Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is notoriously difficult to differentiate from the many other diseases with similar clinical signs and at present the only conclusive diagnostic test is the histopathological examination of a biopsy. The potential value of raised levels of the acute phase reactants, alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) and haptoglobin in the diagnosis of the disease was investigated. The concentrations of the two proteins were determined in serum samples from healthy cats and gave reference ranges of 0.1 to 0.48 g/litre and 0.04 to 3.84 g/litre, respectively. Levels of AGP greater than 1.5 g/litre in serum, plasma or effusion samples were found to be of value in distinguishing field cases of FIP from cats with similar clinical signs and differentiated these two groups of cats more effectively than the albumin:globulin ratio. The concentration of haptoglobin was higher in cats with FIP than in the group of healthy cats, but this protein was not of value in the diagnosis of FIP. Serum samples from feline immunodeficiency virus-infected cats were also analysed for these proteins and their concentrations were significantly elevated, illustrating that raised levels of AGP and haptoglobin are not pathognomonic for FIP.

Chemokine receptors play an important role in the trafficking of various immune cell types to sites of inflammation. Several chemokine receptors are differentially expressed in Th1 and Th2 effector populations. Th2 cells selectively express CCR3, CCR4, and CCR8, which could direct their trafficking to sites of allergic inflammation. Additionally, increased expression of the CCR8 ligand, TCA-3, has been detected in affected lungs in a mouse model of asthma. In this study, CCR8-deficient mice were generated to address the biological role of CCR8 in a model of allergic airway disease. Using two different protocols of allergen challenge, we demonstrate that absence of CCR8 does not affect the development of pulmonary eosinophilia and Th2 cytokine responses. In addition, administration of anti-TCA-3-neutralizing Ab during allergen sensitization and rechallenge failed to inhibit airway allergic inflammation. These results suggest that CCR8 does not play an essential role in the pathogenesis of inflammation in this mouse model of allergic airway disease.

Abstract. Atmospheric aqueous chemistry can have profound effects on our environment. The importance of chemistry within the atmospheric aqueous phase started gaining widespread attention in the 1970s as there was growing concern over the negative impacts on ecosystem health from acid deposition. Research at mountaintop observatories including Whiteface Mountain (WFM) showed that gas phase sulfur dioxide emissions react in cloud droplets to form sulfuric acid, which also impacted air quality by increasing aerosol mass loadings. The current study updates the long-term trends in cloud water composition at WFM for the period 1994–2021, with special consideration given to samples that have traditionally been excluded from analysis due to inorganic charge imbalance. We emphasize three major findings: (1) a growing abundance of total organic carbon (TOC), with annual median concentrations more than doubling since measurements began in 2009, (2) a growing imbalance between the measured inorganic cations and anions, consistent with independent rain water observations, implying that a substantial fraction of anions are no longer being measured with the historical suite of measurements, and (3) a growing number of samples exhibiting greater ammonium concentrations than sulfate plus nitrate concentrations, which now routinely describes over one-third of samples. Organic acids are identified as the most likely candidates for the missing anions, since the measured inorganic ion imbalance correlates strongly with measured TOC concentrations. An “inferred cloud droplet pH” is introduced to estimate the pH of the vast majority of cloud droplets as they reside in the atmosphere using a simple method to account for the expected mixing state of calcium and magnesium containing particles. While the inferred cloud droplet pH closely matches the measured bulk cloud water pH during the early years of the cloud water monitoring program, a growing discrepancy is found over the latter half of the record. We interpret these observations as indicating a growing fraction of cloud droplet acidity that is no longer accounted for by the measured sulfate, nitrate and ammonium concentrations. Altogether, these observations indicate that the chemical system at WFM has shifted away from a system dominated by sulfate to a system controlled by base cations, reactive nitrogen species and organic compounds. Further research is required to understand the effects on air quality, climate and ecosystem health.

(1) The effects of hydrocortisone succinate (1.0--0.01 micrograms HC/ml of medium) on porcine articular tissues in organ culture have been studied by histological and biochemical methods. (2) 1.0 and 0.1 micrograms HC/ml considerably inhibited the severe breakdown of matrix that occurs in living and dead cartilage explained in contact with synovial tissue. (3) The depletion of matrix in living cartilage cultivated in the same dish as but not in contact with synovial tissue, is much diminished when the medium contains 1.0 or 0.1 micrograms HC/ml. (4) Cartilage grown in the used medium of synovial tissue loses both proteoglycan and hydroxyproline; the addition of HC to the used medium has little (1.0 microgram HC/ml) or 0.1 microgram HC/ml) no inhibitory effect. If, however, the used medium is from synovial tissue that has been cultured in the presence of 1.0 or 0.1 micrograms HC/ml, loss of proteoglycan and collagen from the cartilage is much reduced. (5) In isolated cartilage in normal medium there is outgrowth of cells from the cut surface and some loss of proteoglycan and collagen; outgrowth is completely, and loss of matrix components partially suppressed by 1.0 micrograms HC/ml. (6) Isolated synovial tissue cultured in normal medium shrinks to about one-third of its original size, loses much of its collagen and secretes neutral metallo-proteinases into the medium; in the presence of 1.0 microgram HC/ml these changes are largely prevented. The explants also secrete an inhibitor of metallo-proteinases the production of which is not reduced by HC.

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