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The effects of stress induced by adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) on biochemical and immune changes in Swedish Landrace boars aged approximately 6–7 months were observed during ACTH administration and for 16 days after the cessation of treatment. Adrenocorticotropic hormone treated animals ( n = 7) were given intravenously 10 μg/kg body mass of ACTH for 3 days. Control group of animals ( n = 7) received intramuscularly 1 ml of sterile 0.9% saline. Total protein and globulin levels were significantly elevated during the induced stress period and for the next 16 days ( P < 0.01 to P < 0.0001, respectively). Also, serum immunoglobulin IgG concentration was significantly elevated during and after ACTH injection ( P < 0.001 to P < 0.0001). Adrenocorticotropic hormone treatment had no effect on serum albumin, IgA and IgM concentrations. Glucose concentration was significantly decreased on the second day of ACTH administration ( P < 0.001) and on day 9 after treatment ( P < 0.001). Calcium level was significantly decreased only for 24 h after the last ACTH dosage ( P < 0.01). Also, serum phosphorus level was significantly decreased on the first ( P < 0.05) and third ( P < 0.001) days of ACTH challenge but remained unaffected after the cessation of ACTH treatment. It is concluded that the administration of ACTH to boars results in immune humoral and biochemical changes during stress and the post-stress period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Bovine viral diarrhea is a contagious disease of domestic and wild ruminants and one of the most economically important diseases in cattle. Bovine viral diarrhea virus belongs to the genus Pestivirus, within the family Flaviviridae. The identification and elimination of the persistently infected animals from herds is the initial step in the control and eradication programs. It is therefore necessary to have reliable methods for diagnosis of bovine viral diarrhea virus. One of those methods is immunohistochemistry. Immunohistochemistry on formalin fixed, paraffin embedded tissue is a routine technique in diagnosis of persistently infected cattle from ear notch tissue samples. However, such technique is inappropriate due to complicated tissue fixation process and it requires more days for preparation. On the contrary, immunohistochemistry on frozen tissue was usually applied on organs from dead animals. In this paper, for the first time, the imunohistochemistry on frozen ear notch tissue samples was described. Findings Seventeen ear notch tissue samples were obtained during the period 2008-2009 from persistently infected cattle. Samples were fixed in liquid nitrogen and stored on -20°C until testing. Ear notch tissue samples from all persistently infected cattle showed positive results with good section quality and possibility to determinate type of infected cells. Conclusions Although the number of samples was limited, this study indicated that immunohistochemistry on formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue can be successfully replaced with immunohistochemistry on frozen ear notch tissue samples in diagnosis of persistently infected cattle.