An aerosol challenge model of tuberculosis in Mauritian cynomolgus macaques

Background

New interventions for tuberculosis are urgently needed. Non-human primate (NHP) models provide the most relevant pre-clinical models of human disease and play a critical role in vaccine development. Models utilising Asian cynomolgus macaque populations are well established but the restricted genetic diversity of the Mauritian cynomolgus macaques may be of added value.

Methods

Mauritian cynomolgus macaques were exposed to a range of doses of M. tuberculosis delivered by aerosol, and the outcome was assessed using clinical, imaging and pathology-based measures.

Results

All macaques developed characteristic clinical signs and disease features of tuberculosis (TB). Disease burden and the ability to control disease were dependent on exposure dose. Mauritian cynomolgus macaques showed less variation in pulmonary disease burden and total gross pathology scores within exposure dose groups than either Indian rhesus macaques or Chinese cynomolgus macaques

Conclusions

The genetic homogeneity of Mauritian cynomolgus macaques makes them a potentially useful model of human tuberculosis.

Establishment of an aerosol challenge model of tuberculosis in rhesus macaques and an evaluation of endpoints for vaccine testing

The establishment of an aerosol challenge model in nonhuman primates (NHPs) for the testing of vaccines against Mycobacterium tuberculosis would assist the global effort to optimize novel vaccination strategies. The endpoints used in preclinical challenge studies to identify measures of disease burden need to be accurate and sensitive enough to distinguish subtle differences and benefits afforded by different tuberculosis (TB) vaccine regimens when group sizes are inevitably small. This study sought to assess clinical and nonclinical endpoints as potentially sensitive measures of disease burden in a challenge study with rhesus macaques by using a new protocol of aerosol administration of M. tuberculosis. Immunological and clinical readouts were assessed for utility in vaccine evaluation studies. This is the first example of TB vaccine evaluation with rhesus macaques where long-term survival was one of the primary endpoints. However, we found that in NHP vaccine efficacy studies with maximum group sizes of six animals, survival did not provide a valuable endpoint. Two approaches used in human clinical trials for the evaluation of the gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) response to vaccination (enzyme-linked immunospot [ELISpot] assay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA]) were included in this study. The IFN-gamma profiles induced following vaccination were found not to correlate with protection, nor did the level of purified protein derivative (PPD)-specific proliferation. The only readout to reliably distinguish vaccinated and unvaccinated NHPs was the determination of lung lesion burden using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging combined with stereology at the end of the study. Therefore, the currently proposed key markers were not shown to correlate with protection, and only imaging offered a potentially reliable correlate.

Determination of lesion volume by MRI and stereology in a macaque model of tuberculosis

Sensitive and reproducible methods are needed to measure the impact on the host following experimental challenge with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, in order to determine the degree of protection conferred by new vaccines. Here we compare how well different clinical and post-mortem measures of disease burden predict the response by the host to increasing doses of M. tuberculosis in rhesus and cynomolgus macaques. The total lung and lesion volume was quantified from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) digital stacks obtained from lungs of M. tuberculosis infected animals that were formalin fixed and scanned ex-vivo. The total lung lesion volume relative to the fixed whole lung volume was superior at indicating disease burden when compared to thoracic radiography, pathology scores, changes in body weight and temperature, as well as erythrocyte haemoglobin concentrations and sedimentation rate. The total lesion volume accurately reflected differences in challenge doses of M. tuberculosis that ranged from 30 to 500 CFU delivered by aerosol. The determination of total lesion volume from MR images demonstrated a species-dependent difference between rhesus and cynomolgus macaques in susceptibility to M. tuberculosis infection. MR stereology provides an accurate, quantifiable and relatively simple assessment, which can be easily standardized between laboratories and should form an essential component of the clinical assessment of disease progression, or vaccine efficacy.

Truncated gamma-glutamyl carboxylase in rambouillet sheep

A flock of Rambouillet sheep was examined because of increased lamb mortality due to ineffective hemostasis at parturition. Decreased activities of coagulation factors II, VII, IX, and X, and severely reduced hepatic gamma-glutamyl carboxylase activity with adequate vitamin K 2,3 epoxide reductase activity was determined.(1,)(21) Parenteral vitamin K(1) supplementation did not improve vitamin K-dependent coagulation factor activities in 3 affected lambs. Affected lamb gamma-glutamyl carboxylase deoxyribonucleic acid was sequenced, and 4 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs 2-5) of the gamma-glutamyl carboxylase gene were identified. Single nucleotide polymorphism-4 results in an arginine to stop codon (UGA) substitution, which prematurely terminates the peptide at residue 686 (R686Stop). This genotype (GATT/GATT) has a strong association with the coagulopathy observed in clinically affected lambs, P < 0.001. The frequency of SNP-3 in exon 11 (R486H) within the MARC 1.1 database is high in the US sheep population overall. Gamma-glutamyl carboxylase activity in hepatic microsomes from a SNP-3 homozygous lamb lacking the SNP-4 mutation (GACC/GACC) was similar to control sheep homozygous for arginine at 486 and also lacking SNP-4 (TGCC/TGCC), indicating that the R486H does not measurably impact gamma-glutamyl carboxylase activity. The remaining two SNPs (2 and 5) are located within non-coding intron sequences. These 4 SNPs allowed for determining the genotype associated with the observed fatal coagulopathy. Screening for the premature truncation (SNP-4) based on the presence of a Bbv I restriction site in clinically normal lambs but not in the homozygous affected lambs allows for detection of the heterozygous state (GATT/GACC), because carrier animals are clinically normal.

Globoid cell-like leukodystrophy in a domestic longhaired cat

Globoid cell leukodystrophy (GLD; Krabbe disease), is a rare heritable metabolic disorder in humans, dogs, mutant twitcher mice, and rhesus monkeys that is caused by a deficiency in the lysosomal enzyme galactocerebrosidase (GALC). GALC deficiency results in the accumulation of psychosine, which is toxic to oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells of the central and peripheral nervous systems. Clinical signs include hypotonia, mental regression, and death by 2 years of age in most human patients. Here we describe a domestic longhaired kitten with rapidly progressive neurologic disease and brain and spinal cord lesions characteristic of GLD. Pathologic hallmarks of the disease reflect the loss of oligodendrocytes and include myelin loss, gliosis, and the perivascular accumulation of large mononuclear cells with fine cytoplasmic vacuoles (globoid cells) in the peripheral and central nervous systems. Globoid cells were CD68 and ferritin positive, confirming their monocytic origin, and cytoplasmic contents were nonmetachromatic and periodic acid-Schiff positive.

Hepatotoxicity of stanozolol in cats

OBJECTIVE

To determine hepatotoxicity of stanozolol in cats and to identify clinicopathologic and histopathologic abnormalities in cats with stanozolol-induced hepatotoxicosis.

DESIGN

Clinical trial and case series.

ANIMALS

12 healthy cats, 6 cats with chronic renal failure, and 3 cats with gingivitis and stomatitis.

PROCEDURES

Healthy cats and cats with renal failure were treated with stanozolol (25 mg, i.m., on the first day, then 2 mg, p.o., q 12 h) for 4 weeks. Cats with gingivitis were treated with stanozolol at a dosage of 1 mg, p.o., every 24 hours.

RESULTS

Most healthy cats and cats with renal failure developed marked inappetence, groomed less, and were less active within 7 to 10 days after initiation of stanozolol administration. Serum alanine transaminase (ALT) activity was significantly increased in 14 of 18 cats after stanozolol administration, but serum alkaline phosphatase activity was mildly increased in only 3. Four cats with serum ALT activity > 1,000 U/L after only 2 weeks of stanozolol administration had coagulopathies; administration of vitamin K resolved the coagulopathy in 3 of the 4 within 48 hours. All 18 cats survived, and hepatic enzyme activities were normal in all cats tested more than 4 weeks after stanozolol administration was discontinued. Two of the 3 cats with gingivitis developed evidence of severe hepatic failure 2 to 3 months after initiation of stanozolol treatment; both cats developed coagulopathies. Histologic evaluation of hepatic biopsy specimens from 5 cats revealed diffuse hepatic lipidosis and cholestasis without evidence of hepatocellular necrosis.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Results suggest that stanozolol is hepatotoxic in cats.

Norepinephrine stimulates in vitro growth but does not increase pathogenicity of Salmonella choleraesuis in an in vivo model

Norepinephrine stimulates growth of Escherichia coli, Yersinia enterocolitica, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in serum-supplemented media, and in vivo increases in norepinephrine may be important in the pathogenesis of sepsis by gram-negative bacteria. Because salmonellosis often is associated with stress, the effects of norepinephrine on in vitro growth, and in vivo pathogenicity of the swine pathogen Salmonella choleraesuis were investigated. When RPMI 1640 with and without pig serum was inoculated with fewer than 100 S. choleraesuis/ml and incubated overnight, bacterial numbers were 10(4) to 10(6) lower in RPMI containing serum. Norepinephrine restored bacterial growth in RPMI with serum to normal levels, but it did not increase growth in serum-free RPMI. Similar results were obtained with SAPI, a nutrient-poor medium previously used to study the effect of norepinephrine on growth of gram-negative bacteria. Conditioned media were produced by growing S. choleraesuis in RPMI containing serum with and without norepinephrine and filter sterilizing. Conditioned medium produced with norepinephrine stimulated growth of S. choleraesuis but not E. coli, whereas conditioned medium produced without norepinephrine stimulated growth of both bacteria. To determine the in vivo effects of norepinephrine, rats were implanted with tablets that secrete norepinephrine for 20 to 24 hours or with identical tablets without norepinephrine and infected intraperitoneally with graded doses of S. choleraesuis. The LD-50 of S. choleraesuis was the same in both groups, and norepinephrine did not affect the carrier rate at 30 days after infection. We concluded that although norepinephrine stimulates in vitro growth of S. choleraesuis in serum-based media, the increase in norepinephrine levels in the present in vivo system was probably not sufficient to influence the pathogenesis of S. choleraesuis infection.

Impaired capillary hemodynamics in skeletal muscle of rats in chronic heart failure

Skeletal muscle blood flow is reduced and O(2) extraction is increased at rest in chronic heart failure (CHF). Knowledge of red blood cell (RBC) flow distribution within the capillary network is necessary for modeling O(2) delivery and exchange in this disease. Intravital microscopy techniques were used to study the in vivo spinotrapezius muscle microcirculation in rats with CHF 7 wk after myocardial infarction and in sham-operated controls (sham). A decrease in mean muscle fiber width from 51.3 +/- 1.9 microm in sham to 42.6 +/- 1.4 microm in CHF rats (P < 0.01) resulted in an increased lineal density of capillaries in CHF rats (P < 0.05). CHF reduced (P < 0.05) the percentage of capillaries supporting continuous RBC flow from 87 +/- 5 to 66 +/- 5%, such that the lineal density of capillaries supporting continuous RBC flow remained unchanged. The percentage of capillaries supporting intermittent RBC flow was increased in CHF rats (8 and 27% in sham and CHF, respectively, P < 0.01); however, these capillaries contributed only 2.3 and 3.3% of the total RBC flux in sham and CHF rats, respectively. In continuously RBC-perfused capillaries, RBC velocity (252 +/- 20 and 144 +/- 9 microm/s in sham and CHF, respectively, P < 0.001) and flux (21.4 +/- 2.4 and 9.4 +/- 1.1 cells/s in sham and CHF, respectively, P < 0.01) were markedly reduced in CHF compared with sham rats. Capillary "tube" hematocrit remained unchanged (0.22 +/- 0.02 and 0.19 +/- 0.02 in sham and CHF, respectively, P > 0.05). We conclude that CHF causes spinotrapezius fiber atrophy and reduces the number of capillaries supporting continuous RBC flow per fiber. Within these capillaries supporting continuous RBC flow, RBC velocity and flux are reduced 45-55%. This decreases the potential for O(2) delivery but enhances fractional O(2) extraction by elevating RBC capillary residence time. The unchanged capillary tube hematocrit suggests that any alterations in muscle O(2) diffusing properties in CHF are mediated distal to the RBC.

Dietary retinol inhibits inflammatory responses of rats treated with monocrotaline

This study was designed to test the effectiveness of dietary retinol in protecting the heart and lung parenchyma in a monocrotaline model for lung injury and pulmonary hypertension in rats. Male rats were assigned to three groups. Two groups were injected subcutaneously with monocrotaline (17 mg/kg body weight) and fed either the control AIN-93G diet (MC) or the control diet supplemented with retinol (17 mg retinyl palmitate/kg diet)(MR). The third group was fed the control diet and injected with the vehicle only (VC). Four weeks after monocrotaline treatment, the MR group had less thickening of the alveolar septal wall, less myocardial inflammation and degeneration of the right ventricle, and less vascular inflammation in the lung compared with the MC group. The supplemented dietary retinol, however, did not prevent development of right ventricular hypertrophy and did not affect the synthesis and secretion of surfactant phospholipids in type II pneumocytes. The results indicate that dietary retinol suppresses the inflammatory responses in the heart and lungs of rats treated with monocrotaline.

Effect of furosemide on pulmonary blood flow distribution in resting and exercising horses

We determined the spatial distribution of pulmonary blood flow (PBF) with 15-micron fluorescent-labeled microspheres during rest and exercise in five Thoroughbred horses before and 4 h after furosemide administration (0.5 mg/kg iv). The primary finding of this study was that PBF redistribution occurred from rest to exercise, both with and without furosemide. However, there was less blood flow to the dorsal portion of the lung during exercise postfurosemide compared with prefurosemide. Furosemide did alter the resting perfusion distribution by increasing the flow to the ventral regions of the lung; however, that increase in flow was abated with exercise. Other findings included 1) unchanged gas exchange and cardiac output during rest and exercise after vs. before furosemide, 2) a decrease in pulmonary arterial pressure after furosemide, 3) an increase in the slope of the relationship of PBF vs. vertical height up the lung during exercise, both with and without furosemide, and 4) a decrease in blood flow to the dorsal region of the lung at rest after furosemide. Pulmonary perfusion variability within the lung may be a function of the anatomy of the pulmonary vessels that results in a predominantly fixed spatial pattern of flow distribution.

Actin polymerization enhances Pasteurella haemolytica leukotoxicity

Pasteurella haemolytica leukotoxin is cytotoxic to bovine leukocytes, causing increased cell membrane permeability, osmotic swelling, release of cytosolic proteins and cell lysis. These studies were designed to test if leukotoxin causes release of the cytoskeletal protein, actin, from bovine leukemia cells and if purified actin-influenced bacterial growth or leukotoxin production. Culture supernatants caused a 7-fold decrease in viability of bovine leukemia cells and increased cell permeability that was accompanied by release of beta-actin into the cell culture supernatant. Exposing P. haemolytica to purified actin solutions induced the conversion of monomeric G-actin to polymerized F-actin. This conversion was partially inhibited by bovine P. haemolytica immune, but not pre-immune, serum. Loss of streptomycin resistance following treatment of the organism with acridine orange ablated the polymerizing activity. Incubation of P. haemolytica in the presence of purified F-actin did not affect growth but resulted in culture supernatant that had 3.0-3.9-fold greater leukotoxicity compared to medium alone or medium containing G-actin, heat-denatured actin or albumin. The effect of actin on leukotoxicity was concentration-dependent and directly associated with increases in secreted leukotoxin. The interaction between P. haemolytica and actin is potentially detrimental to the host by inducing polymerization of actin into insoluble filaments and by enhancing leukotoxicity.

Toxicosis in cattle from concurrent feeding of monensin and dried distiller's grains contaminated with macrolide antibiotics

Consumption of monensin-containing feed contaminated with macrolide antibiotic residues resulted in the death of cattle from multiple feedlots in south-central Kansas. Cattle were fed milo dried distiller's grains (DDG) with solubles from a common source in conjunction with the ionophore antibiotic, monensin. Deaths occurred as early as 72-96 hours after feeding and were preceded by either no premonitory signs or 1 or more of the following: anorexia, depression, dyspnea, locomotor deficits, and recumbency. Significant gross lesions were pulmonary and mesenteric edema, hepatomegaly, and generalized myocardial and skeletal muscle pallor that was confirmed histologically as acute myodegeneration and necrosis. Other significant histologic lesions included centrolobular hepatocellular necrosis, congestion, and pulmonary interstitial and alveolar edema with fibrin exudation. Animals that survived beyond 6 weeks had poor weight gain and coalescing foci of myocardial fibrosis with residual myocardial degeneration. Analysis of trace mineral supplements for monensin were within the manufacturer's label range. The DDG samples from affected feedlots had 50-1,500 ppm of erythromycin, clarithromycin, and related macrolide antibiotic analogues, which originated in the alcohol residue. In a preliminary feeding trial, cattle fed this contaminated DDG in combination with monensin had clinical signs and died with gross and histologic findings comparable to those of the field cases. Even though rations supplemented with the contaminated DDG contained approved levels of monensin, the clinical and postmortem findings were consistent with those expected for monensin toxicosis. The presence of macrolide antibiotic residues in the contaminated feed appeared to affect the biotransformation of otherwise nontoxic levels of monensin, leading to clinical ionophore toxicosis.

Actin enhances the haemolytic activity of Escherichia coli

Actin is a major cytoskeletal protein of mammalian muscle and non-muscle cells. Exposure of cells to soluble factors that damage cell membranes results in the release of actin into the extracellular spaces. The alpha-haemolysin (HlyA) of Escherichia coli is the prototype RTX (repeat in toxin) toxin and is thought to be important in virulence because of its ability to lyse cells by formation of pores in the cell membrane. These studies were conducted to determine if actin influences growth and haemolytic activity of E. coli. Growth of E. coli in the presence of actin resulted in culture supernatant haemolytic activity that was 2.4-, 2.7- and 3.3-fold greater than that of E. coli grown in medium containing BSA, non-supplemented medium, or medium containing heat-denatured actin, respectively. The enhanced haemolytic activity occurred only when actin was present during the growth phase and there was no effect when actin was added to culture supernatants containing haemolysin. The increased haemolytic activity by actin was concentration-dependent, detectable in early-exponential-phase growth, and associated with increased concentrations of secreted HlyA by Western blotting. Actin induced a 2.9-fold increase in alkaline phosphatase activity in E. coli CC118 with a TnphoA insertion in the hlyB determinant of the recombinant haemolysin plasmid pWAM04. These results indicate that extracellular actin enhances haemolysin production by E. coli and may have implications in the pathogenesis of E. coli infections.

Comparison of serologic and protective responses induced by two Pasteurella vaccines

Vaccine development for the prevention of pneumonic pasteurellosis remains a critical issue for the feedlot industry. Most currently available Pasteurella vaccines are formulated to stimulate immunity by either providing an adequate antigenic mass in the administered dose, or by relying on subsequent production of antigens by in vivo growth of live organisms. The ability of these different types of vaccines to stimulate rapid and high titres to key antigens is a key factor that will influence subsequent resistance to disease. The serologic and protective responses to a streptomycin-dependent, modified-live vaccine and a killed (bacterin-toxoid) vaccine against experimental pneumonic pasteurellosis were compared. Calves were vaccinated with a single injection of either a test vaccine or phosphate-buffered saline, challenged 14 d later by transthoracic injection with Pasteurella haemolytica, and euthanized 3 d post-challenge to evaluate the severity of pneumonia. On days 0, 7, and 14, serologic responses to various P. haemolytica antigens, including cell-associated and soluble antigens, were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, and anti-leukotoxin antibody levels were determined by leukotoxin neutralization. The bacterin-toxoid elicited significantly greater serologic responses compared to controls for all antigens. The modified-live vaccine elicited a significantly greater response compared to controls for a whole-cell antigen preparation. Lesion scores were significantly smaller (greater protection) in calves that received the bacterin-toxoid, but not the modified-live vaccine, compared to controls.

An ovarian teratoma in a cat

A 5-month-old, intact female, domestic shorthaired cat was presented for evaluation of abdominal distension. Abdominal radiographs revealed a midabdominal mass that contained multiple, irregular, mineralized opacities. The mass was surgically removed, and an ovariohysterectomy performed. The mass was located at the tip of the left uterine horn and was covered partially by haired skin. Histologically, the mass was diagnosed as a mature ovarian teratoma based on the presence of well-differentiated somatic structures derived from three primary embryonal germ-cell layers. Germ-cell tumor classification and feline ovarian teratomas are reviewed.

Tricyclic pyrone analogs: a new class of microtubule-disrupting anticancer drugs effective against murine leukemia cells in vitro

Novel 1H,7H-5a,6,8,9-tetrahydro-1-oxopyrano [4,3-b][1]benzopyrans were synthesized in Hua's laboratory (code names H5, H10, H14 and H15) and tested for their ability to prevent L1210 leukemic cells from synthesizing macromolecules and growing in vitro. The aryl groups of these tricyclic pyrone (TP) analogs are either 3, 4-dimethoxyphenyl in H5 and H15 or 3-pyridyl in H10 and H14. Since 50 M H5 and H10 both inhibit DNA synthesis and tumor cell growth by 79-100%, concentrations 25 M were used in this study to assess the structure-activity relationships for this class of compounds. At 10-25 M, H5 and H14 are more potent inhibitors of DNA, RNA and protein synthesis than H10. In contrast, at 5-25 M, H10 is much more effective than H5 and H14 at inhibiting the growth of L1210 cells over a 4-day period. Interestingly, H15 inhibits DNA synthesis as much as H10 but fails to alter tumor cell growth. This discrepancy between the ability of TPs to inhibit macromolecule synthesis and leukemic cell growth suggests that other molecular targets may be involved in the antitumor action of these drugs. Their short-term inhibition of nucleic acid synthesis is reversible following drug removal but their long-term inhibition of tumor cell growth is not. Moreover, 25 M H5 and H10 are not cytotoxic at 2 days but equally decrease cell viability at 4 days, suggesting that the potent and irreversible inhibition of cell proliferation observed 1-4 days after H10 treatment is not solely caused by drug cytotoxicity. The effectiveness of H10 as inhibitor of L1210 cell growth is comparable to that of a spectrum of representative anticancer drugs. A critical finding is that 5 M H10 blocks the polymerization of purified tubulin by 90% and, therefore, may be a novel microtubule de-stabilizing drug. Indeed, H10 inhibits tubulin polymerization and L1210 cell growth as much as 5 M of vincristine (VCR). In contrast, 5 M H5 alters neither tubulin polymerization nor tumor cell growth. The ability of H10 to disrupt microtubule dynamics indirectly suggests that TPs may be novel cell cycle-specific anticancer drugs useful for arresting mammalian cells in mitosis.

Infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, parainfluenza-3, and respiratory coronavirus

A number of viruses have been proven to be primary respiratory pathogens of cattle. Viruses may play an important role in making cattle susceptible to secondary respiratory bacterial pathogens. Epidemiology, pathogenesis, laboratory diagnosis, and important properties in infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), parainfluenza-3 (PI-3), and bovine respiratory coronavirus (BRCV) are described in this article.

Antitumor activity of novel tricyclic pyrone analogs in murine leukemia cells in vitro

New tricyclic pyrone derivatives were synthesized and tested for their ability to prevent L1210 leukemic cells from synthesizing DNA and growing in vitro. At 50 microM, a pyripyropene analog has no effect, whereas four pentahydro-3-aryl-1-oxopyrano[4,3-b][1]benzopyrans all inhibit DNA synthesis by 79-91% and tumor cell growth by 93-100%. These inhibitory effects are concentration dependent with IC50 around 8.5 microM for DNA synthesis at 2 hours and 1.1 microM for tumor cell growth at 4 days. The aryl groups of these antitumor agents are either 3,4-dimethoxyphenyl or 3-pyridyl. Introduction of a methyl group at C5a and a formyloxy or hydroxy group at C6 does not alter the antitumor effects of the 3,4-dimethoxyphenyl benzopyrans but reduces those of the 3-pyridyl benzopyrans, which, at 50 microM, inhibit DNA synthesis by only 32-49% and fail to alter tumor cell growth. The 4-hydroxy-6-(3-pyridyl)-2-pyrone has no effect and the tricyclic pyrones lacking aryl groups have very little inhibitory effects on DNA synthesis, suggesting that a greater conjugation is required for the antitumor activity. These molecules have never been reported and might be valuable to develop a new class of anticancer drugs.

Minimal redistribution of pulmonary blood flow with exercise in racehorses

We determined the spatial distribution of pulmonary blood flow at rest and during increasing levels of exercise (34, 59, and 90% of maximal oxygen consumption) in Thoroughbred racehorses (n = 4) using 15-microns fluorescent microspheres. After the horses were killed, the lungs were flushed free of blood, removed, air-dried at total lung capacity, and sliced into isogravitational planes, which were sampled in a systematic fashion for three-dimensional reconstruction. The fluorescence was measured for quantification of blood flow. Mean pulmonary blood flow heterogeneity (expressed as a coefficient of variation) did not change with increasing exercise levels [36.2 +/- 16.4 (rest) to 26.9 +/- 6.8% (gallop); P = not significant]. Greater than 70% of pulmonary blood flow variation across rest to high-exercise states is determined by a fixed spatial pattern. Thirty percent of the variation in pulmonary blood flow seen in horses over rest and exercising states is due to redistribution. The majority of flow redistribution was due to flow increasing to the dorsal region of the lung during exercise at 90% of maximal oxygen consumption (a flow gradient of 0.20 ml. min-1.cm-1 up the lung; P = 0.04).

Maxillary lymphosarcoma in a cow

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Cell-to-cell contact not soluble factors mediate suppression of lymphocyte proliferation by bovine parainfluenza virus type 3

We have previously characterized the ability of parainfluenza virus type 3-infected (PIV-3) and noninfected bovine alveolar macrophages (BAM) to support lymphocyte proliferation. While uninfected macrophages support proliferation of lymphocytes stimulated with concanavalin A (Con A), ovalbumin, and interleukin 2 (IL-2), lymphocyte [3H]thymidine incorporation was suppressed in the presence of PIV-3-infected BAM. Since viral infection of macrophages has been shown to alter arachidonic acid metabolism and cytokine secretion, we have determined if arachidonate metabolism or the lack of IL-1 and IL-2 mediated the suppression of lymphocyte proliferation by PIV-3. Inhibition of arachidonic acid metabolism failed to reverse the suppressive effect of viral infection as did supplementation of cultures with bovine recombinant IL-1 beta, IL-2, or lymphocyte-conditioned medium. Further, lymphocytes proliferated normally when physically separated from virus infected BAM by a semipermeable membrane. Stimulation of lymphocytes in contact with infected BAM resulted in marked suppression of lymphocyte [3H]thymidine incorporation. Interactions between stimulated lymphocytes and PIV-3-infected BAM resulted in PIV-3 infection of lymphocytes. Virus infection of lymphocytes was confirmed ultrastructurally by the presence of characteristic parainfluenza virus inclusions and virus budding from lymphocyte plasma membranes. It was concluded that suppression of lymphocyte proliferation by PIV-3 is mediated in part by infection of stimulated lymphocytes during cell-to-cell contact with BAM.

Suppression of lymphocyte proliferation by parainfluenza virus type 3-infected bovine alveolar macrophages

Lymphocytes stimulated with concanavalin A (Con A) or antigen in the presence of bovine parainfluenza virus type 3 (PIV-3) infected bovine alveolar macrophages (BAM) or monocytes, had depressed [3H]thymidine incorporation. This failure of lymphocytes to incorporate radiolabel required live virus, was time dependent and was most pronounced when BAM were infected for 48 hr prior to the addition of lymphocytes. The rate of infection of alveolar macrophages and the release of infectious virus into culture supernatants paralleled suppression of lymphocyte mitogenesis by PIV-3. However, the peak titre of exogenous, live or inactivated virus was not suppressive when added to lymphocyte macrophage cultures just prior to Con A stimulation. Neither the loss of viable alveolar macrophages nor a shift in antigen or mitogen dose response in virally infected cultures could account for the deficit in [3H]thymidine incorporation by lymphocytes. Despite the presence of lymphocyte-associated virus antigen detected by direct immunofluorescence, no increase in PIV-3 titre above baseline was seen from infected lymphocytes, irrespective of mitogen stimulation. Likewise, lymphocytes did not contribute to the extracellular virus pool in lymphocyte-macrophage cultures as the increases in viral titre above basal levels in supernatants were equal to levels released by macrophages alone. The expression of viral antigen on lymphocytes stimulated in the presence of PIV-3-infected BAM suggests a non-productive or abortive infection of lymphocytes mediated through contact with infected macrophages.