PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

S K McCarthy

Publications and source records attributed to S K McCarthy.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1978

Effect of technical grade pentachlorophenol on rumen microorganisms.

The toxicity of technical grade pentachlorophenol to rumen microorganisms was tested by an in vitro fermentation procedure. Rumen fluid was collected from a fistulated mature steer fed a diet of all alfalfa hay. The compound was dissolved in absolute ethanol and added in vitro at concentrations ranging from 0 to 100 ppm. Digestion of cellulose and production of volatile fatty acids over 24 and 48 h of incubation was used to assess toxicity. Both cellulose digestion and propionic acid production were decreased at the 10 ppm concentration. The results suggest that technical grade pentachlorophenol has the potential to interfere with utilization of cellulose in ruminants.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Steroid hormone feedback on LH in prepubertal Holstein heifers.

A significant dose-response relationship between gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and time to luteinizing hormone (LH) peak, peak serum LH and total serum LH was obtained in prepubertal Holstein heifers (28 weeks of age) (Experiment 1). For the second experiment, the effect of steroid feedback on the anterior pituitary was determined. A steady infusion of saline, estradiol-17 beta or progesterone was maintained for 24 h while GnRH, in various schemes, was administered 8 h after the beginning of steroid infusion. Estradiol-17 beta infusion (2.08 micrograms/h), although it did not affect peripheral concentrations of estrogen, caused an LH release 24 to 30 h later in 37.5% of the heifers. This amount of exogenous estrogen did not affect the LH response to a single GnRH (4 micrograms) challenge. When the same GnRH dosage (4 micrograms) was administered 6 times at hourly intervals, the heifers infused with estradiol had a lower response after the first 2 injections of GnRH and a greater response after the last 4 injections than heifers infused with saline. When GnRH was infused (4 micrograms/h) for 6 h, beginning 8 h after steroid infusion, estradiol infusion caused a significantly higher peak LH and total LH release than an infusion of either saline or progesterone (7.3 micrograms/h). The progesterone infusion had no effect on the GnRH-stimulated LH release. We conclude that prepubertal dairy heifers have an anterior pituitary capable of responding to the feedback effect of estrogen in a positive manner.

Animals↗