Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to O A Onawunmi.
Three lambs immunised with antigens collected during the in vitro culture of activated Taenia hydatigena oncospheres had a high degree of protection when challenged orally with T hydatigena eggs.
Weaned pigs were divided into nonmedicated control and medicated principal groups and 3 days later were exposed to infective oocysts comprised of mixed species of swine origin. In separate experiments, a chlortetracycline combination (plus sulfamethazine and penicilin), buquinolate, or lincomycin was administered prophylactically to the principals, starting 3 days before they were exposed to infection, and then was evaluated for efficacy against the experimental exposures. Comparisons between control and principal groups were made on the basis of fecal oocyst counts, fecal consistencies, and body weight gains. On the basis of oocyst counts, both chlortetracycline combination and buquinolate minimized the development of coccidial populations in groups given medicated feed; nonmedicated controls discharged substantial numbers of oocysts. Lincomycin medication was not effective in pigs given 111 mg/kg of feed; it was effective at dose levels of 330 mg/kg of feed and at 22 mg/kg body weight, intramuscularly. Medicated principals always gained more weight on the average than did their infected nonmedicated controls during the experiments. The data on oocyst production support the position that the 3 compounds can function as coccidiostats in swine.
Seventy-two five-week-old New Zealand White rabbits were divided into three groups and fed a basal diet containing 0, 125 or 250 ppm supplemental Cu for 4 weeks before each Cu-group was further subdivided into three lots of 8 rabbits each. One subgroup was immunized with Trypanosoma brucei before being infected with the same parasite, another subgroup was infected without immunization while the third subgroup was neither immunized nor infected. Parasitemia slightly depressed growth and efficiency of feed utilization while supplemental Cu at 125 and 250 ppm improved both parameters in rabbits. Immunization conferred slight protection on body weight losses by the infected rabbits while supplemental Cu at 250 ppm alone or in combination with immunization completely obliterated the effects of infection on growth performance. Infection depressed haematocrit, haemoglobin, and serum glucose, while the alkaline phosphatase activity was increased. Supplemental Cu significantly increased both haemoglobin and serum glucose levels. Supplemental Cu reversed the effects of parasite infection on blood constituents. The study indicates that Cu may not only promote growth but will also suppress the effects of parasitemia on performance and serum profile of rabbits infected with trypanosomes.