Comparative evaluation of metallic skin staples or polypropylene sutures for primary closure of teat wounds in sheep.

AIMS: To compare stainless steel staples and polypropylene suture material for primary closure of wounds after teat amputation in ewes and to assess progress of healing in the presence or absence of intramammary infection (IMI). METHODS: Chios-cross ewes, aged 3-5 years were randomly allocated to be infected in one teat with 1,200-1,500 cfu of Mannheimia haemolytica 5 days after parturition (groups A and B; n = 8 in each group) or remain uninfected (groups C and D; n = 4 in each group). On the following 4 days one teat from each ewe was amputated 2.5 cm from the teat end and the wound was closed using skin staples (groups A and C) or polypropylene sutures (groups B and D). Clinical evaluation of wound healing was performed between 1-21 days after surgery. On day 21 tissue sections were collected for tensiometric and histological evaluation. RESULTS: The mean interval from the start to finish of wound closure was shorter when staples were used than when sutures were used (p < 0.001). Healing scores were lower (improved) for ewes in group A than B between days 1-7 after surgery (p = 0.005), but were similar between days 10-21 (p = 0.43). Healing scores were similar in groups C and D (p = 0.98). The tensile strain at maximum load was higher in tissue from group A than B (p = 0.001) and D (p = 0.004), but all other tensiometric measures were similar between groups. Histologically, collagen density was higher in sections from group A than B (p = 0.05) and D (p = 0.01), and angiogenesis was lower in sections from group A than B (p = 0.03) and D (p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Skin staples and polypropylene sutures can be used effectively for primary closure of teat wounds, even in the presence of IMI. Skin staples had the advantage of a reduction in surgical time. ABBREVIATION: IMI: intramammary infection.

Trematode infections in pregnant ewes can predispose to mastitis during the subsequent lactation period.

Objective was to investigate if trematode infections predispose ewes to mastitis and/or metritis. We used 80 trematode-infected ewes: primigravidae in group P-A and multigravidae in M-A remained untreated, primigravidae in P-B and multigravidae in M-B were drenched with netobimin and multigravidae in M-C were given rafoxanide. We collected faecal samples for parasitological examination, blood samples for ß-hydroxybutyrate concentration measurement and uterine content, teat duct material and milk samples for bacteriological examination. We found significant differences in blood ß-hydroxybutyrate concentrations between M-A, M-B and M-C during pregnancy (P ⩽ 0.002). We did not observe significant differences between groups regarding development of metritis (P>0.83). We found that for M-A, M-B and M-C ewes, respectively, median time to first case of mastitis was 5.75, 21 and 6.75 days after lambing (P = 0.003) and incidence risk of mastitis was 0.308, 0.069 and 0.222 (P = 0.047). We postulate that trematode infections predispose ewes to mastitis; perhaps, increased ß-hydroxybutyrate blood concentrations adversely affect mammary cellular defences. This is the first report associating parasitic infections with mastitis in sheep.

CRTF is a novel transcription factor that regulates multiple stages of Dictyostelium development.

During aggregation, Dictyostelium establish nanomolar oscillation waves of extracellular cAMP, but as development progresses, cells become responsive to higher, non-fluctuating concentrations of cAMP. The regulation of the promoter responsible for expression of cAMP receptor subtype 1, CAR1, during aggregation reflects these signaling variations. Transcription of CAR1 from the early, aggregation promoter is activated by cAMP pulsing, but is repressed by continuous exposure to micromolar concentrations of cAMP. Deletion and mutation analyses of this promoter had defined an element essential for cAMP-regulated expression, and mobility shift assay, DNA crosslinking and DNase I footprinting experiments had identified a nuclear protein (CRTF) with zinc-dependent sequence binding specificity. In our study, CRTF was purified to homogeneity, peptides were sequenced and full-length cDNAs were obtained. The deduced CRTF protein is approximately 100 kDa with a C-terminal, zinc finger-like motif required for DNA binding; CRTF purified from cells, however, represents only a 40 kDa C-terminal fragment that retains DNA-binding activity. As might have been predicted if CRTF were essential for the regulation of CAR1, crtf-null strains fail to develop under standard conditions or to exhibit induced expression of CAR1 or other cAMP-regulated genes. Furthermore, crtf-nulls also fail to sporulate, even under conditions that bypass the dependence on early cAMP signaling pathways. In addition, early developmental events of crtf-null strains could be rescued with exogenous cAMP treatment, constitutive expression of CAR1 or co-development with wild-type cells; however, these treatments were insufficient to promote sporulation. This suggests a cell-autonomous role for CRTF during late development that is separate from its capacity to control CAR1 expression. Finally, ablation of CRTF promotes a precocious induction of certain cAMP-dependent gene expression pathways. We suggest that CRTF may function to help insulate distinct pathways from simultaneous and universal activation by cAMP. CRTF, thus, exhibits multiple complex and independent regulatory functions during Dictyostelium development.