Respiratory tract infections with viruses andPasteurella spp. were determined sequentially among 26 cattle that died during two severe epizootics of shipping fever pneumonia. Nasal swab and serum samples were collected prior to onset of the epizootics, during disease progression, and after death, when necropsies were performed and lung samples were collected. Eighteen normal control cattle also were sampled at the beginning of the epizootics as well as at weekly intervals for 4 weeks. Respiratory bovine coronaviruses (RBCV) were isolated from nasal secretions of 21 and 25 cattle before and after transport. Two and 17 cattle nasally shed Pasteurella spp. before and after transport, respectively. RBCV were isolated at titers of 1 × 103to 1.2 × 107 PFU per g of lung tissue from 18 cattle that died within 7 days of the epizootics, but not from the lungs of the remaining cattle that died on days 9 to 36. Twenty-five of the 26 lung samples were positive for Pasteurella spp., and their CFU ranged between 4.0 × 105 and 2.3 × 109 per g. Acute and subacute exudative, necrotizing lobar pneumonia characterized the lung lesions of these cattle with a majority of pneumonic lung lobes exhibiting fibronecrotic and exudative changes typical of pneumonic pasteurellosis, but other lung lobules had histological changes consisting of bronchiolitis and alveolitis typical of virus-induced changes. These cattle were immunologically naive to both infectious agents at the onset of the epizootics, but those that died after day 7 had rising antibody titers against RBCV andPasteurella haemolytica. In contrast, the 18 clinically normal and RBCV isolation-negative cattle had high hemagglutinin inhibition antibody titers to RBCV from the beginning, while their antibody responses to P. haemolytica antigens were delayed. Evans' criteria for causation were applied to our findings because of the multifactorial nature of shipping fever pneumonia. This analysis identified RBCV as the primary inciting cause in these two epizootics. These viruses were previously not recognized as a causative agent in this complex respiratory tract disease of cattle.

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We have prepared conjugates of a membrane disrupting lytic peptide (hecate) and a 15-amino acid segment of the beta-chain of CG and hecate and the decapeptide, luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH). We have tested the concept that these conjugates will target breast cancer cells expressing LH/CG or LHRH receptors. In previous studies, we were able to destroy prostate cancers in vitro and in vivo with lytic peptide conjugates. Hecate, hecate-betaCG and LHRH-hecate were added to cultures of the human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-435S. Hecate and its conjugates showed concentration dependent toxicity to both cell lines. The lytic peptide alone showed similar EC50 values for both cell lines; however, there was a significant difference between the EC50 values when the conjugates were tested. The hormone dependent MCF-7 cell line was less sensitive to the betaCG conjugate than to the LHRH conjugate; the reverse was found for the hormone independent MDA-MB-435S cells. Removal of steroids decreased the sensitivity of MCF-7 cells to both lytic peptide conjugates and this sensitivity could be restored by adding estradiol. Activation of protein kinase C further increased the sensitivity to the drug. MDA-MB-435S xenografts were established in intact female athymic nude mice, which were treated once a week for 3 weeks with hecate-betaCG via the lateral tail vein. The ability of hecate-betaCG to destroy xenografts of human breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-435S) in nude mice was demonstrated for the first time. We conclude that hecate-betaCG and LHRH-hecate conjugates could serve as useful drugs for the treatment of breast cancer.

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Plasmodium falciparum and Trypanosoma cruzi were killed by two novel lytic peptides (SB-37 and Shiva-1) in vitro. Human erythrocytes infected with P. falciparum, and Vero cells infected with T. cruzi, were exposed to these peptides. The result, in both cases, was a significant decrease in the level of parasite infection. Furthermore, the peptides had a marked cytocidal effect on trypomastigote stages of T. cruzi in media, whereas host eukaryotic cells were unaffected by the treatments. In view of the worldwide prevalence of these protozoan diseases and the lack of completely suitable treatments, lytic peptides may provide new and unique chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of these infections.

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