No abstract

ABSTRACT. Porcine hemagglutinating encephalomyelitis virus (HEV) causes encephalomyelitis, or vomiting and wasting disease, in suckling piglets. The mortality rate for piglets under 3 weeks old is 100%, but they are usually protected by maternal antibodies. Recently, the risk of an HEV outbreak has increased in the pig industry, because of widely using specific pathogen-free pigs that have no antibodies to HEV. We developed reverse transcription (RT) PCR and nested PCR to detect HEV. Primer sets of polymerase, non-structural protein, and spike protein were designed for RT-PCR and nested PCR based on the nucleotide sequences of the HEV 67N strain. The PC R designated primer sets of spike protein detected only HEV viral RNA among other related nidoviruses. Detection of HEV viral RNA by nested PCR was more sensitive than virus isolation in cell cultures. Nested PCR detected HEV viral RNA from experimentally infected samples of mice and field samples of piglets. The RT-PCR and nested PCR methods to detect HEV is considered a good way to show the HEV etiology on pig farms. KEY WORDS: HEV, nested PCR, RT-PCR.

Previous studies revealed that atropine reduced male fertility in rats without any effects on mating performance, sperm production and motility, and testicular morphology. The present study was conducted to investigate whether the impairment of male fertility induced by atropine was related to the inhibition of sperm and semen transports from the vas deferens and seminal vesicle to the urethra during the process of emission. Male rats were treated with atropine at 125 mg/kg/day for 10-17 days prior to mating with untreated females. After confirmation of mating, male rats were euthanized and sperm number in the vas deferens and weights of the seminal vesicle and copulatory plug were determined as indicators of inhibition of sperm and semen transports, respectively. Reproductive status of mated females was determined on gestation days 15-17. A low pregnancy rate associated with a decreased number of implants was observed in females that mated with the atropine-treated males. The average number of sperm in the vas deferens was increased in the atropine-treated males. The average seminal vesicle weight in the atropine-treated males was greater than that of controls. The copulatory plug weights were decreased in the atropine-treated males. These results suggest that inhibitions of sperm and semen transports from the vas deferens and seminal vesicle to the urethra during the process of emission result in reduced male fertility in rats.