Eighty mature Microtus montebelli bred at the authors' laboratory were given one of three rations, (A) potatoes alone, (B) hay-cubes alone, and (C) hay-cubes and pellets for the herbivore, to study the bacterial flora in the esophageal sac by the anaerobic culture technique described by Hungate, in vitro fermentation by the Warburg manometer, and production of VFAs and other organic acids by gas chromatography. The results obtained are summarized as follows. Gastric fermentation took place in the first stomach, i.e., the esophageal sac. Two trials of in vitro incubation were run with voles on ratios B and C by utilizing cellulose and xylan, but not with voles on ration A. The largest pH value, total VFAs and fermentation rate were observed in the esophageal-sac contents of voles on ration C. Significant variations in bacterial flora, pH value, and the concentrations of total VFAs and lactic acid were considered to be due to the difference in ration. Ration A resulted in a decrease in pH value and total VFAs and an increase in proportion of aerobic bacteria and lactic acid. The pH value and amounts of total VFAs were always smaller in the fundic and pyloric regions of the stomach than in the esophageal sac, regardless of the ration given. Acetic acid was major fermentation product in the esophageal sac. A small amount of propionic acid was also detected from the sac. Thus, more than 10⁶/g aerobic and anaerobic bacteria were present in the esophageal sac, where fermentation took place to produce VFAs.

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A clinical and mycological investigation on equine dermatophytosis was performed in Hokkaido during a one-year period in 1978. The animals investigated were raising light horses on 7 farms and heavy draft horses in 3 race courses. The infection rates were 21.9∼100% and 8.6∼18.8% in the light and the draft horses, respectively. The seasonal occurrence of equine dermatophytosis was especially high in the light horses from July to September in the pasture feeding stage and in the draft horses between July and October in the racing season. Lesions were usually found all over the body surface in the light horses. On the other hand, main lesions were observed at the chest in the draft horses. Trichophyton equinum was isolated as a causative agent of equine dermatophytosis, from all the horses and Microsporum canis from the hair and scale in some infected horses.

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Acute fatal pneumothorax was found in 15 dogs submitted for autopsy and one dog successfully treated. Most of those dogs had suffered from marked respiratory distress and died or been found dead. All the 16 dogs harbored Dirofilaria immitis. Eight of them had ever been subjected to the eliminative treatment of heartworm. A pulmonary cavity developed in the dorsal basal segment of the diaphragmatic lobe and was accompanied with perforation, which led to the formation of a bronchopleural fistula, in the right lung of 15 dogs and in the left lung of one dog. Histopathologically, these changes were divided into three types: suppurative cavity, thin wall cavity, and subpleural scarring emphysema. There were transitional forms among the three types. The pulmonary arteries in the vicinity of these lesions were frequently affected with embolism by dead heartworm, thrombosis, and obstructive proliferation of fibrous tissue.

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The route of inoculation as well as stage of inoculated organism in it's life cycle influenced the pathogenicity or infectivity of Toxoplasma in cats. All 6 cats administered orally with Toxoplasma cysts were infected without any clinical symptoms and excreted oocysts in the feces at the early stage of infection (5-12 days after administration). Of 3 cats administered orally with Toxoplasma oocysts, only one animal developed latent infection excreting oocysts in the feces at the end of 5th week after administration (38th, 40th day). On postmortem examination, none of infected animals showed abnormalities. Toxoplasma was recovered from the lung, striated musculatures and others. When cats were inoculated intraperitoneally with cysts, all of them developed fatal infection. Clinical signs were manifested by fever, anorexia, lethargy and dyspnea, which were similar to those of cats infected naturally. On postmortem examination, a large amount of fluid was found to have accumulated in the pleural and peritoneal cavities. Cloudy swelling of the liver and inflammatory edem of the lung were also observed. The level of SGOT and SGPT values was elevated significantly. None of animals inoculated intraperitoneally with cysts excreted oocysts in their feces though Toxoplasma was recovered from all tissues and organs of them. Intramusculally inoculation of cortisone acetate did not affect on relapsing or oocyst reproduction.

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Toxoplasma organism ingested orally by cats invaded initially the small intestine and small intestinal lymph nodes. Between 2nd and 7th day, the invaded organisms were spreading gradually and by the 10th or 14th day, almost all extraintestinal tissues and organs became infected. During this period, the oocysts were recovered from the feces of animals. From these results, it was suggested that Toxoplasma invaded cats underwent both asexual-sexual (oocyst formation) and asexual cycles right after the initiation in the small intestine. In the latter cycle, multiplied organisms were disseminated into tissues and organs via lymphatics and/or the blood stream. The organisms parasitized in the small intestine were sensitive against digestion by trypsin up to 10 days after ingestion. The sensitivity of Toxoplasma against tryptic digestion was attracted attention as a new nature of the organism parasitized in the intestine. The period from 10 to 14 days post-ingestion of cysts should be a turning point of the course of latent infection since the dye test titer began to increase, the number of oocysts in the feces usually began to decrease and trypsin resistant organisms began to appear in the small intestine. During this period, invaded organisms were spread to almost all tissues and organs without any clinical symptoms.

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In this experiment, 9 cats were inoculated intraperitoneally with 1 or 3 mouse brains containing Toxoplasma cysts. Four of them died of acute toxoplasmosis within 2 weeks after inoculation, and none of oocysts was excreted in the feces of these animals during the infection. The remaining 5 cats (1 cat inoculated with 3 mouse brains and 4 cats with 1 mouse brain) recovered from acute infection excreting oocysts during the convalescent phase of infection. The prepatent periods ranged between 19 and 24 days and the patent periods lasted 5 to 7 days. The prepatent periods of these animals were prolonged significantly compared with that of oral administration of cysts. All recovered cats developed dye test antibody during the prepatent period and the antibody attained peak in titer at the patent period. It is suggested that the dye test antibody does not affected directly against development of oocyst in the intestine of the cats.

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Ulnar dimelia was found in a calf with true polymelia and intraindividual ipsilateral dimelia. It had not been reported in cattle as far as the authors knew. This calf was born in Shimane Prefecture. The duplicated ulnae of the left limb located cranially and caudally, respectively, were mirror-images of each other with the anconeus processes facing each other. The radius with hemimelia associated with symmelia was divided into two parts, proximal and distal. The proximal part was recognized as a small osseous piece situated between both ulnae. The distal part fused with both ulnar distal portions. In the part corresponding to the shaft, no osseous substance was found, but there was only a tendinous connection between the proximal and distal parts. In the duplicated carpal bones, morphological changes were induced by the abnormal acute refraction of the wrist joint and the absence of the radial and accessory carpal bones in the proximal row in both carpal bones. The metacarpal bones showed a duplication facing the medial side. The digits were polydactylious. In the muscular system, abnormality was observed in the origin, insertion and relationship of duplicated muscles in association with the abnormality of the skeletal system.

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The composition of rumen ciliate protozoa from the Japanese serow was investigated. The average number of total ciliates per milliliter of rumen contents was 1.4×10⁵. Eleven species, one of trichostomatid and ten of entodiniomorphid ciliates, were recognized. Of them, ten species had already been described in the domestic ruminants in Japan, but one was detected specifically from the Japanese serow. This species was described as the new form, Epidinium ecaudatum forma capricornisi forma nov. This form had bifurcated and trifurcated caudal spines. Species or formae with trifurcated spines had been described not in the genus Epidinium but in the genus Ophryoscolex. The fact may be one of the characters showing the phylogenetical relationship between these two geneta.

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Low molecular weight (LMW) IgM, which appears in the serum of chicken with avian lymphoid leukosis (ALL), was purified by salt precipitation and column chromatography. In immunodiffusion analysis, purified LMW IgM indicated the same anti-genicity as 7S-IgM purified from 19S-IgM. In immunoelectrophoretic analysis, two types (M₁ and M₂) of LMW IgM were identified by the difference in mobility. The concentration of LMW IgM in the serum of chickens with ALL ranged from 3.1 to 9.8 mg/ml when measured by single or multiple radial immunodiffusion. No LMW IgM types, however, were detected from the sera of normal or other diseased chickens. In conclusion, it seemed possible to make a diagnosis of ALL by immunochemical analysis.

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Overfeeding of grain induced mild stiffness in experimental bulls 24 hours after feeding. In hay-fed cattle both the packed cell volume of the digital vein and the digital artery pressure increased after injection of histamine. They were followed by the appearance of hoof edema and lameness, both of which disappeared in 24 hours. When histamine was injected into the digital artery of cattle overfed with grain, severe laminitis (Obel's score of greater than 3) resulted and continued for 29 to 101 days. The experimentally induced laminitis was similar to naturally occurring bovine laminitis (on the basis of lameness and vital signs). It is speculated that overfeeding of grain may have induced circulatory and other changes in the hoof, which may have increased in sensitivity to histamine and been affected with laminitis.

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Among 31 rats with a cervical ligation for 79 to 88 days, hydrometra developed in 17 uterine horns of 13 rats. Eleven of those 17 uterine horns of hydrometra contained the turbid or transparent exudate with a bacterial contamination at the level of 10⁷ to 10⁹/ml, and affected with endometritis. The remaining 5 hydrometra were filled with sterile exudate and free from endometritis. On the other hand, the uterine luminal fluid in some cases of the apparently normal rats at the proestrous stage was contaminated with Streptococcus sp. and/or P. pneumotropica at the level of 10³ to 10⁵/ml. Another 14 rats, in which 14 uterine horns (9 rats) were preliminarily confirmed for bacterial contamination, were treated by ovariectomy, uterine ligation and subcutaneous injection of estradiol 0.2/μg/day for 20 days. However, hydrometra was macroscopically negative in all rats. Endometritis was also negative in 11 of 14 uterine horns except for a slight endometritis in the remaining 3 uterine horns. These results indicate that the luminal fluid of hydro-metra plays an important role in the growth of pre-existing bacteria and development of endometritis, accordingly, the transition of hydrometra to endometritis may occur in the rat uteri with a contamination by the pre-existing bacteria. Therefore, it was thought to be reasonable to include those abnormal uteri in the words of Hydrometra-endometritis complex.

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An infectious disease broke out spontaneously with high morbidity and fatality among adult and young mice in some breeding colonies of inbred and outbred strains of mice. A hemagglutinating virus was isolated from the pulmonary tissue of diseased mice and identified as Sendai virus (HVJ) by the cross HI reaction with antiserum against the isolate and known HVJ. Neither pathogenic bacteria nor mycoplasmas were detected from any organ of diseased mice. Antibodies against some other pathogenic bacteria and murine viruses were negative in the infected mouse colony. From these results, it was considered that the single infection with HVJ had caused the outbreak. There was a defference in fatality among mouse strains. Serological and epizootiological examination revealed that these colonies had been free of HVJ from 1973 to the time of outbreak in 1977. In the same animal house with those infected mouse colonies, a rat colony had already been infected with HVJ. In another animal house outbreaks of HVJ infection of mice in the past were attributed to the introduction of commercial mice. Neither reinfection nor production of HVJ antibody was evidenced in mice born after the 1977 outbreak. This is because diseased mice were eliminated from the colony during the outbreak, breeding was discontinued for nearly 2 months, and antibodies were acquired by surviving mice.

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A mineral balance was examined in four young lactating ewes that had been fed a winter ration for 10 days and spring herbage (orchard-grass) for the following 9 days. Magnesium metabolism was evaluated in relation to other mineral metabolism, rumen fermentation, plasma parathyroid hormone (PTH) and blood acid-base equilibrium. The spring herbage contained much more potassium, but less magnesium, calcium, phosphorns and sodium than the winter ration. When feed was changed from the winter ration to the spring herbage, the concentration of VFAs did not change in rumen fluid, but that of NH₃-N significantly rose and pH temporarily rose in it. The rate of apparent absorption to Mg and P intake increased in three ewes and decreased in the other ewe, but that to Ca intake decreased and that to Na and K intake significantly increased in all the ewes. The secretion of Mg, Ca, P and K in milk decreased a little temporarily, but that of Na increased. The urinary excretion of Mg and Na significantly decreased, that of Ca did not change, and that of P and K increased. The body retention of Mg, Ca and P significantly decreased, but that of Na and K increased. Serum Mg and inorganic P level decreased, but serum Ca, Na and K levels did not changed. Exponential regression was obtained between serum and urinary Mg. The significant positive correlation of Mg with Ca and the significant negative correlation of Mg with Na and Ca with K were found in serum. Plasma PTH rose undulatingly.

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Canine transmissible sarcoma originated from the naturally occurring vene-real sarcoma in a dog has been maintained since 1967 as an allogeneic tumor cell line. The growth and regression course of the tumor in mongrel puppies and adult beagles, which had not mating, challenged the tumor was observed. Following the appearance of the palpable mass on 4 days after the subcutaneous implantation, a period of logarithmic increase in size occured, followed by relative tumor stability and a period of logarithmic decrease. The total period from the tumor appearance to its disappearance was 73.00±9.78 days in the short-team group of beagles, 100.83±9.70 days in the long-term group of beagles, and 77.00±13.17 days in the mongrel dogs. The parameters of the equation fitted to the data from the tumor appearance to its disappearance were computed by use of a least-squares fitting method. In the short-term group of beagles the equation was V_t=0.1·exp{-e^-5.71(t-36.52)²+5.15} and the tumor age when the tumor disappeared calculated by the equation was 75.95 days after the tumor appearance; in the long-term group of beagles the equation was V_t=0.1·exp{-e^-6.12(t-45.56)²+5.37} and the age was 94.98 days; and in the mongrel dogs the equation was V_t=0.1·exp{-e^-5.88(t-39.84)²+4.95} and the age was 81.93 days. In the short-term group of beagles the tumor age could be estimated by the data to 35 days after the tumor appearance, in the long-term group of beagles 50 days, and in the mongrel dogs 45 days.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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