Serum Pepsinogen Values Research Articles

Some observations on the use of the morantel sustained-release bolus in first season-grazing calves on a Belgian dairy cattle farm.

The efficacy of the morantel sustained-release bolus (MSRB) in controlling gastrointestinal parasites in first-season grazing calves was evaluated on a dairy cattle farm in Belgium. The calves grazed a pasture which had been used by bolus-treated animals in the three previous years. The effect of bolus administration was determined with respect to live weight gain, faecal egg shedding, herbage larval counts, serum pepsinogen levels and ELISA antibody titres. In spite of an incomplete reduction of faecal egg shedding during the first months of the grazing season, bolus administration resulted in the prevention of parasitic gastro-enteritis in the calves. A weight gain advantage of 35,2 kg of the bolus-treated animals over the controls was noted already at two months after turnout. This weight gain advantage was maintained until housing. The usefulness of serum pepsinogen values and ELISA antibody titres as parameters in prevention experiments is stressed. Both serological parameters gave more information concerning infection level than did the faecal egg output and the herbage larval counts.

The effects of the use of the morantel sustained release bolus system on calves grazing a highly contaminated pasture in The Netherlands.

The efficacy of the morantel sustained release bolus system for the control of parasitic gastroenteritis in calves was evaluated in the Netherlands. The effect of bolus administration to calves, either on May 1 at the beginning of the summer grazing season or on June 12 after the pasture was mown for silage, was determined in respect of liveweight gain, faecal worm egg output, serum pepsinogen values and worm burdens. In addition, pairs of tracer calves were turned out with each group every four weeks and sacrificed for worm counts in order to monitor pasture larval contamination throughout the grazing period. Compared with nontreated control calves, the worm egg outputs of the bolus-treated calves turned out (Nematodirus helvetianus), while the bolus-treated calves turned out on June 12 had a corresponding reduction of 95 and 100 percent. Over the grazing season the average weight gain of bolus-treated calves turned out on May 1 was 34 kg more than nontreated controls turned out at the same time. Difference in weight gain of the treated and control calves turned out late in the season was 10.5 kg in favour of the treated group. The postmortem worm counts were highest in the control calves turned out early and lowest in the bolus-treated calves turned out late. All tracer calves placed on the paddock grazed by control calves (turned out early) died from parasitic gastroenteritis from July onwards while those from the paddock grazed by the control calves (turned out late) died from parasitic gastroenteritis from September onwards. All the tracer calves placed on the paddocks grazed by bolus-treated calves survived until the intended slaughter date.

The morantel sustained release bolus in the control of gastro-intestinal nematodiasis of cattle in Switzerland (preliminary results).

The efficacy of the morantel sustained release bolus was evaluated in 20 first-season grazing calves and 92 cattle in two separate trials. All animals grazed contaminated pastures and were exposed at the time of spring turnout to a risk of infection from gastrointestinal nematodes. In the first study 45 bolus-treated and 47 nontreated control (second or third season) cattle grazed similar but separate communal pastures, while in the second study nine bolus-treated and 11 nontreated control cattle grazed together on a single pasture. Efficacy determinations were conducted by frequent observations throughout the grazing season on faecal worm egg output, serum pepsinogen levels and liveweight gain. In the older group of animals (Trial 1), small differences were recorded between treated and control animals in faecal worm egg output and levels of serum pepsinogen as monitored throughout the grazing season. A significant mean liveweight advantage of 20.27 kg (P less than 0.001) was observed in the bolus-treated group. However, unrecorded pregnancy could not be excluded with certainty as a factor responsible for weight differences. The use of the morantel sustained release bolus provided an adequate protection against parasitic gastroenteritis in the first season grazing calves (Trial 2) despite the fact that bolus-treated animals were co-mingled with control animals. Both the worm egg counts and serum pepsinogen values were lower in the bolus-treated group. The morantel sustained release bolus was well tolerated in both trials.

Seasonal variations in the gastro-intestinal nematode populations of Scottish hill sheep

In each of two consecutive years, groups of breeding ewes were removed from a hill farm in the west of Scotland on four occasions, namely late pregnancy, early lactation, autumn and early winter. At slaughter the major nematode genus present in the alimentary tract was Ostertagia, with O circumcincta the predominant species but three species previously found in Scottish hill sheep, Bunostomum trigonocephalum, Strongyloides papillosis and Chabertia ovina were absent. An absolute increase in total nematode burden and faecal egg count was apparent in the ewes commencing in late pregnancy, reaching a maximum during lactation and falling again in autumn and early winter. This peri-parturient increase in the nematode population could not be solely attributed to the maturation of previously inhibited larval stages but was primarily the result of the development of recently ingested infection; the latter situation thought to be due to a temporary relaxation of immunological response by the ewe at parturition or early lactation. Serum pepsinogen values in ewes remained elevated throughout the grazing season and were always higher than those of their lambs, suggesting that the ewe, although allowing few parasites to become established, was under considerable challenge in the autumn. The worm burdens of the lambs were always low in autumn and early winter with Ostertagia spp being the major genus present during the autumn and Trichostrongylus spp being the predominant genus during the early winter.

Gastric secretion in patients with carcinoma of the cardia.

128 patients, 40 with ulcer, 88 with cancer were investigated; 31 had carcinoma of the cardia. Basal values of Serumpepsinogen (SP) and Uropepsinogen (UP) were determined. The incidence of acid secretors is significantly higher in patients with carcinoma of the cardia than it is in patients with carcinoma of other parts of the stomach. SP and UP values display the same findings. 2½% of ulcer patients and 14% of patients with carcinoma of the cardia have SP value below 57 mU/l., while 40% of patients with carcinoma of other parts of the stomach have similar SP value.