The present study was undertaken to measure the weight of muscle destroyed by an intramuscular injection of phenylbutazone (PBZ) in horses. In six horses, CK disposition parameters were evaluated after intravenous (i.v.) and intramuscular (i.m.) administration of a CK horse preparation. The same horses received PBZ, a potentially irritating agent, by i.v. and i.m. (neck and hindquarter) routes. Data were analysed using compartmental approaches and instantaneous CK flux was calculated using a discrete deconvolution method. For a 150 U/kg CK dose, the steady-state volume of distribution was 0.050 +/- 0.0115 L/kg and the plasma half-life was 112 +/- 18 min. After CK i.m. administration, the half-life of the terminal phase was 11.8 +/- 5.3 h indicating a flip-flop process and the mean bioavailability of CK was close to 100%. After PBZ i.m. administration, the CK activity was significantly increased with peak values of 508 +/- 109 U/L after the neck administration and 873 +/- 365 U/L after the gluteal administration. By measuring the total amount of CK released from injured muscle, it was calculated that an equivalent of 0.044 +/- 0.029 g/kg of muscle was destroyed after PBZ administration in the neck. The corresponding figure was 0.118 +/- 0.048 g/kg after intragluteal PBZ administration. By deconvoluting plasma CK activity, it was shown that the CK entry rate was maximum for the first 30-60 min following PBZ administration, which then decreased slowly to return to the control value after a delay of 24-48 h after PBZ administration. It was concluded that the CK release pattern following a controlled muscular damage was a non-invasive approach useful for quantifying the amount of damaged muscle, and that the calculation of CK input rate by deconvolution was of potential interest in describing events at the muscle cell level.
Feed efficiency is one of the keystones that could help make animal production less costly and more environmentally friendly. Residual feed intake (RFI) is a widely used criterion to measure feed efficiency by regressing intake on the main energy sinks. We investigated rumen and plasma metabolomic data on Romane male lambs that had been genetically selected for either feed efficiency (line rfi−) or inefficiency (line rfi+). These investigations were conducted both during the growth phase under a 100% concentrate diet and later on under a mixed diet to identify differential metabolite expression and to link it to biological phenomena that could explain differences in feed efficiency. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data were analyzed using partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), and correlations between metabolites’ relative concentrations were estimated to identify relationships between them. High levels of plasma citrate and malate were associated with genetically efficient animals, while high levels of amino acids such as L-threonine, L-serine, and L-leucine as well as beta-hydroxyisovalerate were associated with genetically inefficient animals under both diets. The two divergent lines could not be discriminated using rumen metabolites. Based on phenotypic residual feed intake (RFI), efficient and inefficient animals were discriminated using plasma metabolites determined under a 100% concentrate diet, but no discrimination was observed with plasma metabolites under a mixed diet or with rumen metabolites regardless of diet. Plasma amino acids, citrate, and malate were the most discriminant metabolites, suggesting that protein turnover and the mitochondrial production of energy could be the main phenomena that differ between efficient and inefficient Romane lambs.
Cell death releases products of chromatin catabolism, particularly DNA, which can be measured by a DNA assay (using the nick translation reaction) as a marker of toxicity. Conditions for blood and urine collection have been established for quantitation of extracellular DNA in mice. Toxic doses of lipopolysaccharide (5 mg/kg) and HgCl2 (3.2 mg/kg) release DNA to plasma and urine. Increase in urinary DNA is observed 24 hours after a single injection (5 mg/kg) of gentamicin. Quantitation of extracellular DNA can be used to investigate the occurrence of cell death in vivo and applied to toxicological studies, in animals and man.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.