Semester
Summer
Date of Graduation
2006
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MS
College
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Biochemistry
Committee Chair
Robert A Dailey
Abstract
Peptidoglycan-polysaccharide (PG-PS), cell wall component of gram-positive bacteria, was used to intoxicate sheep to study mastitis-related reproductive failure, mediated by TNF-alpha. Estrus was synchronized in ten adult Suffolk ewes. Four days after mating (Day 0) the jugular and posterior vena cava (saphenous vein) were catheterized. On Day 5, ewes were assigned randomly to either: control group (n = 4, 0.9% NaCl), or PG-PS group (n = 6, 30 mug/kg BW, i.v.). Plasma samples were collected from both jugular and saphenous vein catheters every 15 minutes for 6 hours. Radioimmunoassay quantified concentrations of TNF-alpha. Data were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance. Intoxication of day-5 pregnant ewes with 30 mug/kg BW PG-PS induced significant (p<0.0021) increases in TNFalpha concentration in the venous blood draining the reproductive tract (posterior vena cava), but not in jugular blood, demonstrating that injection of PG-PS systemically leads to local production of the inflammatory cytokine, TNF-alpha.
Recommended Citation
Rogers, Gabrielle Marie, "Tumor necrosis factor-alpha production induced by peptidoglycan-polysaccharide in early pregnant ewes" (2006). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 4261.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/4261