Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0023380 (lethargy)
 5,697 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The cause of the yearly death of an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 migrating dabbling ducks (Anas spp.) and 10 to 50 swans (Cygnus buccinator and C. columbianus) has remained a mystery for the last ten years in Eagle River Flats (ERF), a 1,000 ha estuarine salt marsh near Anchorage, Alaska, used for artillery training by the U.S. Army. We have gathered evidence that the cause of this mortality is the highly toxic, incendiary munition white phosphorus (P4). The symptoms of poisoning we observed in wild ducks included lethargy, repeated drinking, and head shaking and rolling. Death was preceded by convulsions. Farm-reared mallards dosed with white phosphorus showed nearly identical behavioral symptoms to those of wild ducks that became sick in ERF. White phosphorus does not occur in nature but was found in both the sediments where dabbling ducks and swans feed and in the gizzards of all carcasses collected in ERF. We hypothesize that feeding waterfowl are ingesting small particles of the highly toxic, incendiary munition P4 stored in the bottom anoxic sediments of shallow salt marsh ponds.
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PMID:White phosphorus poisoning of waterfowl in an Alaskan salt marsh. 147 72

The medical records of 7 hypercalcemic cats with primary hyperparathyroidism were evaluated. Mean age was 12.9 years, with ages ranging from 8 to 15 years; 5 were female; 5 were Siamese, and 2 were of mixed breed. The most common clinical signs detected by owners were anorexia and lethargy. A cervical mass was palpable in 4 cats. Serum calcium concentrations were 11.1 to 22.8 mg/dl, with a mean of 15.8 mg/dl calculated from each cat's highest preoperative value. The serum phosphorus concentration was low in 2 cats, within reference limits in 4, and slightly high in 1 cat. The BUN concentration was greater than 60 mg/dl in 2 cats, 31 to 35 mg/dl in 2 cats, and less than 30 mg/dl in 3 cats. Abnormalities were detected in serum alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, and alkaline phosphatase activities from 2 or 3 cats. Parathormone (PTH) concentrations were measured in 2 cats before and after surgery. The preoperative PTH concentration was within reference limits in 1 cat and was high in 1 cat. The PTH concentrations were lower after surgery in both cats tested. A solitary parathyroid adenoma was surgically removed from 5 cats, bilateral parathyroid cystadenomas were surgically resected in 1 cat, and a parathyroid carcinoma was diagnosed at necropsy in 1 cat. None of the cats had clinical problems with hypocalcemia after surgery, although 2 cats developed hypocalcemia without tetany, one of which was controlled with oral administration of dihydrotachysterol and the other with oral administration of 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D. All 5 of the cta that underwent removal of an adenoma were alive at least 240 days after surgery.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Primary hyperparathyroidism in cats: seven cases (1984-1989). 181 72

Bilateral renal dysplasia and nephron hypoplasia was diagnosed in a Quarter Horse foal with clinical signs of lethargy, convulsions, and diarrhea. Laboratory evaluation revealed anemia, hypoproteinemia, leukopenia, hyponatremia, hypochloremia, and hyposmolality. The foal also had high concentrations of serum creatinine, BUN, and phosphorus. Evaluation of urinary indices revealed a high ratio of urinary gamma-glutamyl-transferase activity to concentration of creatinine, as well as a high fractional clearance ratio of sodium and potassium. Intravenous treatment with saline solution (0.9% NaCl) and antimicrobials provided only temporary resolution of some of the abnormalities. Diagnosis was partly established by histologic evaluation of renal tissue obtained via an ultrasonographically guided biopsy and was confirmed at necropsy. Pathologic changes in the kidney were unique in that the size of the kidneys, along with the appearance and number of glomeruli, were essentially normal despite marked hypoplasia of nephron tubules in the medulla.
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PMID:Bilateral renal dysplasia with nephron hypoplasia in a foal. 236 27

An 8-year-old sexually intact male llama was euthanatized because of obstruction of the penile portion of the urethra and rupture of the urinary bladder. Clinical signs of obstruction included anorexia, lethargy, teeth grinding, straining to defecate, inability to urinate, and tense abdomen. Laboratory findings included anemia, leukocytosis with left shift, high serum urea nitrogen, creatinine, and phosphorus concentrations, and low serum chloride concentration. Necropsy revealed ruptured urinary bladder and acute fibrinous peritonitis. A firm, gray, nonmineralized urethral plug occluded the penile portion of the urethra for a distance of 14 cm in the midpenile region, distal to the sigmoid flexure of the penis. The urinary bladder mucosa and the urethra had microscopic evidence of chronic inflammation. Escherichia coli, Klebsiella sp, and alpha-streptococci were isolated from the urethral plug.
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PMID:Urethral obstruction in a male llama. 259 47

Neurological symptoms including lethargy, obtundation, and confusion are early and common findings in patients with sepsis. The etiology of the mental status changes that occur during severe infection is not known. We investigated the effects of sepsis on the levels of high-energy phosphates to determine whether decreased energy metabolism was a factor in the depressed neurological state. The time course of changes in brain pH and brain high-energy phosphate metabolites during an Escherichia coli infusion was determined from sequential phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance (31P-NMR) spectra of ketamine-xylazine-anesthetized rats. A second group of rats received 0.9% saline infusion and served as a control group. Despite severe obtundation and near loss of righting reflex, the rats in the septic group had no significant differences in the brain pH, the ratio of phosphocreatine (PCr) to beta-adenosine 5'-triphosphate (beta-ATP), or in the ratio of PCr to Pi. The only significant decrease in brain high-energy phosphates or pH occurred terminally in the septic rat group and corresponded with a rapidly falling arterial blood pressure. We conclude that the severe neurological depression that is characteristic of sepsis is not due to decreased levels of brain high-energy phosphates or brain acidosis.
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PMID:An in vivo examination of rat brain during sepsis with 31P-NMR spectroscopy. 261 Feb 45

A 7-year-old adult male ferret had progressive hair loss that was bilaterally symmetric. Also clinically evident were severe dehydration, polydipsia, muffled heart sounds, weak femoral pulses, hepatomegaly, lethargy, weakness, temporal muscular atrophy, dyspnea, and weakness. The blood profile of the ferret indicated profound leukopenia, eosinopenia, and high phosphorus, BUN, creatinine, and potassium concentrations, as well as high aspartate transaminase activity; the albumin concentration was low. The serum cortisol concentration was 8.1 micrograms/dl. Necropsy and histologic findings confirmed a diagnosis of hyperadrenocorticism, complicated by dilatative cardiomyopathy, chronic active hepatitis, and renal disease.
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PMID:Hyperadrenocorticism in a ferret. 365 2

In the United States, the drugs most commonly used to treat peptic ulcer disease are antacids and the H2-receptor antagonists cimetidine and ranitidine. Other available agents include anticholinergics and the coating agent sucralfate. Investigational drugs such as colloidal bismuth, carbenoxolone, prostaglandins, the tricyclic compound pirenzepine, and substituted benzimidazoles are not available for use in the United States. Most of the commercially available and investigational compounds have similar efficacy; therefore the optimal drug may be the one associated with the fewest adverse effects and the most convenient dosing regimen. Cimetidine causes a small number of adverse effects, including neuropsychiatric disorders, gynecomastia, impotence, loss of libido, elevation of serum creatinine and serum transaminases concentrations, and drug interactions. Some of these reactions have been of clinical significance. Presently, there are rare reports of gynecomastia, bradycardia, inhibition of acetylcholinesterase, headache, lethargy, diarrhea, and rash in patients receiving ranitidine. Antacids can produce either diarrhea or constipation and have been associated with low serum phosphorus concentrations, and metabolic alkalosis. Anticholinergics, especially in elderly or debilitated patients, can cause central nervous system disorders, intestinal atony, or urinary retention. Sucralfate may cause constipation, diarrhea, nausea, and headache. The investigational agents have their own side effect profiles. The adverse effects of anticholinergics make them unattractive therapeutic choices, and antacids and sucralfate have inconvenient dosing requirements compared with some equally efficacious alternatives. In addition, clinical experience with sucralfate in the United States is limited. The safety record of cimetidine is admirable. As clinical experience with ranitidine increases, currently unrecognized adverse effects may be reported. However, based on current data, ranitidine is as effective as cimetidine and is associated with a lower incidence of side effects.
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PMID:Problems associated with medical treatment of peptic ulcer disease. 609 62

Acute toxicosis developed in a group (n = 35) of fattening hogs and replacement gilts that had excessive vitamin D3 inadvertently added to their feed. All of the pigs were lethargic, and emesis was evident in about half of the pigs 1 to 2 days after they consumed the feed. On the 2nd day, 3 of the pigs died. The remaining pigs were given a different ration. Five additional pigs died during the next 2 weeks. Clinical toxicosis also was observed in 1 of 2 feeder pigs fed the suspect feed in the laboratory and in 2 of 2 pigs fed the suspect feed by the company that had mixed the feed. Gross necropsy findings consistently observed were hemorrhagic gastritis and diffuse interstitial pneumonia. Myocardial degeneration and nephrosis were seen in, respectively, 1 of 6 and 4 of 6 pigs necropsied. Histologically, necrosis and mineralization of variable severity were observed in the fundic gastric mucosa, lungs, kidneys, bone, heart, and small blood vessels of the lungs and heart. Less necrosis and more mineralization were observed in pigs that survived longer than 6 days. The 2 pigs fed the suspect feed in the laboratory had increased concentrations of serum calcium from the 3rd to the 9th days or the 1st to the 3rd days, after feeding the suspect feed. Serum phosphorus concentrations were increased from the 1st until the 2nd or 3rd day, and serum magnesium concentrations were increased from the 1st or 2nd to the 3rd day after feeding the suspect feed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Acute toxicosis in swine associated with excessive dietary intake of vitamin D. 632 15

The main purpose of this work was to study changes in the balance of fluids, electrolytes and blood metabolites in neonatal piglets with severe transmissible gastroenteritis. Six two day old conventional piglets were infected with transmissible gastroenteritis virus while six others were used as normal controls. Blood samples were collected in heparin when the infected piglets were moribund. The following variables were measured: packed red cell volume, total plasma protein and bicarbonate, blood pH, blood urea nitrogen and plasma glucose, creatinine, chloride, inorganic phosphorus, sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. Vomiting and diarrhea appeared 12 to 24 hours postinoculation in the infected piglets and they were moribund one or two days later. Before becoming moribund, most of the piglets fell rapidly into a lethargic and comatose state. The most evident changes in their blood variables were an increase in packed cell volume, total protein, blood urea nitrogen, phosphorus and magnesium levels and a decrease in pH and bicarbonate concentration as well as a severe hypoglycemia. The results suggest that severe hypoglycemia coupled with metabolic acidosis and dehydration might be an important factor contributing to the high mortality rates caused by transmissible gastroenteritis in neonatal piglets. The hypoglycemia results from a combination of the inadequate glucose metabolism inherent to neonatal piglets and the acute maldigestion and malabsorption resulting from the diffuse and severe villous atrophy induced by the virus.
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PMID:Hypoglycemia: a factor associated with low survival rate of neonatal piglets infected with transmissible gastroenteritis virus. 647 97

Clostridium botulinum can colonize and produce botulinal toxin in the human infant intestine, which the toxin then permeates to cause generalized flaccid paralysis, and occasionally, sudden death. This study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that toxins produced by other intestinal clostridia, e.g., C. difficile, might also cause systemic illness and sometimes death in infants (J Pediatr 100:568, 1982). Because this hypothesis could not be evaluated clinically until the systemic manifestations of C. difficile toxins in primates were known, infant rhesus monkeys were given 6 to 11 micrograms/kg of the recently purified C. difficile toxins A or B, either intravenously or intraperitoneally. The animals showed no abnormalities for several hours, but then developed lethargy, hypotonia, hypothermia, and, shortly before death, sudden elevation of serum concentrations of potassium, magnesium, and phosphorus and of enzymes that derived mainly from skeletal muscle, heart and brain. Five of six animals died quietly 3.5 to 8.0 hours after onset of symptoms. Death appeared to result from cessation of breathing, after which the sinus tachycardia then deteriorated to a flat ECG. Necropsy findings were insufficient to explain the cause of death. It appears that in infant monkeys microgram amounts of C. difficile toxins A and B can produce a rapid quiet death, the cause of which is undetectable at necropsy, a situation pathologically reminiscent of crib death in human infants, although the possible clinical identity of these two conditions has yet to be established.
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PMID:Rapid death of infant rhesus monkeys injected with Clostridium difficile toxins A and B: physiologic and pathologic basis. 669 Jun 74


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