Background: The weaning process in beef calves elicits physiological stress responses that can negatively affect performance and health. Supplementation of vitamins and minerals, particularly selenium (Se) and vitamin E, might be warranted.Hypothesis: That parenteral administration of Se or vitamin E would correct or prevent deficiencies of these nutrients in postweaned beef calves during a backgrounding period (42 days after weaning).Animals: One hundred and forty-four weaned steers (200-250 kg) in 3 trials. Methods: One trial was conducted with cattle on a dry lot fed a total mixed ration and 2 trials were conducted on cattle on pasture. Selenium was administered at 0.05 mg/kg BW (SC) and vitamin E was administered at 1500 IU on days 0 and 28 (SC).Results: A treatment effect attributable to Se or vitamin E supplementation on average daily gain was not detected in any trials. Parenteral supplementation with Se on days 0 and 28 resulted in higher serum Se concentrations as compared with controls on day 42. Parenteral supplementation with Se on days 0 and 28 improved Se status from marginal to adequate in 1 trial. Parenteral supplementation with vitamin E did not improve serum vitamin E concentrations in any experiment.Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Supplementation with vitamin E or Se or a combination of both did not have a significant effect on calf performance during the 42-day backgrounding period.

Myelomeningocele (MMC) is the most common and severe type of spina bifida in which the developing spine and neural tube fail to close during prenatal development. This typically results in a small portion of the lower spinal cord and meninges protruding from the back of the individual, accompanied by severe motor and sensory deficits.In rats, retinoic acid (RA) exposure in high doses during fetal development has been shown to induce morphologic and clinical symptoms similar to humans with MMC. The aim of the current study was to examine litter characteristics and sensorimotor function in MMC-affected rat pups. Pregnant rats were gavage-fed 2 ml olive oil or alltrans RA (40, 45, 50 mg/kg) on gestational day 11. Pups underwent behavioral testing on postnatal day 2. Litter characteristics and newborn sensorimotor function varied across RA doses. Pups prenatally exposed to 45 and 50 mg/kg RA weighed significantly less than olive oil and 40 mg/kg RA pups. Litters exposed to 45 mg/kg RA suffered significantly higher mortality rates compared to other groups. Additionally, bladder function was significantly impaired in pups exposed to 40 mg/kg RA. Sensorimotor function findings demonstrated that for most behavioral assessments there was not a significant difference between control and RA-exposed subjects. However, pups treated with 40 mg/kg RA showed increased facial wiping, suggesting a hyper-responsiveness to sensory stimuli. Overall, the findings of the current study provide evidence for a model to examine litter characteristics and behavioral effects as well as morphology.

To determine if an immunomodulatory protein (progesterone induced blocking factor [PIBF]) that is progesterone induced and found in higher concentration during pregnancy is similarly found with increased levels in women with gynecologic cancers. Materials and Methods: A newly developed enzyme linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) assay was used to measure PIBF in the sera of six women with various gynecologic cancers and compare them to five controls (three with benign tumors and two having gynecologic procedures for non-tumors. Results: The PIBF levels in women with gynecologic cancer did not rise precipitously as historical controls of women or men exposed to progesterone. The two highest PIBF levels of the 11 subjects were in women with gynecologic cancer. Conclusions: The data suggest that if PIBF helps cancer cells to evade immune surveillance, it probably operates through an intracytoplasmic presence. If an increase in sera PIBF could have been detected in women with gynecologic cancer, then this ELISA test could have been used to detect tumor recurrence. Future studies may concentrate on evaluating intracytoplasmic PIBF to possibly help determine which tumors may respond to progesterone antagonist receptors.

No abstract