the postmortem room at the Ontario Veterinary College or from two abattoirs near Guelph. The numbers of worms per abomasum were estimated and their genera were identified from a one-twentieth volume of the washings and contents. The prevalence of Ostertagia species was estimated by examining random samples of adult male worms. Morphological variations in the species of the genera Ostertagia and Haemonchus were estimated by examining random samples of adult females. The predominant nematode was Ostertagia ostertagi. Other Ostertagia species recovered were O. trifurcata, O. lyrata and O. circumcincta. The numbers of nematodes recovered were generally low. Adult Ostertagia females had well-developed vulvar flaps. However, in abomasa where adult male O. trifurcata and O. lyrata were found, some adult female Ostertagia worms had reduced or no vulvar flaps. In two abomasa, adult Haemonchus females had large pendulous or "linguiform" vulvar flaps, and adult males had mean spicule lengths of 517 and 512 mu and were, therefore, unlike any of the recognized Haemonchus species.

Abomasum↗
PubMed1974

Overwintering of bovine gastrointestinal nematodes in southwestern Ontario.

Several steers, reared in isolation until approximately six months of age, were placed on a small isolated enclosed pasture from late spring to late fall of 1970, 1971 and 1972. The pasture was left vacant and unused during the winters and early springs. The pasture had been used in previous years by cattle, and in the late spring of 1970 was grazed by cattle know to be passing gastrointestinal nematode eggs in their feces. The steers were slaughtered periodically, and the prevalence of nematode species in the abomasum, small intestine, and large intestine, was determined from random samples of up to 100 adult male worms from each segment. The following nematodes were found in the steers in 1971 and 1972 and survived winters on pasture: Ostertagia ostertagi, O. lyrata, Cooperia oncophora, C. mcmasteri, Nematodirus helvetianus and Trichuris discolor. Two nematodes Cooperia punctata and Bunostomum phlebotomum known to be present on pasture in 1970, since they were recovered from the steers in that year, were not found in the steers in 1971 and 1972.

Animals↗
PubMed1974

Early development of and pathology associated with Strongylus edentatus.

Pony foals inoculated with infective Strongylus edentatus larvae were monitored for clinical signs and selected blood changes and were examined at necropsy from two to 56 days postinfection. Larvae penetrated the intestine and reached the liver intravenously before 40 hours postinfection. Occasional thrombi and larval tracks associated with the intima of cecal and colic veins suggested aberrant paths. Larvae in the liver doubled in width between seven and 15 days postinfection and a sudden increment in circulating eosinophils occurred between 11 and 15 days. These changes were probably associated with the third molt. At 30 days fourth stage larvae were migrating in the liver; at 42 days they were present in the hepatorenal ligament. White foci were observed in the liver from two to 56 days. They contained mononuclear cells and eosinophils and later necrotic cores of eosinophils. By one month foci were overshadowed by tortuous tracks of migrating larvae. Aberrant larvae in the lungs were confined in granulomas. Massive granulomas in the wall of the cecum and colon contained small larvae which were probably inhibited by antibody associated with the third molt. Severe disruption of omental architecture and adhesions involving the intestine occurred several weeks after infection.

Animals↗