Robert H. Wolf

Behavioral effects of D-Ala2-β-endorphin in squirrel monkeys☆

Abstract The effects of D-Ala 2 -β-endorphin administered either intravenously (IV) or intracisternally (IC) in squirrel monkeys were tested using a number of behavioral measures: general activity, eating, social behavior, aggression/distress, analgesia, and startle/escape. There were 10 groups (N = 5) consisting of 4 dose levels administered IC (0, 4, 40, 400 μg/kg) and 6 dose levels injected IV (0, 4, 40, 80, 400, 800 μg/kg). Every monkey was tested with all tasks on each of 5 identical repeated trials, one pre-injection baseline trial and 4 post-injection trials. After IC administration, the 2 largest doses exerted toxic effects, which were partially reversed with naloxone, producing in 2 cases muscular rigidity and profound sedation. The smaller 4 μg/kg dose produced significant decreases in activity over trials but increased reactivity to noxious stimulation after the initial post-injection trial. With IV injection reliable changes in activity and approach to food were found. The results demonstrate significant behavioral effects of an endorphin analog in the squirrel monkey after both central and peripheral injection.

Balantidiosis in a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes)

A young adult chimpanzee died after a brief gastrointestinal illness characterized by profuse soft stool, vomiting and dyspnoea. Necropsy examination revealed a severe typhlitis and colitis with pseudomembrane formation, and acute aspiration pneumonia. Balantidium coli, a common intestinal parasite, was found in large numbers in the mucosal and submucosal layers of the colon and caecum. The inflammation and degree of invasion associated with Balantidium coli indicates that it was a primary pathogen.

Depression of lymphocyte responses to mitogens in mangabeys with disseminated experimental leprosy

Mononuclear cells from mangabey monkeys with disseminated experimental leprosy had increasingly severe depression of blastogenic responses to phytohemagglutinin, concanavalin A, and pokeweed mitogen as the disease progressed. Blastogenic responses were not depressed in cells from mangabeys with more localized disease. Blastogenic responses of cells from normal mangabeys appeared to vary with a circannual rhythm. The demonstration of significant negative correlations between the blastogenic responses to mitogens and the percentages of OKT8+ cells suggested that the mangabey OKT8+ subset may contain cells with suppressor function. The depressed responses to mitogens by cells from monkeys with disseminated experimental leprosy were associated with relatively high percentages of OKT8+ cells. Polyclonal immunoglobulin plaque-forming cell responses to pokeweed mitogen were depressed in cells from experimentally infected mangabeys. The results indicated that defects in immune regulation may occur in experimental leprosy in mangabeys, similar in some respects to the defects that have been reported in human leprosy.

Low protein intake and response to Escherichia coli 055 infection in patas monkeys.

Patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas) receiving a low protein diet were infected with a mildly enteropathogenicEscherichia coli 055 strain. The subsequent immunologic response including agglutinin, opsonin and immunocyte formation was reduced relative to controls which received full protein rations. The infective organisms were excreted for a longer time by patas given a low protein diet. Total serum protein and albumin declined in patas with a low protein intake. Immunoglobulin G, A and M measurements in the spleen, mesenteric lymph nodes and intestines after infection were less than those in the controls. Total RNA values and amino acid uptake decreased. A shift of the ribosomal fractions was observed. It was concluded that lack of dietary protein impaired protein synthesis, including that of cell-bound antibodies, and that it is feasible to use patas monkeys to study the relationship between enteric infections and protein malnutrition.

Intestinal absorption, exocrine pancreatic function and response to Vibrio cholerae infection in protein deficient patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas)☆

Six patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas) were fed a protein-free diet. Sixteen animals of the same species received a standard monkey diet. The protein-depleted patas showed reduced absorption of folic acid but not D-xylose, and 5 out of 6 had a decrease in the exocrine pancreatic function. Animals with reduced folic acid absorption and pancreatic enzyme production developed a longer lasting diarrhoea and excreted the microorganisms for a longer time when challenged with Vibrio cholerae.

Immunology of borreliosis in nonhuman primates.

Nonhuman primates have been found susceptible to infection with borrelias which cause relapsing fever in man (2). Preliminary experiments showed that patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas) and vervets (African green monkeys, Cercopithecus aethiops) may serve as satisfactory models for the investigation of the immunologic features of infections with Borrelia turicatae 2 and B. hermsii, which are the two most frequently reported causative agents of human borreliosis in the United States.

Mycobacterium abscessus Infection in an Owl Monkey (Aotus trivirgatus)

Mycobacterium abscessus was isolated from the lungs of an owl monkey which died 27 days after intraperitoneal injection of herpes virus-infected Vero cells. The lungs and liver had multiple microscopic granulomas with acid-fast microorganisms. The mycobacteria also were isolated from a Vero-cell culture inoculated with a suspension of lung and liver. The same microorganism was eventually isolated from Vero cells of the same source as that used to propagate the herpes virus for the original attempt to infect the monkey.

Malnutrition and susceptibility to infection with Vibrio cholerae in vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops). 1. Induction of protein, B-vitamin complex and calorie malnutrition.

Five groups of eight vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops) were fed regular monkey chow, low protein (LP), low B-vitamin complex (LBV), low protein - low B-vitamin complex (LB-LBV), or protein - low calorie (LP-LC) diet, respectively, for eight weeks. Hematocrit values, hemoglobin, BUN, total protein, albumin, riboflavin and body weight decreased, the ratio of dispensable/indispensable amino acids increased in all animals receiving a deficient diet. Total globulin, IgG and IgM remained unchanged in vervets on LBV diet; panthotenic acid and cyanocobalamin in animals receiving LBV, LP or LP-LC chow; and pyridoxal on the LP or LP-LC diet.

The relationship of ribosomal activity to lymphoid tissue histology in Borrelia infection.

Abstract An intense immunological stimulation of patas monkeys infected with Borrelia turicatae was suggested by the histological changes observed in the lymphoid tissue of the spleen and mesenteric lymph nodes. Immunologically competent cells and immunoglobulins, principally IgM, increased in the examined organs. Immobilizine and lysine directed against B. turicatae became demonstrable. The RNA content of the cells increased, principally its soluble form, indicating the role of sRNA in the immunological mechanism linked to cell-bound antibodies. The stimulated polypeptide synthesis, demonstrated by increased 14 C- l -lysine incorporation, was considered an indicator of the initiation of globulin (antibody) formation. Monomers appeared to carry with them part of the immunoglobulins present in the polysomal fraction. The process resembled the response to heterologous protein in laboratory rodents in several respects. The immunological response lasted longer than the microscopically demonstrable presence of borreliae in the animals.

Giant Cell Aortitis in a South American Monkey (Callimico goeldii)

Changes consistent with those of giant cell arteritis were found in the ascending aorta of a mature male South American monkey, Callimico goeldii. The essential change was necrosis of the tunica media with associated granulomatous inflammatory reaction. There also were compensatory fibroelastic thickening of the tunica intima and lymphocytic-plasmacytic cellular infiltrations of the tunica adventitia. The animal presented clinical signs of a respiratory infection 8 weeks before it died from circulatory insufficiency.