Assessment of intestinal damage in rotavirus infected neonatal mice by a d-xylose absorption test

Abstract

A D-xylose absorption test has been standardized for use in newborn mice. It was used to measure small intestine dysfunction in neonate mice following infection with various isolates of rotaviruses. A xylose dose of 1 mg/g body weight was required to produce a maximum level of 100 micrograms/100 microliters of plasma 2 h after administration of D-xylose. The mice inoculated with rotavirus absorbed significantly less D-xylose compared with uninoculated control mice. A micromethod is described which proved to be suitable to quantitate D-xylose for determination of absorptive function of the small intestine in small animals such as newborn mice.

Studies on the survival of aerosolized bovine rotavirus (UK) and a murine rotavirus

“…In order to further investigate if there is any difference in the behavior of airborne Canadian and UK isolates of bovine rotaviruses, we have studied the survival of UK isolate of BRV in the airborne state under the same set of experimental conditions as reported earlier for other animal and human rotavirus isolates [7,[9][10][11][12][13]17]. In this communication we confirm and extend our investigations on the survival of BRV-UK isolate and an MRV which has been found to be highly virulent compared to all known animal and human rotavirus isolates studied to date [18][19][20].…”

Diagnostic Testing of Mouse and Rat Colonies for Infectious Agents

“…If one uses these prevalence data to aid in developing a list of agents for which to test and to help determine the frequency of testing, a cost-conscious and justifiable approach would be to test frequently for the most prevalent agents and less frequently for the rarest agents, while considering the impact that each of these agents would have on the ongoing research or the research staff if detected in the rodent population. Using mouse pathogens as an example, it seems reasonable to test frequently for MHV, MPV, and MRV, which are highly prevalent agents that can alter the physiology of infected mice [11][12][13][14][15] . LCMV and ectromelia are not very prevalent agents, but because LCMV poses a human health risk 16 and ectromelia is a highly contagious virus that causes devastating disease in mice 17 , one could argue that these agents should be monitored, but perhaps less frequently.…”

Development of a murine model to study the pathogenesis of rotavirus infection

“…Xylose absorption tests were performed to measure small intestine dysfunction following infection as described previously (Ijaz et al, 1987a). Briefly, animals were inoculated with BRV, MRV, or placebo (distilled water).…”

“…Two hours after administration of xylose, they were sacrificed by decapitation and their blood was collected in heparinized hematocrit tubes. Plasma was collected and assayed for D-xylose concentration as described previously (Ijaz et al, 1987a).…”