Abstract
Previous work has shown blood gastrin levels to be elevated and appetite depressed in ostertagia-infected calves. A possible relationship between raised blood gastrin values and feed intake was investigated in worm-free animals using the human gastric acid secretion inhibitor, omeprazole. An initial dose-titration experiment established that administration of the drug by intravenous injection at 1.95 mg kg-1 (four times the recommended human dose rate) resulted in a marked (5.2-fold) increase in blood gastrin levels in the calf. Daily administration of omeprazole by intravenous injection at 2 mg kg-1 for four days in a subsequent experiment resulted in a significant depression in feed intake (up to 40.4 per cent) which was accompanied by a significant rise in blood gastrin levels (peak 940 pg ml-1; 6.5-fold increase over control values). It is suggested that such a rise in hormone levels would reduce reticuloruminal and abomasal motility, slow down the passage of ingesta and, in turn, lead to a reduction in appetite.
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