Veterinary Research Forum
Volume:9 Issue: 2, Spring 2018

Ultrasonography is an accurate and accessible method for detecting polycystic kidney disease (PKD), an inherited autosomal dominant disease, and other urinary tract diseases. The present work is a preliminary study of PKD and urinary tract abnormalities using ultrasonography in Persian and other long hair cats in Iran. This study was conducted on 83 cats including 68 Persian cats and 15 Persian related cats from December 2013 to March 2015. The age of cats ranged 3 to 72 months. Cats were classified as PKD-positive when at least one renal cyst was observed. Other urinary system abnormalities were recorded ultrasono-graphically. Association of personal and nutritional characteristics with PKD and other urinary tract disease detected by ultrasonography was statistically analyzed. The prevalence of PKD among Persian cats and in the total population was 33.80% and 31.30%, respectively. PKD was more prevalent among male cats compared to those in female cats. PKD occurrence was significantly more among cats fed by commercial dry foods compared to those fed by homemade foods. There was no significant association between PKD and age, hair color, eye color, related clinical signs and other kidney abnormalities in ultrasonographic findings. The prevalence of renal calculi, urine sediments and bladder calculus were 2.40%, 32.80% and 3.60%, respectively. Urine sediments were significantly raised with increasing age. Screening program is essential for on-time diagnosis of PKD and to plan therapeutic management and control of the disease.

Chitosan bears numerous properties, such as biocompatibility, biodegradability and non-toxicity making it suitable for use in different biomedical fields. Zinc (Zn) is required for fibroblasts proliferation and collagen synthesis as essential elements of wound healing. Its nanoparticles are well known for their capability to enhance wound healing by cell adhesion and migration improvement through growth factors-mediated mechanisms. Poor blood supply and unique histological characteristics of tendon make its regeneration always slow. Also, adhesion formation between tendon and its surrounding tissues is another problem for neotendon to return to its normal structure and functional activities. In this study, a novel tubular scaffold of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles loaded chitosan has been fabricated for tendon repair. Experimental complete tenotomy of deep digital flexor tendon in a rabbit model was done and scaffolds were placed in the transected area after two ends suturing. After four and eight weeks, adhesion formation around the tendons and tissue reaction to the scaffolds were evaluated macroscopically. Inflammation, angiogenesis and collagen fibers arrangement were also analyzed in histopathological evaluations. After eight weeks, the scaffolds were absorbed completely, adhesions around the tendon were decreased and there was no sign of significant tissue reaction and/or infection in histopathological analyses. The reduced adhesion formation, improved gliding function and better histopathological characteristics suggest this scaffold application as a potential therapy in treatment of tendon acute injuries.

The purpose of the present study was to isolate and identify the pathogenic agents in Acipenser stellatus (Pallas, 1771) and Huso huso, (Linnaeus, 1758) reared in the south of Fars province, Iran which have shown infectious disease signs. Samples from spleen and kidney of 32 fishes showing septicemia symptoms such as decreasing of appetite, unbalanced swimming, expanded wounds, and petechia on the body surfaces, pectoral fins rot, visceral hemorrhage, bleeding on the spleen, and heart ascites were collected. Then samples were cultured on brain heart infusion agar growth media, stain and biological and biochemical tests on purified bacteria were performed. On the other hand, 16S rDNA region of the isolated organism was amplified using PCR. The amplified gene fragment was sequenced and evolutionary history was inferred by phylogenetic tree construction using neighbor-joining method. Results indicated that two bacterial species including Chryseobacterium joostei which isolated from the kidney of stellate sturgeon (43.00%), and Aeromonas veronii which isolated from the spleen of both sturgeon species (75.00% and 31.00% from beluga and stellate sturgeon, respectively), were recognized. Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that Fars isolated organisms including A. veronii and C. joostei had highest similarity with A. veronii bv veronii and C. joostei isolated from France, respectively.

Immune system plays crucial role in body and lymph nodes are essential parts of this system for combating pathogens. However, no study has ever been conducted on morphometric development of sheep lymph nodes in fetal period. Thus, this study attempted to examine the morphometric characteristics of a number of important lymph nodes of some lymphocenters of sheep during fetal period. To this end, 60 pieces of sheep fetuses collected from Ahvaz slaughterhouse were fixated in 10% formalin and then divided into four categories based on crown-rump length (CRL) following gender and weight determinations. Mandibular, caudal superficial cervical (prescapular), caudal mediastinum, jejunal mesenteric and popliteal lymph nodes were evaluated in five lymphocenters of head, neck, thoracic cavity, abdominal viscera and pelvic limbs, respectively. In each sample, nodes formation was visually checked and in cases of nodes formation, they were measured in terms of weight, length, width and thickness and collected data were statistically analyzed. The longest and shortest fetal CRLs were found to be 48.50 cm and 3.50 cm, respectively. Gender had no effect on study parameters in 32 male and 28 female fetuses. Study of sheep fetuses’ lymph nodes revealed no macroscopic lymph node development by day 45, while all nodes were observable after the day 59. The shortest lymph node was mandibular node and the longest one was caudal mediastinum. Based on the results, it seemed that although the size of lymph nodes grows by age, this increase is not the same for all nodes and groups.

Myocardial infarction is commonly considered as a leading cause of cardiovascular disease taking the lives of seven million people annually. Liver dysfunction is associated with cardiac diseases. The profile of abnormal liver functions in heart failure is not clearly defined. This study was designed to investigate the protective effects of betaine on liver injury after myocardial infarction induced by isoprenaline in rats. Forty-eight male rats were divided into four groups: the control group received normal diet and the experimental groups received 50, 150, and 250 mg kg-1 body weight of betaine daily through gastric gavages for 60 days. All of experimental and control groups experienced myocardial infarction, induced by subcutaneous injection of 100 mg kg-1 isoprenaline in two consecutive doses )8:00 AM to 8:00 PM). Liver enzymes including aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) were significantly reduced in the groups treated with betaine, compared with the control group. The total antioxidant capacity in the experimental groups, treated with betaine, showed a significant increase, compared with the control group. In the control group, severe lesions were created in the liver tissue, while degenerative changes of liver tissue significantly reduced in groups treated with different doses of betaine, showing the repair of liver tissue. Betaine decreased apoptosis in the experimental groups in comparison with the control group. Betaine showed a protective effect against biochemical and histological changes in liver tissue caused by the induction of myocardial infarction via isoprenaline injection.

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of intramuscular injection of medetomidine on intra-renal arteriesresistive and pulsatility indices by duplex Doppler ultrasonographyin clinically normal adult domestic shorthair cats. For this purpose, twenty-six neutered adult healthy domestic shorthair cats (13 females and 13 males) were evaluated. B-mode, color Doppler and pulsed wave Doppler ultrasonography of right and left kidneys were performed to record the resistive index (RI) and pulsatility index (PI) of intra-renal arteries. To minimize statistical errors, the mean RI and PI were determined for each kidney by averaging three waveforms from the intra-renal arteries. Twenty-four hr later, the cats were sedated by 0.04 mg kg-1 intramuscular administration of medetomidine. All the Doppler measurements were repeated 15 min after drug administration. Mean ± standard deviation )SD( of PI and RI of the intra-renal arteries before administration of intramuscular medetomidine were 1.03 ± 0.08 and 0.61 ± 0.02, respectively. Fifteen min after medetomidine administration, the mean ± SD of PI and RI values were 1.04 ± 0.08 and 0.61 ± 0.02, respectively. Significant differences were not detected in mean PI and RI values before and 15 min after drug administration. Our findings showed that intramuscular administration of medetomidine does not cause significant hemodynamic changes in the intra-renal arteries after 15 min.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of ovarian tissue vitrification and two-step in vitro culture on the metaphase II (MII) oocyte reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) expression and succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity. After collection of neonatal mouse ovaries, 45 ovaries were vitrified and the others (n = 45) were considered as control. All ovaries were cultured for seven days, and their isolated preantral follicles were cultured in three-dimensional culture system. After 12 days in vitro culture, the follicular development and oocyte maturation were evaluated and compared in vitrified and non-vitrified ovaries. The collected MII oocytes were inseminated with capacitated spermatozoa. The fertilization, embryonic development, ROS level, TFAM gene expression and SDH activity of oocytes were assessed and compared. There was no significant difference between morphology and percentage of normal follicles between vitrified and non-vitrified ovaries at the beginning of culture. The follicular development and hormone level in the vitrified group was significantly lower than non-vitrified group and the ROS concentration in the vitrified group was significantly higher than non-vitrified group after one-week organ culture. After follicular culture, there was no significant difference in follicular development, oocyte maturation, fertilization rate, TFAM gene expression, ROS level and mitochondrial SDH activity between vitrified and non-vitrified groups. This study showed that mouse ovarian tissue vitrification influenced the follicular development through increase in ROS level during organ culture but these harmful effects of vitrification method may be recovered during the follicular culture period. Thus, vitrification and ovarian organ culture method should be improved.

Beef is susceptible to rapid spoilage due to its high amount of protein (18.00%) and moisture (72.00%). Food industries have recently found methods to extend beef shelf-life. The influence of beef dipping in hydro-alcoholic extract of sumac (SE) and chitosan (CH) coating incorporated with Zataria multiflora essential oil (ZEO) on microbial, chemical and sensory quality of beef was evaluated during refrigerated storage. Total viable counts (TVC), lactic acid bacteria, Pseudomonas spp., Enterobacteriaceae and yeasts-molds, total volatile nitrogen (TVN), thiobarbituric acid reactive substance values (TBARS) and peroxide value (PV) were founded to be significantly lower in all treatment groups compare to control groups during storage time.The highest level of antimicrobial effects induced by chitosan, SE 4.00% and ZEO. We found that in TVC (3.69 log CFU g-1 reduction compared with control group (sterile distilled water), Enterobacteriaceae (3.61 log CFU g-1 reduction) and lactic acid bacteria (2.67 log CFU g-1 reduction), respectively. Sumac gave a pleasant effect on sensory attributes and chitosan coating enriched with ZEO significantly improved sensory scores except for flavor factor. The results revealed the bio preservative properties of chitosan, hydro-alcoholic extract of sumac and Z. multiflora Boiss essential oil during refrigeration in normal packaging of beef.

Monogenea is one of the most species-rich groups of parasitic flatworms worldwide with many species described from African freshwater fish. Little is known about the diversity and geographic distribution of monogenean parasites infesting the Red Sea fishes in Egypt. In the present study, a total of 45 specimens of the brushtooth lizardfish Saurida undosquamis (family: Synodontidae) and 35 specimens of the red porgy seabream Pagrus pagrus (family: Sparidae) was examined for monogenean infestation. Samples were collected from water locations at Hurghada coasts along the Red Sea in Egypt. Two different species were recovered. The first recorded parasite was Diclidophora merlangi infesting the lizardfish. This parasite was morphologically similar to the original description for the general body shape, size, shape and arrangement of the clamps and reproduction organs and the number of spines in the lateral groups of the genital atrium, but is distinguished in the host fish which is of a different genus. The second species was Loxuroides pricei. The morphological and quantitative data of the isolated specimens and the potential reproductive consequences supported their assignment to L. pricei than to the other congeneric species.This parasite can be separated from the morphologically similar L. sasikala through having a shorter distance from the anterior extremity to genital atrium or vaginal region, fewer testes and a slightly greater number of spines on cirrus and genital atrium. The two species represented new host and locality records from the Red Sea in Egypt.

This study was aimed to investigate the effects of 17 𝛽-estradiol (E2) and 𝛼-zearalenol (α-ZOL) on motility parameters, plasma membrane integrity, levels of produced nitric oxide (NO) and total antioxidant capacity of Ghezel ram sperm during the liquid storage at 4 ˚C, for various periods of time. Semen samples were collected from four rams and diluted with Tris–egg yolk extender and supplemented with E2 (100 µmol) or different concentrations of α-ZOL (100 pmol, 100 nmol and 100 µmol) at a final concentration of 200 × 106 sperm per mL. We failed to show any significant effect of E2 at 100 µmol concentration on ram’s sperm parameters while α-ZOL resulted in a significant decrease of plasma membrane integrity at 100 µmol concentration (55.40% for α-ZOL vs 62.20% for control) after 96 hr incubation. Alpha-ZOL had decreasing effect on sperm motility parameters including curvilinear velocity and average path velocity at 100 µmol concentration after 96 hr storage. Although remarkable reduction of total antioxidant capacity at high concentration of α-ZOL and long incubation time was found, however no significant changes were recorded in NO level during storage time. It was concluded that the detrimental effect of α-ZOL on ram sperm might be attributed to its induced oxidative stress and damage to the plasma membrane.

Bulk tank somatic cell count (BTSCC) is a gold standard test for identification of milk quality, but its results are influenced by several interventional factors. Recently, application of acute phase proteins and especially milk amyloid A (MMA) has been considered as accurate parameters for milk quality study. The current research was done to evaluate the accuracy of MMA, BTSCC, fat, protein and lactose for identification of milk quality. Ninety bulk tank milk samples were collected from 30 randomly selected dairy herds and classified into two groups of samples with BTSSC > 200000 cells per mL and those with BTSSC

Operation on the thoraco-abdominal aorta may lead to paraplegia or paraparesis is after spinal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. In this study, we investigated the protective effect of the spinach extract on spinal cord I/R injury. Thirty-five male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups: Intact, sham surgery, normal saline (NS), low dose spinach extract (20 mg kg-1), high dose spinach extract (50 mg kg-1). Neurological function, biochemical and histological evaluations were performed in 72 hr after ischemia. The mean motor deficit index scores of the spinach extract groups were significantly lower than in the NS group at 72hr after spinal cord ischemia. In addition, Spinach extract groups significantly increased plasma level of total antioxidative capacity and decreased the plasma level of malondialdehyde than the NS group. The spinach extract groups displayed a significantly large number of normal motor neurons compared with the NS group. In conclusion, the present study showed that the spinach extract may preserve more neurons in a rat model of spinal cord I/R injury.

Two trials were conducted to investigate the effects of disodium fumarate (DSF; 0.00, 8.00, 10.00 and 12.00 mM) and thyme essential oil (TEO; 0.00, 100.00, 200.00, 300.00 and 400.00 µL L-1) solely and simultaneously (10.00 mM DSF along with 100.00, 200.00, 300.00 and 400 µL L-1 TEO) on in vitro ruminal fermentation of a 50:50 alfalfa hay to concentrate diet. The DSF and TEO did not affect crude protein disappearance, gas production, microbial crude protein synthesis and hydrogen recovery. The DSF addition linearly increased partitioning factor (PF) and molar proportion of propionate and decreased acetate: propionate ratio and methane production. Moreover, 100.00 µL L-1 of TEO decreased ammonia nitrogen, total volatile fatty acids concentration and methane production and increased PF compared to the control. Results of the present study demonstrated that simultaneous use of DSF and TEO can cause a further decrease in methane production and linearly increase in the molar proportion of propionate and efficiency of feed use compared to DSF and TEO solely.

Feline lower urinary tract diseases are known to be life threatening conditions in cats, especially when they occur as obstructive diseases in males. Early diagnosis and treatment is necessary, otherwise it may lead to death. A 3-year-old male Persian cat was referred to the clinic with a history of anuria, lethargy, loss of appetite and exploratory cystotomy 6 months ago due to urethral obstruction following urolithiasis. Urinary bladder was enlarged and painful on palpation and urine accumulation was observed in ultrasonography. Biochemical and hematological analyses revealed hypocalcemia, hyperphosphatemia and hyperkalemia and increase in blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, white blood cell (WBC), red blood cell (RBC) and hematocrit. Urine analysis showed a turbid appearance, protein 1, blood 3, pH reduction, increased WBCs and RBCs and presence of bacteria, calcium oxalate crystals and epithelial cells. Urine culture reveled Staphylococcus saprophyticus. Postoperatively, microscopic examinations of the urinary bladder biopsy showed pathological lesions of bacterial cystitis. Based on these findings, bacterial cystitis and urethral obstruction due to post-operative urinary tract infections were diagnosed. For treatment, electrolyte imbalances were corrected firstly, cystotomy was performed and a catheter was conducted into the urethra; then, urethra was flushed and obstruction was resolved. Ampicillin was effective in reducing the bacterial count in urine. Despite the fact that cystotomy is a common procedure in veterinary medicine, clinicians should be aware of its complications such as post-operative urinary tract infections.