Paul E. Zollman

Augmentation Cystoplasty Utilizing De-Epithelialized Sigmoid Colon: A Preliminary Study

The use of bowel segments for bladder replacement or augmentation has been associated with metabolic complications and obstruction due to mucus production. Establishment of a transitional epithelium over the de-epithelialized surface of a segment of intestine might alleviate these complications. Twenty Holstein bull calves underwent sigmoidocystoplasty. Fourteen experimental animals had the epithelium of the sigmoid removed before augmentation. Six calves with intact mucosa served as controls. Fifteen calves survived the study: 11 experimentals and four controls. Cystectomies were performed at four, six, eight, or 12 weeks. Ninety-one percent (10/11) of the experimental calves had almost complete epithelialization of the de-epithelialized graft. All experimental animals had residual colonic mucosa or mucoceles. Nine of 11 experimental calves (82%) had greater than 25% contracture of the sigmoid graft. Two animals had less than 25% graft contracture (1) or formed a wide-mouthed true diverticulum (1) in the grafted segment. All control animals formed a wide-mouthed true diverticulum and had no graft contracture.

A comparison of autoplastic, allogeneic and xenogeneic perfusion of isolated kidneys***

Summary Kidneys of pigs, monkeys and rabbits were perfused by dogs, and kidneys of dogs were similarly perfused by domestic pigs and by a strain of miniature pigs. Autoplastic and allogeneic perfusions of dog and pig kidneys served as control experiments. Although modest differences were noted in the rapidity of the reaction when different combinations of animals were used, the xenogeneic perfusion systems tested were characterized by rapidly developing diminution and, finally, cessation of renal blood flow, by retention of platelets and leukocytes in the kidneys, and by renal edema, vascular congestion and hemorrhage with foci of damage to endothelium. This reaction, as it occurred in pig kidneys perfused by dogs, was not modified significantly by any of a group of drugs that included serotonin antagonists, antihistaminic agents, protease inhibitors, corticosteroids, an immunosuppressive agent, and certain combinations of these. In three experiments there was evidence that, when miniature pigs were fed dog serum immediately after birth by cesarean section and were used (when they were 5 months of age) to perfuse dog kidneys, the perfused kidneys maintained normal blood flow for longer periods of time than did those perfused by untreated miniature pigs; nevertheless, acute “rejection” occurred in all tests within six hours.

Fecal sterols of some avian species

Abstract 1. 1. Of the species examined, only chicken produced feces containing 5β-stanols (coprostanol derivatives). 2. 2. Feces of all species contained 5α-stanols; that of the White Carneau pigeon contained the most. 3. 3. The major sterol fraction in all species was the Δ 5 sterols consisting mainly of cholesterol, campesterol, stigmasterol and β-sitosterol. 4. 4. The proportions of these sterols were different in the different species. β-Sitosterol was the major plant sterol in all the species.

Black bear (Ursus americanus) bile composition: seasonal changes.

Gallbladder contents from 8 active and 14 dormant black bears were analyzed for individual bile acids by high-performance liquid chromatography and for cholesterol, phospholipids, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, and copper. Only three bile acids occurring as taurine conjugates were detected: tauroursodeoxycholate, taurochenodeoxycholate, and taurocholate. The proportion of tauroursodeoxycholate to the sum of the three bile acids decreased. Calcium, cholesterol, phospholipids, magnesium, zinc, and copper concentrations were increased in dormancy. Standardized collection and handling procedures yielded more consistent data than previously available. The decrease in tauroursodeoxycholate and absence of deoxycholate and lithocholate are consistent with our working hypothesis that a marked reduction in metabolic activity of the gut flora is an integral part of the adaptation to metabolic stability of the dormant bear.

The glyoxylate cycle: does it function in the dormant or active bear?

The presence of or induction of an active glyoxylate cycle (GC) in the dormant black bear whose sole source of energy is body fat is an attractive concept which would allow lipid (acetate) to be directed from oxidation via the tricarboxylic acid cycle to many biosynthetic pathways. However, in spite of earlier claims, the present report establishes that isocitrate lyase and malate synthetase, GC marker enzymes, could not be detected in liver or kidney of active or dormant bears; liver peroxisome numbers were similar. The absence of brown fat (by light microscopy) and of the GC enzymes in the dormant bear raises questions about the prior report.

Hemostasis in the copper-laden Bedlington terrier: a possible model of Wilson's disease.

A hemostatic survey was done on 14 Bedlington terriers, 13 of which have the recently discovered copper toxicosis. Their hepatic copper ranged from 109 to 9,888 microgram/g dry weight and their ages from 8 months to 8 years. Despite histologic evidence of hepatitis in younger dogs and cirrhosis in older ones, plasmatic coagulation factors were not depressed. In fact, the hemophilic factors VIII, IX and XI were above normal, more closely related to the age of the dog than to the hepatic copper. Furthermore, their platelet were unusually sensitive to adenosine diphosphate exposure. Offsprings of matings between Bedlington terriers and Beagles seem to be normal.

Transmissible mink encephalopathy agent in squirrel monkeys: Serial electroencephalographic, clinical and pathologic studies

A p ogressive neuro logic disease in squirrel, rhesus and stumptail monkeys has been produced by means of a transmissible mink encephalopathy (TME) agent.’.’ Gibbs and associates” have tentatively classified this agent as a member of the subacute spongiform viral encephalopathy agents, which also include those that produce scrapie in sheep and kuru and Jakob-Creutzfeldt disease in man. The disease in mink was originally described in Wisconsin4 and subsequently has been reported in Idaho,s Ontario6 and East germ an^.^ It is characterized by a 9 to 12 month incubation period and progressive cen tral nervous system disturbances. The elect roencephalographic (EEG) evidence o f disease in mink precedes the clinical onset by 39 days (mean) and consists of a slowing of the normal ( 5 o r 6 H z ) background activity to between 2.5 and 5 Hz.” N o periodic complexes are seen. Histologically, the lesions are limited to the central nervous system and consist of diffuse vacuolation of the gray matter, astrocytosis, and varied degrees of neuronal degeneration .* No inflammatory response o c Neurology / Volume 23 /August 1973 820 curs in tissues, and no specific antibody response in serum has been found. Serial EEG studies done in a small series of primates inoculated with the TME agent revealed that generalized slowing of the background activity preceded clinical signs of disease.z No periodic complexes were seen in this group. Due to lack of immune response, serial EEG studies have been the most reliable clinical method of evaluating the onset of preclinical encephalopathy in animals susceptible to the TME agent. To develop a single primate model for a comparative study of neurologic, pathologic and immunochemical responses to different slow-virus agents affecting man, we initiated a more extensive EEG and clinical investigation of squirrel monkeys. We reviewed 562 EEG

Liver transplantation in pigs with von Willebrand's disease.

Nine pigs with von Willebrands disease (vWd pigs) received normal auxiliary livers; in the immediate postoperative period, three pigs died, three survived from 3 days to 3 weeks, and three were killed 5–13 weeks postoperatively. There was an increase in factor VIII (up to 90 u/dl) but with a type of factor VIII that was more labile than normal and that decreased after 2 weeks, probably as a result of liver rejection. There was a slight increase in the levels of the ristocetin‐Willebrand factor postoperatively (up to 11%) but this activity was undetectable after 2 weeks. There was no correction of the abnormal bleeding time and platelet retention. When a vWd liver was transplanted orthotopically into a normal pig, the factor‐VIII coagulant activity and the ristocetin‐Willebrand factor remained normal. The abnormality in porcine von Willebrands disease is only partially corrected by liver transplantation, which suggests that there also is extrahepatic synthesis of the missing or abnormal plasmatic activity or activities.