Effects of ranitidine, famotidine, pantoprazole, and omeprazole on intragastric pH in dogs

OBJECTIVE: To identify the normal gastric acid secretion profile in dogs and determine the degree of gastric acid suppression associated with 4 gastric acid suppressants. ANIMALS: 12 healthy Beagles. PROCEDURE: Intragastric pH was measured continuously for 24-hour periods with a digital recording system placed via a gastrostomy tube. Baseline measurements were obtained when food was withheld and when dogs were fed a standard diet. Dogs were then treated with ranitidine (2 mg/kg, IV, q 12 h), famotidine (0.5 mg/kg, IV, q 12 h), pantoprazole (1 mg/kg, IV, q 24 h), omeprazole (1 mg/kg, PO, q 24 h), or saline solution for 7 days; intragastric pH was recorded on days 0, 2, and 6. Subsequently, the effects of administering famotidine (0.5 mg/kg, IV, q 8 h; 6 dogs) and omeprazole as a suspension (1 mg/kg, PO, q 12 h; 6 dogs) were evaluated. Median 24-hour intragastric pH, percentage of time pH was > or = 3, and percentage of time pH was > or = 4 were determined. RESULTS: Median pH, percentage of time pH was > or = 3, and percentage of time pH was > or = 4 were all significantly higher when food was withheld than when dogs were fed. Famotidine, pantoprazole, and omeprazole significantly suppressed gastric acid secretion, compared with saline solution, as determined on the basis of median 24-hour pH and percentages of time pH was > or = 3 or > or = 4. However, ranitidine did not. Omeprazole suspension suppressed gastric acid secretion. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results suggest that in healthy dogs, famotidine, pantoprazole, and omeprazole significantly suppress gastric acid secretion. Twice daily administration of a suspension of omeprazole, was the only regimen tested that approached the potential therapeutic efficacy for acid-related disease when assessed by criteria used for human patients.     

The Public Health Nutrition workforce and its future challenges: the US experience

OBJECTIVES: To describe the US public health nutrition workforce and its future social, biological and fiscal challenges. DESIGN: Literature review primarily for the four workforce surveys conducted since 1985 by the Association of State and Territorial Public Health Nutrition Directors. SETTING: The United States. SUBJECTS: Nutrition personnel working in governmental health agencies. The 1985 and 1987 subjects were personnel in full-time budgeted positions employed in governmental health agencies providing predominantly population-based services. In 1994 and 1999 subjects were both full-time and part-time, employed in or funded by governmental health agencies, and provided both direct-care and population-based services. RESULTS: The workforce primarily focuses on direct-care services for pregnant and breast-feeding women, infants and children. The US Department of Agriculture funds 81.7 % of full-time equivalent positions, primarily through the WIC Program (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children). Of those personnel working in WIC, 45 % have at least 10 years of experience compared to over 65 % of the non-WIC workforce. Continuing education needs of the WIC and non-WIC workforces differ. The workforce is increasingly more racially/ethnically diverse and with 18.2 % speaking Spanish as a second language. CONCLUSIONS: The future workforce will need to focus on increasing its diversity and cultural competence, and likely will need to address retirement within leadership positions. Little is known about the workforce's capacity to address the needs of the elderly, emergency preparedness and behavioural interventions. Fiscal challenges will require evidence-based practice demonstrating both costs and impact. Little is known about the broader public health nutrition workforce beyond governmental health agencies.     

First record of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Grewia tenax</Emphasis> (Forssk.) Fiori in northern Oman,a valuable fruit producing shrub

Grewia tenax (Forssk.) Fiori is a wild fruit species with multiple uses in different parts of the Tropics and Subtropics. It is common on the Arabian Peninsula and has also been recorded in southern Oman. To date, no record of the species exists for the northern part of this country. To close this distributional gap, three sites in the al-Hajar mountains of northern Oman were surveyed in summer 2005 and spring 2006. During the botanical fieldwork, several flowering and fruiting plants were found in Wadi Bani Awf and Wadi Muaydin. In the latter area G. tenax fruits are eaten by local people. In addition to G. tenax, nine woody perennials with edible fruit were recorded. In northern Oman, fruits of Sideroxylon mascatense (A. DC.) Penn. and Ziziphus spina-christi (L.) Desf. are widely collected and sold on local markets. G. tenax shrubs were found to be heavily grazed indicating its high palatability to goats and sheep. The occurrence of G. tenax in the al-Hajar mountains is a new record to the flora of northern Oman and calls for further investigation of botanists and germplasm collectors.     

Experimental study of pathogenicity of Pasteurella multocida serogroup F in rabbits

The role of Pasteurella multocida serogroup F in inducing disease in rabbits was investigated in this study. Three groups of 12 Pasteurella-free rabbits each were intranasally (i.n.), subcutaneously (s.c.), and perorally (p.o.) challenged, respectively. Six rabbits of each group were immunosuppressed using dexamethasone. Eight rabbits (four of them immunosuppressed) inoculated i.n. showed symptoms of respiratory distress resulting in respiratory failure and died or were euthanized in the terminal stage of the disease 3-6 days post-infection (p.i.). The main pathological findings were fibrinopurulent pleuropneumonia (immunocompetent rabbits) or diffuse haemorrhagic pneumonia (immunosuppressed rabbits). Septicemic syndrome ending with shock occurred in 11 rabbits (6 of them immunosuppressed) inoculated s.c., which died or were euthanized in the terminal stage of the disease 2-3 days p.i. The most significant pathological findings were extensive cutaneous and subcutaneous lesions. All of the p.o. inoculated rabbits survived the challenge showing no clinical signs of the disease and no macroscopic lesions. The observations in this study indicate that in addition to serogroups A and D of P. multocida, serogroup F also can be highly pathogenic for rabbits and therefore might be a cause of considerable economic loss in commercial rabbit production.     

Effects of high hydrostatic pressure on embryonation of Ascaris suum eggs

High hydrostatic pressure processing (HPP) has been shown to be an effective non-thermal means of inactivating microorganisms from various food products. Little information is available regarding the effects of HPP on metazoan parasites. Outbreaks of food-borne disease have been associated with importation of food contaminated with fecal material. Ascaris suum is used as a surrogate model metazoan parasite for the human roundworm, Ascaris lumbricoides, to study the effects of treatments on the inactivation of eggs in sludge. The present study was conducted to determine the effects of HPP on A. suum eggs. Unembryonated A. suum eggs were subjected to 138-552 megapascals (MPa) for 10-60s in a commercial HPP unit. Embryonation was induced after HPP treatments by incubating eggs in 0.01N sulfuric acid at room temperature. After 21 days, 100 eggs were examined per treatment using a light microscope and the percent of embryonated eggs was determined. Embryonation was induced in 38-76% eggs that were subjected to 138 and 270MPa. No embryonation was observed in eggs exposed to pressures of 241MPa or more for 60s or in eggs exposed to 276MPa for 10-30s. These results indicate that HPP treatment could be used to protect contaminated food items by inactivating A. suum eggs and may also have potential in reducing food-borne illness resulting from fecal contamination.     

High pressure processing treatment prevents embryonation of eggs of Trichuris vulpis and Ascaris suum and induces delay in development of eggs

High hydrostatic pressure processing (HPP) is an effective non-thermal treatment used to inactivate pathogens from a variety of food and food products. It has been extensively examined using prokaryotic organisms and protozoan's but has had limited study on metazoans. Treatment using HPP has been shown to be effective in inactivating nematode larvae in food and preventing embryonation of Ascaris suum eggs. We conducted experiments using eggs of the canine whipworm Trichuris vulpis collected from naturally infected dogs and A. suum eggs from naturally infected pigs. We observed a delay in development of eggs of T. vulpis in a preliminary experiment and conducted 2 experiments to test the hypothesis that appropriate HPP levels can induce a delay in embryonation of nematode eggs. In experiment 1, nonembryonated T. vulpis eggs in tap water were packaged in sealable bags and exposed to 138-600 megapascals (MPa; 1 MPa=10 atm=147 psi) for 60s in a commercial HPP unit. In a second experiment, nonembryonated eggs of A. suum were exposed to 138-600 MPa and treated for 60s in the same commercial HPP unit. Embyronation of T. vulpis eggs was delayed by 4 and 5 days for eggs treated with 207 and 241 MPa but eventually eggs developed and the numbers of embryonated eggs was similar to controls on day 55. Embryonation of T. vulpis eggs treated with 345 or 350 MPa was delayed by 9 days and never reached more than 5% of eggs embryonated. On day 55 post treatment, 95% of control nontreated T. vulpis eggs were embryonated, 100-65% of eggs treated with 138-276 MPa were embryonated, a maximum of 5% of eggs treated with 345-350 MPa were embryonated, and 0% of eggs treated with ≥ 400 MPa were embryonated. T. vulpis eggs treated with ≥ 400 MPa did not undergo cell division. Embryrnation of A. suum eggs was delayed by 4, 10, and 16 days for eggs treated with 207, 241, and 250MPa, respectively, compared to nontreated control eggs. A. suum eggs treated with 207 MPa eventually embryonated to similar % embryonation values as controls and 138 MPa treated eggs but eggs treated with 241 or 250 MPa were always <5% embryonated. A. suum eggs treated with ≥ 300 MPa did not undergo cell division. On the final day of examination at day 56 after treatment, the % of embryonated eggs was 92% nontreated controls, 94% treated with 138 MPa, 84% treated with 207 MPa, 2% treated with 241 or 250 MPa, and 0% treated with 276, 200, 345, 400, or 414 MPa, respectively.     

Proximity to chronic wasting disease,perceived risk,and social trust in the managing agency

This article examined relationships between proximity to chronic wasting disease (CWD) and perceived risk and trust. The sample included 1,606 hunters in one of 10 northern Illinois counties with CWD, 1,958 hunters in a non-CWD county adjacent to these counties with CWD, and 2,099 hunters from the remaining non-CWD counties in Illinois. Compared to hunters in non-CWD counties, those in CWD counties were hypothesized to: (a) perceive more risk of CWD to humans, (b) perceive more risk of CWD to deer, (c) report less trust in the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) CWD information, and (d) have less trust in the IDNR management of CWD. The first two hypotheses were not supported, as hunters in CWD counties perceived less risk to humans and deer than did respondents in non-CWD counties. Hunters in CWD counties, however, were less trusting of the IDNR information and management compared to the other hunters.