Utility of meloxicam therapy in cattle prior to long distance transportation

Transportation is one of the most common production practices for cattle throughout the United States and the world. During this event, cattle handling, a new environment, and other compiled life events cause stress. Transport and stress influence inflammation, immune function and subsequently can lead to bovine respiratory disease. This disease complex is one of the largest production losses that the beef industry deals with on a daily basis. In this dissertation, we tested the efficacy of a non-conventional therapeutic, meloxicam, to mitigate the negative response of transportation. The encompassed chapters hypothesized meloxicam given orally prior to transportation would reduce stress, reduce acute phase protein inflammation, reduce immune system inhibition, improve production performance benefits and improve clinical outcomes of disease. In the first trial, meloxicam was administered per os prior to a long-distance transportation at 1mg/kg. The study demonstrated a reduction in the stress leukogram and an inverse relationship of meloxicam to circulating cortisol in beef steers. In the second study, we compared the adaptive immune function invitro through multiparameter flow cytometry. Subjects were grouped in non-transport or transportation groups. Nested in these groups the subjects were treated with meloxicam or placebo. Meloxicam and transportation had an effect on adaptive immune function. Meloxicam administered prior to transport can be interpreted as inhibitory or homeostatic when compared to the singular effect of transportation on the immune system. Finally, the last phase of research was a clinical field trial to elucidate clinical outcomes of bovine respiratory disease. Three treatment groups of pre-transportation meloxicam, on arrival meloxicam and placebo were compared. Meloxicam had no effect on clinical outcomes of BRD. In addition, there was no change in the process of disease severity or rectal temperature at BRD identification. In similarity, there was no change in average daily gain, feed conversion or body weight performance measured at 42 days. The lack of significant differences over the course of the initial receiving culminated in no observable differences of harvest parameters. The dissertation research confirms that meloxicam is beneficial when administered prior to transportation for reduction of the stress and potential normalization of immune function but lacks clinical efficacy in mitigation of disease outcomes that translate to beneficial performance and harvest outcomes

Topical Flunixin Meglumine Effects on Pain Associated Biomarkers after Dehorning

Twenty-four calves were dehorned and treated with either topical flunixin meglumine formulated for systemic absorption or a placebo. Biomarkers associated with pain were evaluated for up to 72 hour after the dehorning procedure. Plasma cortisol concentrations, 90 minutes post-dehorning, and mechanical nociception threshold at the control site were the only tested biomarkers where a significant difference was demonstrated. No other differences of biomarkers between the two dehorned groups were observed for any time points. Although this product is easy to dose and dispense, its effects on pain biomarkers appears to be negligible

Impact of carprofen administration on stress and nociception responses of calves to cautery dehorning

Citation: Stock, M. L., Barth, L. A., Van Engen, N. K., Millman, S. T., Gehring, R., Wang, C., . . . Coetzee, J. F. (2016). Impact of carprofen administration on stress and nociception responses of calves to cautery dehorning. Journal of Animal Science, 94(2), 542-555. doi:10.2527/jas2015-9510The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of carprofen administered immediately before cautery dehorning on nociception and stress. Forty Holstein calves aged approximately 6 to 8 wk old were either placebo treated and sham dehorned (n = 10) or cautery dehorned following administration of carprofen (1.4 mg/kg) subcutaneously (n = 10) or orally (n = 10) or a subcutaneous and oral placebo (n = 10) in a randomized, controlled trial. All animals were given a cornual nerve block using lidocaine before dehorning. Response variables including mechanical nociception threshold, ocular temperature, heart rate, and respiratory rate were measured before and following cautery dehorning for 96 h. Blood samples were also collected over 96 h following dehorning and analyzed for plasma cortisol and substance P concentrations by RIA. Plasma carprofen concentration and ex vivo PGE2 concentrations were also determined for this time period. Average daily gain was calculated for 7 d after dehorning. Data were analyzed using a linear mixed effects model with repeated measures, controlling for baseline values by their inclusion as a covariate in addition to planned contrasts. Dehorning was associated with decreased nociception thresholds throughout the study and a stress response immediately after dehorning, following the loss of local anesthesia, and 48 h after dehorning compared with sham-dehorned calves. Carprofen was well absorbed after administration and reached concentrations that inhibited ex vivo PGE2 concentrations for 72 h (subcutaneous) and 96 h (oral) compared with placebo-treated calves (P < 0.05). Carprofen-treated calves tended to be less sensitive (P = 0.097) to nociceptive threshold tests. Overall, at the dosing regimen studied, the effect of carprofen on sensitivity and stress following cautery dehorning was minimal. Consideration of route of administration and dose determination studies may be warranted

Impact of Oral Meloxicam on Circulating Physiological Biomarkers of Stress and Inflammation in Beef Steers After Long Distance Transportation

We hypothesized that meloxicam administration to beef steers before shipping may be effective at reducing the impact of transportation on stress biomarkers. Circulating physiological biomarkers of stress were analyzed in a transportation trial between a meloxicam treatment group and a placebo treatment group. There were significant differences in stress biomarkers between treatment groups following transport. This suggests that there may be practical benefits for the use of long-acting non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), specifically meloxicam, to mitigate the negative effect of transport on cattle physiology

Utility of meloxicam therapy in cattle prior to long distance transportation

Transportation is one of the most common production practices for cattle throughout the United States and the world. During this event, cattle handling, a new environment, and other compiled life events cause stress. Transport and stress influence inflammation, immune function and subsequently can lead to bovine respiratory disease. This disease complex is one of the largest production losses that the beef industry deals with on a daily basis. In this dissertation, we tested the efficacy of a non-conventional therapeutic, meloxicam, to mitigate the negative response of transportation. The encompassed chapters hypothesized meloxicam given orally prior to transportation would reduce stress, reduce acute phase protein inflammation, reduce immune system inhibition, improve production performance benefits and improve clinical outcomes of disease. In the first trial, meloxicam was administered per os prior to a long-distance transportation at 1mg/kg. The study demonstrated a reduction in the stress leukogram and an inverse relationship of meloxicam to circulating cortisol in beef steers. In the second study, we compared the adaptive immune function invitro through multiparameter flow cytometry. Subjects were grouped in non-transport or transportation groups. Nested in these groups the subjects were treated with meloxicam or placebo. Meloxicam and transportation had an effect on adaptive immune function. Meloxicam administered prior to transport can be interpreted as inhibitory or homeostatic when compared to the singular effect of transportation on the immune system. Finally, the last phase of research was a clinical field trial to elucidate clinical outcomes of bovine respiratory disease. Three treatment groups of pre-transportation meloxicam, on arrival meloxicam and placebo were compared. Meloxicam had no effect on clinical outcomes of BRD. In addition, there was no change in the process of disease severity or rectal temperature at BRD identification. In similarity, there was no change in average daily gain, feed conversion or body weight performance measured at 42 days. The lack of significant differences over the course of the initial receiving culminated in no observable differences of harvest parameters. The dissertation research confirms that meloxicam is beneficial when administered prior to transportation for reduction of the stress and potential normalization of immune function but lacks clinical efficacy in mitigation of disease outcomes that translate to beneficial performance and harvest outcomes.</p

Topical Flunixin Meglumine Effects on Pain Associated Biomarkers after Dehorning

Twenty-four calves were dehorned and treated with either topical flunixin meglumine formulated for systemic absorption or a placebo. Biomarkers associated with pain were evaluated for up to 72 hour after the dehorning procedure. Plasma cortisol concentrations, 90 minutes post-dehorning, and mechanical nociception threshold at the control site were the only tested biomarkers where a significant difference was demonstrated. No other differences of biomarkers between the two dehorned groups were observed for any time points. Although this product is easy to dose and dispense, its effects on pain biomarkers appears to be negligible.</p

Isolated left homonymous hemianopia secondary to a pericatheter cyst - A rare presentation of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt failure

A 26-year-old woman developed a left homonymous hemianopia 1 week after placement of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt through a right parieto-occipital approach. Computed tomography demonstrated a parenchymal cyst in the right occipital lobe. After shunt revision, there was concomitant resolution of the cyst and visual field defect over 1 month. The literature is reviewed regarding this unusual complication of ventriculoperitoneal shunt failure

A field trial comparing four oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on controlling cautery dehorning pain and stress in calves

The purpose of this study was to compare the analgesic effect of four nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) administered as a single, standardized, oral dose in dairy calves at the time of cautery dehorning. The NSAIDs investigated have pharmacokinetic properties in cattle that produce persistent plasma concentrations that may provide prolonged analgesia with the added practicality of a simple administration regimen. One hundred and eighty-five Holstein calves aged approximately 50 d old were either sham dehorned (n = 31) or cautery dehorned following oral administration of carprofen (n = 31), firocoxib (n = 31), flunixin meglumine (n = 30), meloxicam (n = 31) or placebo (n = 31) in a randomized, controlled trial. A standard dose of 2.0 mg/kg was administered to all calves receiving an oral NSAID. All calves received local anesthesia prior to actual or sham dehorning. Cortisol concentrations, heart rate, mechanical nociception thresholds, ocular and dehorning area temperatures, and average daily gains were evaluated. A linear mixed-effects model with repeated measures was used for statistical analysis. Administration of oral meloxicam, flunixin meglumine, and firocoxib at 2.0 mg/kg resulted in decreased cortisol concentrations compared to placebo-treated controls for the first 24 h postdehorning (AUEC0–24) (P = 0.03). Moreover, firocoxib, flunixin meglumine, and meloxicam attenuated the maximum cortisol concentrations compared to placebo-treated calves (P = 0.04, P= 0.02). In calves treated with flunixin meglumine, cortisol concentrations was reduced at 4 h (P = 0.04) and 8 h (P = 0.02). In addition, analgesic administration was associated with changes in ocular and dehorning area temperature differences (P = 0.09). Carprofen and meloxicam reduced heart rates during the entire study period (P = 0.003). Although a treatment effect (P < 0.0001) was observed in the determination of mechanical nociception threshold among all treatment groups, meloxicam expressed marginally significant effects (P = 0.09) among NSAID treated groups dehorned. A single dose of oral meloxicam, flunixin meglumine, or firocoxib administered at 2.0 mg/kg reduced the acute stress response associated with cautery dehorning. However, carprofen administration was associated with increased cortisol concentrations and dehorning area temperatures for the initial 24 h. Given the changes in pain and stress outcome variables assessed in this study, NSAIDs should be administered at the time of dehorning.This is the version of record for the article Stock, Matthew L., Michael D. Kleinhenz, Reza Mazloom, Majid Jaberi-Douraki, Laura A. Barth, Nicholas K. Van Engen, Erica A. Voris, Chong Wang, and Johann F. Coetzee. "A field trial comparing four oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on controlling cautery dehorning pain and stress in calves." Translational Animal Science 5, no. 2 (2021): txab041. Available online at DOI: 10.1093/tas/txab041. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Copyright 2021 The Author(s). Posted with permission