Gastric Ulceration, Appetite and Feeding Practices in Standardbred Racehorses in the Czech Republic

The objective of our study was to determine the prevalence of poor appetite and its correlation with the prevalence of gastric ulceration, and to evaluate relation between feeding management (feeding frequency and feeding regularity) and gastric ulceration in a group of 54 Standardbred racehorses in training. Prevalence of gastric ulceration in the group of horses with poor general appetite was 94.8%. Prevalence of gastric ulceration in the group of horses with good general appetite was 48.6%. Significant association between poor general appetite and squamous gastric ulcer presence was observed (p < 0.001). Gastric ulceration was found in 75.0% of horses fed twice daily and in 57.9% horses fed three times a day. Fifty seven point nine per cent of regularly fed horses had gastric ulcers. Irregularly fed horses were ulcer-positive in 75.0%. Thus no significant association between feeding frequency or regularity and the occurrence of gastric ulcers was found

Postnatal Development of Blood Serum Concentrations of Immunoglobulin IgG, IgA and IgM Isotypes in Suckling Foal

Postnatal changes in concentrations of immunoglobulin IgG, IgM and IgA isotypes from birth until the age of five months were monitored by the ELISA method. The experiment was performed in a group of 52 thoroughbred foals and their mothers. Among the investigated animals, failure of colostral immunity transfer was recorded in only four foals (7.7 percent). The concentrations of immunoglobulin IgG and IgA isotypes primarily decreased during the first weeks of life and then gradually increased until the end of the investigated period. The concentrations of immunoglobulin IgG isotype reached the values of adult animals by the end of the investigated period. However, immunoglobulin IgA isotype did not reach those values during the entire investigated period. The concentrations of immunoglobulin IgM isotype were quite rapidly increasing from the birth on. The beginning of active antibody formation was inversely proportional to the level of colostral immunoglobulins

Changes in resting membrane potential and contractility of innervated and denervated skeletal muscle free grafts in the rat

In free orthotopic auto-grafts of the extensor digitorum muscle of rats a marked temporary decrease of resting membrane potential (RMP) of two superficial layers of muscle fibres is observed at 2 days with subsequent recovery 4 days after transplantation. Such a temporary decrease of the RMP is not observed in grafts of denervated muscle. This difference in change of RMP is apparently related to a temporary marked decrease or loss of contractility observed in innervated but not denervated graft and may explain in part the relatively more successful grafting of denervated muscles.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47442/1/424_2004_Article_BF00586551.pd