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Biomedical subjects

Kate L White

Publications and source records attributed to Kate L White.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Investigation of the EEG effects of intravenous lidocaine during halothane anaesthesia in ponies.

OBJECTIVE: To record the electroencephalographic changes during castration in ponies anaesthetized with halothane and given intravenous (IV) lidocaine by infusion. The hypothesis tested was that in ponies, IV lidocaine is antinociceptive and would therefore obtund EEG changes during castration. ANIMALS: Ten Welsh mountain ponies referred to the Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, Cambridge for castration under general anaesthesia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Following pre-anaesthetic medication with intramuscular acepromazine (0.02 mg kg(-1)) anaesthesia was induced with IV guaiphenesin (60 mg kg(-1)) and thiopental (9 mg kg(-1)) and maintained with halothane at an end-tidal concentration (FE'HAL) of 1.2%. A constant rate infusion of IV lidocaine (100 microg kg(-1) minute(-1)) was administered throughout anaesthesia. The electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded continuously using subcutaneous needle electrodes. All animals were castrated using a closed technique. The raw EEG signal was analysed after completion of each investigation, and the mean values of EEG variables (median frequency, spectral edge frequency, total amplitude) recorded during a baseline period (before surgery began) and the removal of each testicle were compared using anova for repeated measures. RESULTS: Spectral edge frequency (SEF) 95% decreased during removal of the second testicle compared with baseline recordings. No other significant EEG changes during castration were measured. CONCLUSIONS: Lidocaine obtunded the EEG changes identified during castration in a previous control study, providing indirect evidence that lidocaine administered peri-operatively was antinociceptive and contributed to anaesthesia during castration. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The antinociceptive effect of lidocaine combined with its minimal cardiovascular effects indicate a potential use for systemic lidocaine in clinical anaesthetic techniques.

Anesthesia, General↗

Therapeutic immunisation with COPV early genes by epithelial DNA delivery.

Following challenge with COPV (canine oral papillomavirus), DNA plasmids encoding COPV L1, E1 or E2 protein were delivered into oral mucosal and cutaneous sites in beagles using particle-mediated immunotherapeutic delivery (PMID). Two weeks post-challenge, a priming dose of 8 microg DNA was delivered followed by a booster dose after a further two weeks. A group of control dogs were vaccinated using plasmid DNA encoding Hepatitis B virus surface (HBVs) gene. All of the control animals developed warts at the vast majority of sites (94%). All of the animals given wild type L1, E1, or E2 developed warts at most sites (88%, 75%, and 88%, respectively). The animals given codon optimised E2 however, were protected from wart growth with only one tiny lesion seen on a single animal that persisted for only a few days. The E1 codon optimised group was also significantly protected with a far lower number of smaller warts (48%) that persisted for a shorter duration. These data suggest that therapeutic immunisation by PMID with papillomavirus early genes is effective and emphasizes the importance of antigen load in the generation of protective responses to papillomavirus proteins.

Animals↗

Changes in the EEG during castration in horses and ponies anaesthetized with halothane.

OBJECTIVE: To identify changes in the amplitude spectrum of the electroencephalogram (EEG) during a standardized surgical model of nociception in horses. ANIMALS: Thirteen entire male horses and ponies referred to Division of Clinical Veterinary Science, Bristol (n = 9) and Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine (n = 4) for castration. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Following pre-anaesthetic medication with acepromazine, anaesthesia was induced with guaiphenesin and thiopental and maintained with halothane in oxygen. The EEG was recorded continuously using subcutaneous needle electrodes. Additional monitoring comprised ECG, arterial blood pressure, blood gas analysis, airway gases, and body temperature. All animals were castrated using a closed technique. The raw EEG was analysed after completion of each investigation and the EEG variables median frequency (F50), spectral edge frequency (SEF) 95% and total amplitude were derived from the spectra using standard techniques. The mean values of EEG variables recorded during a baseline time period (recorded before the start of surgery) and castration of each testicle were compared using analysis of variance for repeated measures. RESULTS: Total amplitude (Atot) decreased and F50 increased during castration of each testicle compared to the baseline time period [(89.0 +/- 7.8% testicle 1, 87.0 +/- 7.8% testicle 2) and (110.0 +/- 15.0% testicle 1, 109.0 +/- 15.0% testicle 2), respectively]. Changes in SEF 95% were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: De-synchronization was identified in the EEG during the nociceptive stimulus of castration. The results suggest that an increase in F50 may be a specific marker for nociception in the horse. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Studies investigating the efficacy of analgesic agents in horses are limited by difficulties in peri-operative pain assessment. This model, using EEG changes associated with nociceptive stimulation, can be used to investigate the anti-nociceptive efficacy of different anaesthetic agents in the horse.

Anesthetics, Inhalation↗

Intraepithelial DNA immunisation with a plasmid encoding a codon optimised COPV E1 gene sequence, but not the wild-type gene sequence completely protects against mucosal challenge with infectious COPV in beagles.

DNA plasmids encoding the open reading frames of canine oral papillomavirus (COPV) nonstructural early genes E1, E2, or E7 protein were delivered into both oral mucosal and cutaneous epithelial sites in beagle dogs using particle-mediated immunotherapeutic delivery (PMID) technology. Control dogs were vaccinated with plasmid encoding either hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBVs) or COPV L1. Using a prophylactic immunisation protocol, a priming dose of plasmid DNA was followed by a booster dose 6 weeks later. Four weeks after boost, all dogs were challenged with infectious COPV particles. Following viral challenge, as shown previously (M. A. Stanley et al., 2001, Vaccine 19, 2783-2792), mucosal papillomas developed in the negative-control HBVs vaccinated dogs, but all animals in the COPV L1 group were fully protected from disease development. In the early gene-vaccinated groups five of six in the E1-vaccinated dogs, two of six in E2-vaccinated dogs, and three of six in the E7-vaccinated beagles developed oral papillomas. Compared to the HBVs negative-control group the oral papillomas that did develop in the early-gene vaccinated beagles were significantly smaller, shorter in duration, and fewer in number. Taken together the disease burden was markedly reduced and this was statistically significant. In a second experiment one group of animals was vaccinated with plasmid encoding the wild-type COPV E1 gene, and a separate group was vaccinated with plasmid encoding a synthetic codon-optimised COPV E1 gene sequence. None of the codon-optimised E1-vaccinated animals developed papillomas at any challenge site. However, all animals vaccinated with wild-type E1 had papillomas. These data suggest that immunisation by PMID with papillomavirus early genes can significantly impact upon subsequent disease development and that full protection can be achieved using improved vectors encoding codon-optimised gene sequences perhaps emphasizing the importance of antigen load in the generation of protective responses to papillomavirus proteins.

Animals↗