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The Influence of Flunixin on the Response to Salmonella typhimurium Endotoxin in Calves

Inverkan av flunixin på svaret på Salmonella typhimurium endotoxin hos kalv

Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica volume 30, pages 295–300 (1989)Cite this article

Abstract

The effects of intravenous injection of 0.5 μg/kg body weight of Salmonella typhimurium endotoxin were studied in calves. The injection was followed by ruminai stasis and general dullness. The clinical signs disappeared within 24 hours.

The injection was followed by a tremendous increase in the plasma level of 15-ketodihydro-PGF2α, the main metabolite of PGF2α. The injection was also associated with a profound leukopenia and significant decreases in the serum levels of iron, zinc and calcium. In order to study the role of prostaglandin (PG) for the development of endotoxin-induced changes a group of calves was pretreated with flunixin, a potent cyclo-oxygenase inhibitor, at a dose of 2.2 mg/kg body weight. Flunixin inhibited the PG release completely, but did not influence the other responses to endotoxin.

The pyrogenic response to endotoxin was very moderate and it was suggested that fever is not the most suitable parameter for monitoring endotoxin effects in calves. The studied blood parameters (15-ketodihydro-PGF2α, iron, zinc, calcium and the number of leukocytes) appeared to be much more sensitive.

Sammenfattning

Effekterna av intravenös injektion av endotoxin från Salmonella typhimurium i dosen 0.5 μg/kg kroppsvikt studerades hos kalv. Injektionen följdes av mycket tydliga kliniska symtom. Kalvarna visade tecken på reducerad förmagsmotorik och kraftigt stört allmäntillstånd. De kliniska symtomen försvann dock inom 24 timmar.

Plasmakoncentrationen av 15-ketodihydro-PGF2α steg mycket påtagligt efter endotoxininjektionen. Vidare uppkom en mycket drastisk sänkning av antalet cirkulerande leukocyter och signifikanta sänkningar av serumkoncentrationerna av järn, zink och kalcium. För att studera vilken roll PG-frisätt ningen har för uppkomsten av de observerade blodkemiska förändringarna förbehandlades en grupp kalvar med flunixin, en potent PG synteshämmare. Flunixin blockerade frisättningen av PG fullständigt, men var helt utan effekt på övriga endotoxininducerade förändringar. Endotoxin gav ett myckel måttligt py-rogensvar och det konkluderades att de känsligaste parametrarna för att studera endotoxineffekter hos kalv är antalet leukocyter och koncentrationerna av 15-ketodihydro-PGF2α, järn, zink och kalcium.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cattle and Sheep Diseases and Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, S-750 07, Uppsala, Sweden

    J. Luthman, H. Kindahl & S. O. Jacobsson

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  1. J. Luthman
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  2. H. Kindahl
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  3. S. O. Jacobsson
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Luthman, J., Kindahl, H. & Jacobsson, S.O. The Influence of Flunixin on the Response to Salmonella typhimurium Endotoxin in Calves. Acta Vet Scand 30, 295–300 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03548034

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Keywords

  • leukopenia
  • calcium
  • iron
  • zinc
  • prostaglandin

Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica

ISSN: 1751-0147