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The objectives of this study were to determine 1) the effect of Banamine on the seminal concentration of PGE2 and 2) the ability of sperm cells from treated rams to undergo acrosome reaction in vitro as an indirect measure of their fertilizing capacity. Seven rams, approximately 55 kg bodyweight and 2 to 5 yr of age, were divided into two groups: Group 1, treated (n = 4) and Group 2, controls (n = 3). Treatment consisted of administration of 75 mg i.m. Banamine twice daily, 6 to 8 h apart, for 45 d. On Day 0 (first day of treatment) and on Days 2, 9, 11, 16, 23, 25, 28, 30, 36, 39, 43 and 46 semen samples were collected from both groups using an electroejaculator. Blood samples were obtained for determination of serum levels of Banamine using high-performance liquid chromatography. Semen samples were examined for motility and morphology. Highly motile (>/=85%), normal-appearing semen samples were pooled on each day of collection and 25 ul of the pooled sample (1x10(6)/ml) of each group were induced to undergo acrosome reaction in vitro using ionophore A23187. Acrosome reaction was demonstrated using a staining technique designed for demonstrating the process in bull sperm cells. The percentage of acrosome-reacted and non-acrosome-reacted sperm was determined by random microscopic examination of 100 sperm cells using a double-blind approach. The supernatants of the remainder of the semen samples were assayed for levels of PGE2 using RIA. Values for acrosome-reacted sperm cells and PGE2 levels on the first day of treatment from both groups were compared with corresponding values from each day of sampling using Wilcoxon Rank Sums test (P<0.05). In Group 1, the mean serum level of Banamine was 3.02+/-0.58ug/ml. There was a significant increase in the ability of sperm cells from rams in Group 1 to undergo acrosome reaction as treatment progressed compared with the sperm cells from rams in Group 2. However, there was a significant decrease in concentration of PGE2 in semen from rams in Group 1 compared with those from Group 2. The results of this study suggest an inverse relationship between the capacity of sperm cells to undergo acrosome reaction and concentration of PGE2 in semen of rams treated with a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug.

Three stallions, 3 to 5 yr old and approximately 550 kg bodyweight, were used in a switchback experimental design to study the effect of daily, oral administration of 3g PBZ on the concentrations of PBZ and PGFM in blood (plasma) and seminal plasma (SP). Control and treatment periods were each 24 days' duration. Blood and semen samples were simultaneously collected every three days during these periods. Each stallion served consecutively as a control, treated, control, and treated subject for 24 days in each of the four periods. Concentrations of PBZ were obtained using HPLC and PGFM by specific RIA. Concentrations (mean +/- SE) of PBZ averaged 9.2 +/- 0.12 ug/ml in plasma but were undetectable in SP following the treatments. There was no significant difference in the plasma levels of PGFM between pre- and post- treatment values. However, there was a significant difference (P<0.001) in PGFM concentrations of seminal plasma before and after treatment. Results of this study suggest that daily, oral adminisration of 3g PBZ for 24 days to mature stallions can significantly decrease seminal plasma concentrations of PGFM. The physiological significance of this observation remains speculative.

Kidneys from 7 mutant Southdown sheep with congenital hyperbilirubinemia, aged from 1 to 5 years were examined. Renal biopsies were taken from another mutant at 3 months and 12 months of age. At 3 months, lesions consisted of thin radial bands of myxomatous tissue in the medullary rays and atrophy of the adjacent collecting tubules. By 1 year collagen had replaced myxomatous tissue. Grossly, the kidneys were normal until 2 years when they became red and gray mottled and stained with bilirubin. The capsules stripped readily to reveal fine granular surfaces in sheep over 2 years of age. On the cut surface of the cortex were 0.5 mm wide radial gray streaks of fibrous tissue. Progressive fibrosis in sheep 2 to 5 years old resulted in a thinning of the cortex. With increasing fibrosis, the number of cystic tubules increased progressively. Protein casts and hyaline droplet degeneration were numerous in sheep over 2 years of age. Plasma cells and lymphocytes were frequently seen in the fibrous bands, and bile pigment was visible in the macrophages in the fibrous tissue and in the epithelium of the proximal tubule cells. Polyuria, low specific gravity urine and reduced effective renal plasma flow and glomerular filtration rates resulted from the replacement of specialized proximal tubule cells by low cuboidal cells, fibrous tissue separating the capillaries from the loops of Henle, destruction of glomeruli and segregation of glomeruli in fibrous bands. The kidney lesions may be determined by the same gene responsible for the hepatic excretion defect for bilirubin.