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Blood serum was used of 49 rams and 20 ewew infected with Brucell ovis. The study on the total protein and the protein fractions of rams revealed that there existed gamma-globulinemia, the percent of the gamma-globulin rise showing a positive correlation with the morphologic changes in the testes. The alfa-globulins were found to rise immediately following the experimental infecting of the sheep for about a month, after which they came back to normal. In experimental infection the activity of the alkaline phosphatase, aldolase, glutamate-oxalacetate-transaminase, and glutamate-pyruvate-transaminase of the blood serum showed transient characteristic changes, having, however, no diagnostic value.

Experiments with normal animals (10 sheep and 15 cows) revealed that the intravenous injection of bovicystan led to a considerable and dependable rise of the blood sugar for 2 to 36 hours the peak being at the 6th hour. The treatment of 95 freshly calved cows on 8 farms with signs of subclinical ketosis (ketonemia 22.4 +/- 1.9 mg%, ketonuria up to dilution of 1:2-1:16 and hypoglycemia 26.7 +/- 2.6 mg%) resulted in a 92.6 per cent total curative effect, consisting in the full inhibition of ketonuria, drop of the ketone bodies in the blood up to 16.5 +/- 1.2 mg%, on an average, and rise of the blood sugar up to 47.7 +/- 1.2 mg%, on an average. In 27.4 per cent of the treated cows ketonuria disappeared after the first injection, in 50.5 per cent - after the second one, and in 14.7 per cent only did ketonuria faded after the third injection of the preparation within a period of 24 hours. At the 48th hour following the last introduction of bovicystan there was an increase in the blood serum level of carotene and lactose, and a decrease in the level of inorganic phosphorus. One to three weeks after treatment with bovicystan in some 27.6 to 33.0 per cent of the cows on 2 of the farms signs of subclinical ketosis reappeared.

Korzeniowski's method was modified in preliminary investigations on the semiquantitative determination of magnesium in urine as follows: solution A--citric acid, 6.5 g; 8-oxicholine, 1.8-2.0 g and distilled water up to 100 cm3; solution B--ammonium chloride, 70 g; potassium chloride, 20 g; 25% ammonia, 100 cm3; 96 degrees ethanol, 500 cm3; and distilled water up to 1000 cm3. Prior to work solutions A and B at 1.5 cm3, resp., 6 cm3 were poured in an ordinary cone-shaped or graded centrifugal test tube and were mixed; added was urine for investigation at 5 cm3, the system was stirred and was allowed to stay in a stand for 1 h. If a sediment appeared the amount of magnesium in the urine of cows was above 7 mg%, and in the urine of sheep--above 9 mg%. With the study of a total of 169 urine samples from cows and 74 samples from sheep the results were comparable with what was established via the paper test of De Groot and coll. and the reactive test of Merck. At enhanced diuresis (colourless watery urine with creatine below 20 mg%) false negative results were obtained, and this made it necessary to investigate other samples of urine and blood serum. The method gave favourable information on magnesium sufficiency, and proved suitable for screening work on a mass scale.

The alkaline phosphatase enzyme, isolated by Morton's method from leukocytes of sheep, goats, and pigs gave after agarose elctrophoresis two isoenzyme fractions moving to the positive pole at the sites of the alpha 1- and alpha 2-globulins of the blood serum. In bovine leukocytes, besides these two fractions there was a third one that moved more slowly in the zone of the beta-globulins. In horses the alkaline phosphatase of leukocytes produced a wide band within the zones of the beta-globulins and the albumins. It was established that the proportion between the individual isoenzyme fractions of the leukocyte alkaline phosphatase in farm animals presents species variation.

Comparative studies have been carried out on the blood of certain laboratory and farm animals and birds, whereby the activity of muramidase (lysozyme) is established in neutrophilic cells of mice, guinea pigs, rats, rabbits, dogs, hens, turkeys and geese and in the monocytes of rabbits and dogs. The percentage of cells with muramidase activity manifests species features. No cells with a presence of muramidase activity have been found in the perypheral blood of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, horses and bullalos. Certain questions of a general biological aspect about the origin of muramidase in the blood serum are examined on the basis of the results obtained and recent data from analyses of human blood.

Experiments with pigs, lambs, sheep, and birds, carried out under various conditions of feeding (with or without supplement or treatment with vitamin E) revealed that the study of the peroxide resistance of erythrocyte lipids could render useful information on the supply of animals with vitamin E. The study of peroxide resistance was shown to be much more accessible than the available chemical methods, and had better reproducibility. This new approach took good consideration of the biologic activity of vitamin E, and was fairly suitable to be employed as a screening diagnostic method. The interpretation of results should take into account the occasional peroxidizing effect produced by heavy metals. With sheep the normal values of erythrocyte lipid peroxidation were 40.3 +/- 1.86; with cattle they were 60.0 +/- 3.2; with pigs--63.7 +/- 3.56; with young birds--64.6 +/- 2.35; and with hen layers--72.8 +/- 4.39.

Biochemical and histological investigations were carried out with cows affected with ketosis in a subclinical and clinical form. Parellel studies were performed with normal (control) cows originating from the herds with the ill animals and manifesting the same physiologic status. It was found that the blood level of glucose in the diseased cows was lowered more than 2.6 times, and the content of ketone bodies was higher-- it was increased 4.6 times, that of total lipids was 2.6 times higher, and that of free fatty acids was 3.5 times higher as compared to the same indices in the controls. The blood content of pyruvate in the affected cows was also increased. The liver glycogen in these animals was lowered from 2.1 to 4.1 times. The activity of glucose-6-phosphatase was lower, and that of glucose-6-phosphatedehydrogenase was higher as against the same indices shown by normal cows.

Investigations were carried out with a total of 276 high-producing and clinically healthy cows that had freshly calved on 11 farms, being divided into groups according to the extent to which ketonuria was present if al all. Whole blood and blood serum were sampled to determine the ketone bodies, blood sugar, erythrocyte and leukocyte counts, hemoglobin, inorganic phosphorus, Ca, Mg, total protein, carotene, and activity of the GOT and GPT enzymes as well as the activity of lactic acid dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase, aldolase, and leucine aminopeptidase. Studied were the body temperature, the pulse rate, and the respiration rate. It was found that on farms with ketosis in cows ketonuria was manifested most often after the ketone bodies in the blood rose to 10-12 mg%. At the same time the blood sugar level was lowered and as a rule it showed reverse correlation with the levels of ketonemia and ketonuria. In such cows there was a lowering trend with the Ca and carotene contents and the erythrocyte count, and the respiration rate was higher. There were no changes in the body temperature, pulse rate, leukocyte count, Ca, Mg, hemoglobin, protein, and the activity of aldolase. The activity of the other enzymes mentioned was higher, and it correlated positively with the rise of ketonemia and ketonuria. With diseased cows the activity of alkaline phosphatase only was shown to be lower, negatively correlating with ketonuria.

Investigations were carried out on the alkaline phosphatase in the sera of cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, goats, and chickens, the pH value of the buffer used being 9.0-9.8-10.0-10.2-10.6 and 11.0, and the method applied--that of Richterich. The pH value at which the serum alkaline phosphatase in the various farm animals and birds was most active was found to vary to a large extent. Optimal values for the enzyme's activity usually range as follows: cattle, 10.2; pigs and goats, 10.0; sheep,--10.2; horses,--9.8; chickens,--10.6.

A modified cytochemical technique was employed to investigate the unspecific acid naphthylacetate esterase of lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of a total of 64 clinically normal cows, having negative serologic and hematologic reaction for leukosis and of 42 cows with severalfold, well-manifested positive serologic response for the presence of the bovine leukosis virus with no changes in the hematologic data. With the normal animals an average of 6.86 per cent of the peripheral lymphocytes were found to be active--in the form of large dark-brown to dark red-brown granules--and such cells were considered to be T mu mature lymphocytes, while in 53.3 per cent of the cells activity was manifested in the form of tiny powder-like granules, and these were believed to be the Ty lymphocytes. Generally, 63.2 per cent were T-lymphocytes; the remaining 36.9 per cent of the cells had no activity typical for acid esterase, and these were considered to be B-lymphocytes. The study of cows with manifested agar gel immunodiffusion reaction for the presence of the bovine leukosis virus, with no lymphocytosis, revealed that there was a reliable rise of the T mu-lymphocytes up to 23.1 per cent, on an average, of the Ty-lymphocytes up to 69.2 per cent, while the percent of the B-lymphocytes dropped to 7.77 per cent, on an average.

During the investigation of homogenates from organs of cattle, sheep and swine (a heart, a kidney, a pancreas, a liver, a thigh muscle, a spleen, a lung) the highest activity of aldolase was proved in the bodily muscles, whereas in the other organs it did not show great differences. Thus it is determined as an ubiquitous enzyme in all these kinds of farm animals. After heating at 61 degrees C for 15 min. aldolase from the bodily muscles of cattle, sheep and swine, showed a high degree of thermostability (residual activity of 86 = 92%), whereas in the parenchymatous organs the enzyme was considerably thermosensitive (residual activity of 15.2--48.4%). The liver isoenzyme of aldolase showed the highest degree of thermosensitivity and had a residual activity of hardly 8--12%. A viewpoint is endorsed, namely that on that basis can be differentiated some pathological processes in the musculature from the pathological processes in the parenchymatous organs.

Studied was the activity of 5'-nucleotidase (EC3.1.3.5.) in organs (liver, lung, spleen, heart, kidney, small intestine, skeletal muscles of the loin region, bones, and ruminal wall, resp., stomach wall in swines) of three groups of cattle, sheep, and pigs with 12 animals in each. With cattle the activity of the enzyme was essentially high in the liver (9.92 +/- 1.19) and substantially lower in the lungs (5.81 +/- 0.38), small intestine (3.84 +/- 0.61), and kidneys (1.09 +/- 0.08). In the remaining organs the enzyme activity was either negligible or in traces, and in the ruminal wall there was no such activity at all. In sheep the enzyme activity was highest in the lungs (0.61 +/- 0.5), followed by the liver (6.92 +/- 0.44), and the spleen (4.35 +/- 0.39). The activity was almost one and the same in the heart, kidneys, and small intestine (2.43-3.42), and there were only traces in skeletal muscles and bones. With pigs the activity of 5'-nucleotidase was highest in the small intestine (6.30 +/- 1.14); it was lower in the liver, spleen, and stomach (5.94-4.42), and lowest--in the heart, body muscles, and bones (0.9-0.33). To determine the diagnostic value of the blood serum level of the enzyme it is necessary to carry out investigations with these species of animals when affected with various diseases.

Studied were the changes in the values of some hematologic indices (hemoglobin, erythrocytes, leukocites) as well as the values of some biochemical (total protein and protein fractions, urea, total lipids, bilirubin, inorganic, phosphorus calcium) and enzyme factors (lactatedehydrogenase, alkaline and acid phosphatase, aldolase, amino transferrases, creatinephosphokinase) in geese prior to and after experimental infection of Borrelia anserina. It was found that in the peak stage of spirochetemia the content of hemoglobin, total lipids, and calcium, the percent of albumins and alfa-globulins, and the activity of the alkaline phosphatase in the blood decreased. The prealbumin fraction of the serum protein was completely reduced. The activity of the lactatedehydrogenase, acid phosphatase, amino transferrases, and aldolase showed higher values that were statistically significant, while the activity of the creatinephosphokinase rose to a slighter extent. The urea, bilirubin, inorganic phosphorus, and the alfa-, beta-, and gamma-globulins correlated positively with the course of the infection.

Some of the clinical parameters of the preparation ketomethyne, containing propylene glycol, methyonine, and Co bichloride, were comparatively studied with the analogous preparation ursoketin at oral application to sheep and cows. It was found that ketomethyne raised more slowly the level of blood sugar than ursoketin, but maintained it by 24-35 per cent higher than the initial level from the 6th to the 24th hour following treatment. The oral application of ketomethyne had no unfavourable effect on the rumen activity, the general clinical indices body temperature, pulse, respiration), the hematologic indices as hemoglobin and erythrocyte and leukocyte count, and the appetite. Similarly to ursoketin, ketomethyne was not readily taken by animals as judged by what was noted with ruminants in cases where the preparation was given as a supplement to the ordinary amounts of feed (concentrates). It was more successfully offered to the large ruminants when 5 to 8 kg silage and the preparation at the rate of 400-500 cm3 were admixed. With cows having paraclinical signs of ûetosis (hypoglycemia and ketonuria) the oral administration of ketomethyne at 500 cm3 in the course of four consecutive days produced favourable effects (up to 100 per cent). On such basis, therefore, the use of the preparation is worthwhile in the prevention of ketosis in sheep and cows or in their treatment.

Experiments were carried out with sheep and cows on the basis of a limited feed ration--the giving of concentrates was discontinued, and the ration of alfalfa hay was replaced with meadow hay and a monensine supplement (at the rate of 20-25 mg for sheep and 250 mg for cows, daily), and nicotinic acid (at 0.8 g and 6.0 g, respectively). Observations revealed that in the course of 6-7 weeks in succession the drop of blood sugar was reduced, and monensine led to a rise of the alkali reserves of the blood by 27 to 41 per cent. Cows with ketonuria (from ++ up to + positive results with the nitroprusside tests) and hydroglycaemia (blood sugar up to 30 mg) were treated with monensine at the rate of 125 mg, in the morning and in the evening or with nicotinic acid at 3 g and the same frequency for 6-7 consecutive days. The symptoms receded to a greater extent (12.1 to 60 per cent) as compared to the process of self-healing for the same time period. In this respect the effect of monensine was better manifested. It was demonstrated that the prophylactic use of these drugs inhibited to a minimum the manifestation of hypoglycaemia and ketonuria.

It was established in an experiment with 13 sheep of the local improved breed that the single s/c injection of levamisole at the rate of 7.5 mg per kg of body mass led to a rise of the phagocytic activity of neutrophil leukocytes. These cells also had higher cytochemical activity of the alkaline phosphatase, glucose-6-phosphatase, and lipids (sudanophilia). No changes in the total count of leukocytes were found. The cytochemical activity of lactate-dehydrogenase, succinate-dehydrogenase, and alpha-glycerophosphate-dehydrogenase was also found to rise. On the base of the marker capacity of the acid naphthylacetate esterase with regard to the T-lymphocyte system there set in on the 3rd day following levamisole injection a 4 to 5 rise in the T-lymphocyte count, particularly in the mature T mu-lymphocytes, to the detriment of the B-cells which dropped in number. On the 7th day all these changes receded, however, the percent of lymphocytes with azure granules in the cytoplasm and the average number of these granules per lymphocyte cell rose. In the entire 7-day period of investigation a lowering trend was shown by the amount of serum lysozyme which dropped several times as against the initial level.

The incubation of blood smears taken from cattle, sheep, goats horses, and pigs in the presence of urea, metal salts (zinc, magnesium, manganese, calcium) or amino acids (phenilalanine, alanine, glycine, histidine, methionine, cystine cysteine) at various concentrations revealed that the cytochemical activity of the alkaline phosphatase shows changes that depended on the animal species. Changes varying in character and intensity and depending on the molar concentrations of the agents used, were also established.

Investigations were carried out with homogenates from the organs of hens (liver, duodenum, pancreas, spleen, kidney, glandular and muscular stomach, ovary resp. testicle, periosteum,) as well as serums in which the general activity of the alkaline phosphatase was determined and parallel to this after an inhibition in the presence of 10 mM 1-phenylalanine or different concentrations (0.25--4 M) or urea, as well as with values of pH ranging from 9.0 up to 11.0, after a preincubation of urea for 10, 20 and 30 min with 3 M/l of after heating up to 56 degrees C for 10, 20 and 30 min. An electrophoresis of an agar gel was also carried out. Some stereospecific peculiarities of the alkaline phosphatase isoenzymes of the organs studied was found with regard to the inhibitors used. The selective inhibition, as well as the electrophoretic division of enzymes, did not produce any considerable differences, which can be used for practical ends.

Experiments with 19 sheep and 26 cows revealed that subcutaneous and muscular injection of xylasine (Rompun - Bayer at 0.04 to 0.08 mg/kg body mass) led to a dependable increase in the level of blood sugar by 50-220 per cent for a period of 1 to 3 hrs. At the 6th to the 24th hour the amount of blood sugar came back to normal. In cows with subclinical ketosis (ketonuria ++ to +++ after Lastradet's test) and hypoglycaemia (blood sugar 29.7 +/- 4.6 mg%) the injection of xylasine (0.05-0.08 mg/kg body mass) increased the level of blood sugar by 169 to 185 per cent, which remained at a comparatively high level up to the 24th hour. Ketonuria dropped, however, full dusapperance of ketone bodies in the urine was observed in 7 per cent of the treated animals only. It is believed that although there was a pronounced hyperglycaemic effect of the preparation it cannot be applied alone for the treatment of ketosis-affected cows. It is important as an additional means, particularly with animals affected with the nervous form of the disease.

Studies on organ homogenates of 22 one-year-old healthy geese indicated ubiquiternal distribution of GOT and GPT transaminases, lactate dehydrogenase, alkaline and acid phosphatase, aldolase and kreatine phosphokinase, without the presence of any pronounced organ specificity of some of the named enzymes. It is presumed that the investigation on these enzymes in goose blood serum can be of use only for determining the degree and the course of a given disease, but not for organ-localization of the disease's process.

Studied were mass disease outbreaks on eight farms in calves intensively fed concentrate mixtures that were rich in phosphorus compounds. Clinically, there were selling and deformations of the joints with pains. The tarsal and carpal joints were chiefly involved. Kyphosis of the backbone, spastic paresis of the posterior part of the body as well as tetaniform spasms in the initial stage of the disease were also observed. Morphologically, the diseased animals manifested erosions and thinning of the joint cartilage, tearing of the Achilles tendon, and increased amounts of the joint fluid. The histologic study revealed edema of the cartilage cells, disorders in the structure of the hyalin cartilage, formation of cavities, and broadening of the lumen of the Haversian canals. In most cases the blood serum presented hyperphosphatemia (up to 15.67 mg% inorganic P) and relative or absolute hypocalcemia (up to 4.47 mg% Ca). On the farm both hypocalcemia and hypophosphatemia were observed. Good prophylactic results were obtained through correct Ca:P ratios in the diet that contained calcium additives as well as by the injection of vitamin D solutions, etc. It is believed that these cases should be referred to a distinctive form of rickets of a characteristic clinical course' the inadequate Ca:P ratios in the rations playing the main etiologic role. Subsidiary causes are probably vitamin D deficiency, restricted movement of the animals, and mechanical traumata caused by the animal's own bodyweight.

Studied was the activity of leucine-aminopeptidase and alanine-aminopeptidase in fresh tissue homogenates of liver, spleen, kidney, heart, pancreas, femoral muscle, stomach (rumen), small intestine, and lung taken from 8 cattle, sheep, and pigs. Both enzymes showed ubiquity. Leucine-aminopeptidase exhibited highest activity in the spleen of pigs and the kidney of sheep and cattle. The kidneys of all investigated animal species showed 10 to 15 times higher alanine-aminopeptidase activity than the remaining organs. This pointed to the relative ubiquity of the enzyme with special reference to kidneys.