Four experiments were performed to study the kinetics of purine metabolism and urinary excretion in Zebu crossbred cattle. Fasting excretion was established in Expt 1, using eighteen male Bos indicus £ Bos taurus crossbred cattle (261 (SE 9·1) kg body weight), six of each of the following genotypes: 5/8 Bos indicus, 1/2 Bos indicus and 3/8 Bos indicus. No significant differences were observed among genotypes in fasting purine derivative excretion (277·3 (SE 35·43) mmol/metabolic body weight). In a second experiment we measured the xanthine oxidase activity, which was higher in liver than in duodenal mucosa (0·64 and 0·06 (SE 0·12) units/g wet tissue per min respectively; P.0·05) being in plasma 0·60 (SE 0·36) units/l per min. The kinetics of uric acid were measured by intravenous pulse dose of [1,[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] N]uric acid (Expt 3). The cumulative recovery of the isotope in urine was 82 (SE 6·69) %, and uric acid plasma removal, pool size and mean retention time were 0·284 (SE 0·051) per h, 5·45 (SE 0·823) mmol and 3·52 (SE 0·521) h, respectively. Allantoin was removed from plasma at an estimated fractional rate of 0·273 (SE 0·081) per h and mean retention was 3·66 (SE 1·08) h. In Expt 4, the relationship between urinary purine derivative excretion (Y; mmol/d) and digestible organic matter intake (X, kg/d) was defined by the equation: Y ¼ 7·69 (SE 4·2) þ 5·69 (SE 1·68) X; n 16, SE 1·31, r 0·67.

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RESUMENPara determinar la selección de plantas leño-sas por vacunos en silvopastoreo de un bosque semicaducifolio tropical (BSCT), se evaluaron fragmentos epidérmicos en muestras de heces de 14 vacunos machos Brahman x Holstein (390,4 ± 18,0 kg peso vivo). Los animales pastaron durante 91 días sobre 81 ha localizadas en el estado Portuguesa, Venezuela, donde 50 ha correspondieron a un BSCT y el resto a pastizales con predomino de Cynodon nlemfuensis, Sporobolus indicus, Cyperus sp. y Axonopus sp. Empleando la técnica de puntos en cuadrante sobre transectas, en el bosque se identificaron 22 especies de plantas leñosas, agrupadas en 11 familias botánicas con 40,9% de las especies dentro de la familia Fabaceae. La especie Guazuma ulmifolia tuvo la mayor dominancia relativa (60,4%), acumulando conjuntamente con Pithecellobium lanceolatum y Samanea saman el 81,1% de este parámetro. Estas mismas especies mostraron los mayores índices de valor de importancia (162,6; 24,8 y 26,5 respectivamente). Las Poaceae presentaron la mayor frecuencia relativa de aparición de fragmentos epidémicos en heces con el 49,6%, mientras el conjunto de plantas leñosas presentó un 46,2%, del cual las Fabaceae alcanzaron el 80,7%. Las especies más seleccionadas fueron Inga laurina, Machaerium humboldtianum, S. saman y Sida acuta, con un Índice de Ivlev medio de 0,60 ± 0,09. La composición química del follaje de las plantas leñosas sugiere un patrón de selección ajustado a la oferta de nutrientes de cada especie, resaltando el valor estratégico del BSCT en sistemas de silvopastoreo en ambientes tropicales. SUMMARYThe woody plant palatability for cattle in a silvopastoral system on a semi-deciduous tropical forest (SDTF) was evaluated. Epidermal fragments in fecal samples from 14 male cattle Brahman x Holstein (390.4 ± 18.0 kg live weight) grazing during 91 days in 81 ha located in Portuguesa state, Venezuela were evaluated. SDTF was present in 50 ha; the rest of grassland, was mainly composed by Cynodon nlemfuensis, Sporobolus indicus, Cyperus sp. and Axonopus sp. Using the point quarter method on transects, 22 woody plant species were identified they were grouped into 11 botanical families, with 40.9% of species belonging to the Fabaceae family. Guazuma ulmifolia had the greater relative dominancy (60.4%), and together with Pithecellobium lanceolatum and Samanea saman reached the 81.1%. These same species showed the higher importance value index (162.6, 24.8 and 26.5 respectively). Poaceae had the higher relative frequency (49.6%) for epidermal fragments in feces; total woody plants reached 46.2% (Fabaceae: 80.7%). The most selected species were Inga laurina, Machaerium humboldtianum, S. saman and Sida acuta, (Ivlev

RESUMENObjetivo. Evaluar el efecto de una fuente no proteica de liberación controlada de nitrógeno (NnpLC) sobre algunos parámetros de la fermentación ruminal y degradabilidad in situ de Cynodon dactylon. Materiales y métodos. 4 vacas fistuladas al rumen alimentadas con una dieta base de heno de Cynodon dactylon (4.8% proteína cruda y 78.4% fibra detergente neutra), 1 kg de melaza de caña y 55 g de mezcla mineral (tratamiento Control), y tratamientos experimentales con adición a la dieta base de 150 g urea (Urea), sustitución de Urea por NnpLC a razón de 50% del aporte de nitrógeno (Urea/ NnpLC) y 183 g NnpLC (NnpLC). En un Cuadrado Latino 4x4 y períodos de 17 días, se registró consumo del día 7 al 14. El día 15 fueron tomadas muestras seriadas de contenido ruminal para evaluar pH, nitrógeno amoniacal (N-NH3) y ácidos grasos volátiles. La degradabilidad de la materia orgánica (DMO48) y fibra detergente neutro (DFND48) a las 48 h fueron medidas con bolsas de nylon. Resultados. No hubo diferencias (p>0.05) en consumo de materia seca (8.2±0.35 kgMS/animal/día), pH (6.1±0.21), DMO48 (52.2±6.2%) y DFND48 (30.1±2.8%); aunque hubo diferencias (p<0.01) en valores medios de N-NH3 (19.1, 166.7, 181.6 y 281.8 mg/L; respectivamente). NnpLC incrementó (p<0.05) el ácido propiónico (27.3%), redujo el T1/2 (13.2%) y optimizó la relación P:E (22.0± 0.76). Conclusiones. El uso de una fuente NnpLC generó un perfil de ácidos grasos volátiles con patrón gluconeogénico, optimizó la concentración de N-NH3 y mejoró la relación P:E, por lo que debe considerarse una alternativa para manipular el medio ambiente ruminal de vacunos alimentados con recursos fibrosos.

We developed a method to asses the infectivity of Trypanosoma cruzi trypomastigotes for cultured Vero cells, after incubation under different conditions with human leucocyte populations. Total leucocytes, polymorphonuclear (PMN) and mononuclear (MN) cells, from either infected (INF) or cardiomyopathic (CDM) Chagas patients were tested in the presence or absence of autologous serum. Both patient groups had positive complement fixation tests (CFT) for T. cruzi and these were compared with a group of normal controls with negative CFT. Serum alone was found to cause reductions in the infectivity of the trypomastigotes, particularly in the case of CDM. However, in the control and INF groups, a significantly greater effect was observed with combinations of leucocytes and serum. The inhibition caused by cells plus serum was significantly greater in INF and CDM patients than in normal controls. In addition, we evaluated the penetration of trypomastigotes into the different types of leucocytes and found a significantly greater penetration of INF leucocytes at 15 min, compared to the controls, in the presence of both autologous and homologous normal serum. However, after 60 min of incubation the differences were not statistically significant.