M E S '9 8 - University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine

Pharmacokinetics of Troglitazone, a NewAnti-diabetic Agent in the CatDiabetes mellitus is an importantendocrine disease in the cat. About 50% ofdiabetic cats have the noninsulin-dependentform characterized by several metabolic alterations,most prominently hyperglycemiacaused by increased hepatic glucose output,increased gluconeogenesis, and hyperlipidemia.Currently, diabetic cats are treatedeither with insulin or the oral drug, glipizide.Both treatments are associated with problems.Cats have variable responses to insulin, andlarge fluctuations in glucose occur frequentlymaking insulin treatment a frustrating experiencefor the owner and dangerous for the cat.Glipizide treatment is not successful at all inmany cats or is successful only for a limitedtime period. Both lead to an increase in insulinconcentrations, which causes weight gain anddeterioration in the insulin resistant state. Thethiazolidinedione, troglitazone, has recentlybeen approved for the treatment of diabetes inpeople. This drug improves insulin resistance,hyperglycemia, and hyperinsulinemia in bothdiabetic and nondiabetic obese patients andleads to a normalization of the hyperlipidemia.This drug might also be valuable in the treatmentof the diabetic cat.To use troglitazone in the diabetic cat, weestablished pharmacokinetic parameters fortroglitazone by single dose intravenous andoral administration studies in healthy normoglycemiccats first. This information is necessarybefore troglitazone can be given to diabeticanimals.Margarethe Hoenig, Duncan C. Fergusonmhoenig@calc.vet.uga.eduThe Effect of Canine Distemper Virus onMouse Motor Neuron Viability andPhysiologyCanine distemper virus infects both petand wild canids producing severe disease ofthe immune, respiratory, gastrointestinal andnervous systems. Untreated animals that survivethe acute illness usually die from fatalencephalitis. The neuropathology produced byCDV is similar to that produced in MultipleSclerosis. In spite of this, little informationexists concerning the exact cellular mechanismsof this virus in the nervous system.Current control of the virus in the pet dog populationentails vaccination. In spite of thesecontrol measures, CDV is still a leading causeof infectious encephalitis in dogs. In Georgiaalone, CDV was second only to parvovirus inthe number of infectious disease cases reportedto the Georgia Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratoriesbetween 1993-1995 (420 cases/3 years).The reasons for continued existence of the diseaseinclude unvaccinated animals, vaccinefailure, persistence of the virus in wild canids,and the existence of an inadequately controlledroaming dog population. A study of CDV inthe gray fox population of the southeasternstates found that the disease occurred in 78%of the dead or sick foxes studied. It is noteworthythat 75% of the animals were fromGeorgia. In addition, CDV infection has alsobeen reported in coyotes in Georgia and SouthCarolina. Therefore, it is likely that CDV willcontinue to be a significant threat to domesticcanids and wildlife in Georgia. This warrantsadditional research in understanding its mechanismsof action at the cellular level, as well asthe development of more effective treatmentand control measures. The objective of the currentstudy is to develop an in vitro model systemthat can be used to study the action ofCDV at the cellular level. Currently, we areusing mouse spinal cord tissue to grow motorneurons in cell culture, and electrical recordingsto measure the activity of these cellsbefore and after infection with CDV, in aneffort to better understand the cellular actionof CDV.Julie A. Coffieldcoffield@calc.vet.uga.edu22Dr. Gina Michels performs a physical examinationon a diabetic cat.Assisted Reproductive Techniques for theTreatment of Canine InfertilityDue to the increasing numbers of valuablecanine patients being seen by the VeterinaryMedical Teaching Hospital for reproductiveproblems, this research has been undertaken toprovide new clinical therapeutic modalities formany of these otherwise untreatable diseases.Although assisted reproduction rarely offers acure, it does allow for the procreation of valuedbut otherwise sterile patients. The followingis a summary of the canine specific