Roger G. Breeze

Effect of glutathione status on covalent binding and pneumotoxicity of 3-methylindole in goats☆

A study was conducted to investigate the relationship between glutathione (GSH) status, in-vivo metabolite covalent binding and 3-methylindole (3MI)-induced lung injury in goats. Cysteine or diethylmaleate pretreatments were given to sustain or deplete GSH, respectively, prior to intravenous 14C-3MI administration. Cysteine pretreatment prolonged survival times, decreased (P less than .05) covalent lung injury. Diethylmaleate pretreatment shortened survival times, increased (P less than .05) covalent binding and enhanced lung injury. Covalent binding was higher (P less than .05) in lung compared to liver and kidney. 3-Methylindole alone depleted GSH in 4 hours to 36, 66, and 75% of controls in these tissues, respectively. The relationship between tissue GSH, covalent binding and toxicity supports the hypothesis that 3MI-induced pneumotoxicity results from the formation of activated intermediates and that GSH plays a role in detoxication of these 3MI metabolites.

Structure, function, and metabolism in the lung.

Research into the molecular basis of cellular injury and repair will lead to advances in our understanding of the pathogenesis of infectious and noninfectious respiratory disease in cattle. In order to appreciate these advances fully, it is necessary to define the basics of structure, function, and metabolism in the respiratory system.

Respiratory Disease in Adult Cattle

This article discusses the nomenclature of respiratory disease, acute respiratory distress syndromes, hypersensitivity diseases, chronic respiratory disease, and the differential diagnosis of respiratory disease.

Parasitic Bronchitis and Pneumonia

Parasitic bronchitis and pneumonia is often a serious problem on individual farms, despite the fact that the disease is easy to diagnose, easy to treat, and easy to prevent by anthelminthic control programs or by vaccination. This article presents the various phases of the primary infection as well as the reinfection syndrome.

Immune Responses of Cattle and Mice to the G Glycoprotein of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus

A subunit vaccine for vesicular stomatitis was developed from a purified vesicular stomatitis virus preparation by selectively removing the immunogenic G glycoprotein of the virus with the dialyzable, nonionic detergent, beta-D-octylglucoside. Cattle immunized intramuscularly with a single dose of 112 micrograms of G glycoprotein preparation in complete Freunds adjuvant did not develop vesicular disease following challenge by intralingual inoculation of 400 times the infectious dose of the virus. Similarly, mice vaccinated subcutaneously with a single dose of 10 micrograms of G glycoprotein preparation, with or without complete Freunds adjuvant, were protected from lethal encephalitis caused by vesicular stomatitis virus. A subunit vaccine for vesicular stomatitis of cattle, horses, and swine avoids the hazards associated with attenuated and inactivated vaccines, such as vaccine breaks, reversion to virulence, or introduction of virus into potential wild reservoirs or arthropod hosts. Further, it is possible to distinguish serologically animals vaccinated with the subunit preparation from those that have had the clinical disease or that have been vaccinated with whole virus. This is an essential consideration both for epidemiological studies and for disease control or establishment of quarantine programs.

Autoradiographic evidence of 3-methylindole covalent binding to pulmonary epithelial cells in the goat☆

3-Methylindole (3MI), the main ruminal fermentation product of L-tryptophan, causes acute pulmonary edema and interstitial emphysema in ruminants. Intravenous infusion of 3MI in goats causes necrosis and sloughing of pneumocytes and bronchial epithelial cells. Previous studies indicate that a reactive metabolite or metabolites of 3MI bind covalently to tissue macromolecules in the lung and this binding is associated with the pneumotoxicity of 3MI. We undertook this autoradiographic study of 3MI covalent binding to test the hypothesis that reactive 3MI metabolite(s) bind to the lung cells susceptible to 3MI-induced injury. We infused goats with [3H]3MI and killed them either 0.5, 2 or 6 h after start of the infusion. Sections of fixed lung were extensively washed, alcohol dehydrated and embedded in plastic. Only covalently bound radioactivity remained. Silver grains were quantitated per area in the developed autoradiographs. There was a 2:1 ratio of binding to the small airway epithelium compared to the interalveolar septa in all the goats. Both ciliated and non-ciliated bronchiolar cells were labeled, as were both types I and II pneumocytes. Normal goat lung slices incubated in vitro with [3H]3MI were labeled in the same pattern. Inclusion of either of the inhibitors of cytochrome P-450, SKF-525-A or piperonyl butoxide significantly reduced this binding to both the pneumocytes and the bronchiolar cells. We consider these results supportive of our hypothesis that 3MI is metabolized to reactive intermediates by the epithelial cells of the lung, where they bind to macromolecules, which may cause cellular damage.

New technology for prevention and control of infectious bovine respiratory diseases.

Recent advances in molecular biology, genetics, and immunochemistry have provided the basis for a new generation of vaccines, diagnostic tools, and prophylactic substances for the prevention of infectious diseases in cattle. This article describes how these new technologies are being applied to veterinary medicine and their potential in bovine respiratory diseases caused by infectious agents.

Alkylation of bronchiolar epithelial cells by 3-methylindole metabolites in the horse

Autoradiographs of horse-lung explants incubated with [3H]3-methylindole (3MI) showed 8 times greater labeling per area to bronchiolar epithelial cells than to the interalveolar septa. Incubations of horse-lung microsomes with [14C]3MI resulted in alkylation of microsomal proteins, which could be reduced by exogenous glutathione. An apparent covalent adduct of glutathione and 3MI was isolated from these incubations. These results suggest that the target cells of 3MI-induced injury in the horse, the bronchiolar epithelial cells, are alkylated by an electrophilic 3MI intermediate.