PATHOGENETIC FACTORS IN EXPERIMENTAL BOVINE OESOPHAGOSTOMOSIS .4. EXUDATIVE ENTEROPATHY AS A CAUSE OF HYPOPROTEINEMIA

The loss of plasma protein by exudation into the large intestine of calves infected experimentally with Oesophagostomum radiatum was estimated with 51Cr-labeled plasma proteins, and averaged 40 gm per day. Nitrogen balances were determined concomitantly, and the fecal excretion of nitrogen by the infected animals exceeded that of pair-fed worm-free calves by amounts equivalent to those expected from the estimates of plasma protein leakage. When colloidal carbon was injected intravenously into infected and worm-free calves, carbon particles leaked from blood vessels in the cecal and colonie mucosa of infected calves only, and passed into the intestinal lumen. The daily removal of plasma from worm-free calves, in quantities similar to those leaking into the gut of infected calves, produced hypoproteinemia comparable to that found in infected animals. The results indicate that anorexia and intestinal leakage of plasma protein are the principal factors causing hypoproteinemia in calves infected with O. radiatum. © 1969.