فهرست مطالب roozbeh fallahi

Usually, the daily self-grooming by rabbits leads to fur accumulation in the animal’s stomach. Since rabbit hair is looser than other animals and constantly licks their body, the fur can be pulled out easily. On the other hand, rabbits are susceptible to urinary stone formation. 

This study was designed to investigate the presence of hairballs and urinary stones in Razi Institute Laboratory rabbits. 

During the 1 year, the albino Dutch laboratory rabbit colony, in research, breeding, and production of the Laboratory Animals Department of Razi Institute, including 106 males, 287 females, and 166 kittens, were monitored. After the necropsy of the selected animals, the gastrointestinal tract (stomach and intestines) were examined for the presence of hair and hairballs. Then the urinary system (kidneys, ureter, urinary bladder, and urethra) was examined for any urinary stones.

No symptoms of anorexia, lethargy, abdominal pain, weight loss, decrease and abnormal stools were observed in them, and also no mortality occurred in the whole colony. All samples’ stomach was full, indicating enough eating. No gas or congested spots, or hemorrhage were observed in the intestines. The amount and consistency of stool in the intestines were normal. In none of the samples, hairballs were observed, but in most rabbits’ stomachs (both sexes), a small amount of hair was observed in the stomach contents. Also, no symptoms of urinary stones were observed in the colony of the studied rabbits.

Balanced diet, supply of nutritional requirements, and the absence of any stressors in breeding environments have played a key role and prevented many diseases, such as hairballs and urinary stones. No observation of urinary stones in this study could lead to the hypothesis that infection with the bacteria that cause urinary stones in the studied rabbits was eliminated or non-pathogenic, indicating specific pathogen-free animals. However, bacterial and other infectious agent monitoring should be specialized.

In scientific research, the mouse has a special place and is considered as the first selective animal. Laboratory mice in biology, bacteriology, virology, pharmacology, physiology of diseases, the cell and cancer, nutrition, genetics, serum and vaccine preparation, biological products testing, pharmaceutical products testing, psychological studies, behavioral tests, anomalies testing, toxicology tests, nutritional supplements testing, space research, isotopes and radioactive materials, and many other topics are used. Since many experiments performed on laboratory mice, they need to be anesthetized for a variety of injection methods, blood collections, surgery, and so on. Therefore, the necessity of using appropriate anesthetic drugs and introducing various standard injections in this laboratory animal is necessary.

Change in sex ratio of some species such as rat due to the greater use of one sex is noted. The aim of this research was to investigate the effect of adding different levels of potassium citrate to water and feed on sex ratio of laboratory rats. Fifty female wistar rats and 25 males were randomly divided into 5 experimental groups and fed diets or water supplemented with different levels of potassium citrate from 20 days before to 10 days after mating. During the experiment period and 10 weeks after mating, weekly water and feed intake were measured and number of neonates and their gender were recorded. Potassium citrate increased percentage of male neonates in all the treated groups; but only the rates that dietary consumed three-fold higher than the potassium requirements showed significant difference compared to the control group and the sex ratio changed (P <0.05). The mean body weight in all treated rats was lower than the control group. Addition of potassium citrate to the diets and water caused 1.9 to 13.5% decrease in reproductive performance in the supplemented groups compared to the control group. Although potassium supplementation increased percentage of male rat neonates, because of the reduced reproductive performance of the colony and the reduction in body weight, the continuous administration of potassium in diet is not recommended; but, when it is required, potassium can be implemented during short period of time.

One of the most important and dangerous bacterial diseases in colonies of mice is rat bite fever. This disease can be transmitted to humans. According to international standards, in the event of a confrontation, control measures, combat and possibly eradication and remove the colony should be taken. The disease caused by Streptobacillus moniliformis bacteria. Symptoms of the disease in humans include high fever, chills, polyarthritis, and skin inflammation. So far, international standards for determining the infection of laboratory animals with this infectious agent have not been performed in Iran. In this study, the prevalence of this bacterium, in the colony of Razi Institute NIH Laboratory mice was studied in 1398. Number of 66 mice from a breeding colony were randomly selected and were examined by PCR method for presence of this bacterium. No positive samples were observed. According to the instructions used, it can be concluded that with 99.9% confidence, there was no infection with Streptobacillus monilioformis in breeding facilities. The result of this study shows that the observance of hygiene items in this center is done well. However, periodic and continuous monitoring of this bacterium and other important infectious agents should be performed.

In laboratory mice, barbering is done for a variety of reasons, such as nutritional deficiencies, response to stressors, or aggressive behavior. The aim of this study was to investigate hair disorder (barbering) in a colony of BALB/c mice in a breeding of laboratory animal center.

During the one-year period, BALB/c mice colony was examined for barbering disorder. The animals were apparently healthy and tested negative for external parasites, with no specific disease, and used standardized pellets of mice and water ad libitum.

In late July 1397, the barbering symptoms was observed in female mice that were confined to the head and face area in two cages of 6-8 week-old adult male and female colony. The environmental factors revealed that from 1-2 days before the onset of symptoms, the technical defect in the indoor air cooling system caused 4-6 °C increase and took 2 to 3 days to technical defect removing. Results of all external parasitic tests, bacterial and fungal cultures, were negative and no specific change in histopathological examination were reported. In addition, the maintained patient was improved completely in physical appearance after about one month and no symptoms were observed until the end of the period.

The study found that stressful environmental factors such as temperature rise in some susceptible strains such as BALB/c, can be effective in triggering barbering.

Full supply of the nutritional requirements of C57BL/6 mice plays an important role in preventing ulcerative dermatitis syndrome.

We conducted this work to asses ulcerative dermatitis in C57BL/6 mice colony and reduce it through dietary modification.

During a two-years period, a C57BL/6 mice colony in a laboratory animal breeding center was monitored for the presence of ulcerative dermatitis syndrome. In the first year, the animals were fed with outbred laboratory mice pellet and in the second year, the modified diet was used based on the nutritional requirements of this inbred mouse.

The average numbers of litters per parturition were 3 and 6 in the first year and the second year, respectively. The litter's mortality rate in the first year was 75 % and zero in the second year. The total number of mice remaining in the colony was 220 in the first year, which increased to 1100 in the next year. Syndrome symptoms were observed in the adult mice in the first year. Alopecia was observed mainly in the back and neck and the severity of the symptoms was mild to severe. No mortality was observed in the mice, even in severe cases, and their recovery was spontaneous, yet very slow. In the necropsy, axillary lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly, and hepatomegaly were observed. In histopathological samples taken from the skin lesions, the accumulation of inflammatory cells and the spongiosis of cornea cells were observed. In lymph nodes, spleen, and liver, pathological changes were observed from the accumulation of inflammatory cells to necrosis. In the second year, the number of cases reduced significantly to 2 %. The severity of the symptoms was mild and their recovery was faster than that in the previous year.

By fully supplying the nutritional requirements of C57BL/6 mice, we could significantly prevent the occurrence of ulcerative dermatitis syndrome.

The use of oncolytic viruses as therapeutic agents is a promising treatment for various human cancers. Several viruses have been extensively examined to achieve tumor cell death.

This study aimed at evaluating the natural oncolytic activity of mumps Hoshino vaccine strain against two human cancer cell lines, that is, HT1080 fibrosarcoma and HeLa cervical adenocarcinoma cell lines.

The cytolytic activity of the virus was evaluated using an MTT assay. Apoptosis was detected by Annexin-V/propidium iodide (PI) staining and analyzed via flow cytometry. To indicate viral replication in vivo, nude mice with HeLa heterografts were treated with the Hoshino strain of mumps virus.

It was found that human fibrosarcoma and cervical cells were more sensitive to the mumps Hoshino strain, even at a very low multiplicity of infection (MOI) compared to normal human diploid cells. The results also showed that the Hoshino strain induced apoptosis in both cancer cells. A preliminary in vivo study revealed the significant suppression of tumor growth in the group treated with the mumps Hoshino strain compared to the control group.

The Hoshino vaccine strain of mumps virus showed promising oncolytic activities against human fibrosarcoma and cervical adenocarcinoma cells.

The cell cultures, especially primary cultures, are widely used in the isolation and identification of viruses. Viruses are one of the most important causes of disease and can cause enormous economic damage. Also, they are used in basic research in cell physiology, genetics, and many other items. Primary cell cultures are also used in chromosomal research on karyotypes, morphology, and abnormal states of chromosomes. Primary cell culture preparation, such as bees that have not yet been derived from the cell line, is widely used in the isolation and identification of viruses. In the field of honey bee cell culture, the research in most countries is more limited than other insects but in recent years, good results have been achieved in this field. There are some good results about the larval and pupal stages of the honey bee primary culture in Iran. Since there are some reports about the influence of honey bee in viral investigation in Iran, this article introduces methods of bee cell culture preparation and the results obtained in Iran and other countries that can use to isolate viruses and study them when necessary.

Leptospira interrogans is the cause of leptospirosis, a common disease among humans and animals. One of the most important recommendations of international associations concerned with laboratory animals, is the use of defined animals. Based on the recommendation of the FELASA, the diagnostic monitoring is required to evaluate the contamination of animals to different microbial agents. In this study, the prevalence of this bacteria was investigated in a colony of NIH strain laboratory mice of laboratory animal breeding unit at the Razi Institute in 1396.74 adult mice (in the range of 30-35g and age 6-8 weeks) were randomly selected from both sexes in breeding colony and 6 wild mice were selected by means of live traps from the outside of facility. After ethical euthanasia and autopsy, samples were taken from their kidney tissues and after preparation, the PCR method was performed using Leptospira interrogans specific primers. Designing and preparing the positive control was carried out using plasmid (pGEM -T easy vector) transformation containing the pathogenic of Leptospira interrogans gene (LipL32) in E.coli for gene amplification and extraction. No positive cases were observed from the examined samples. According to FELASA instructions, it can be concluded that with 99.9% confidence, the Leptospira interrogans infection in breeding salons of Razi Institute NIH mice was discarded.

The animal health monitoring is required to issue health certificates. The viral hepatitis virus is one of the most important infectious agents in mice breeding colonies. This research used RT-PCR to identify contaminations to mouse hepatitis virus. 18 out of 29 specimens were found to be infected, a prevalence of 62%. PCR product was purified and sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the identified strain in this study was closely related to a strain reported from France. In the conventional system, contamination with different infectious agents is inevitable, thus it is better to replace the contaminated colonies with clean animals.

Mucosal viral infections cause the most important and the most difficult diseases. Every year there are numerous reports of mucosal diseases that cause huge damage to the country's livestock industry. Bovine Viral Diarrhea-Mocusal Disease, Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis, and Malignant Catarrhal Fever are the most important viral mucosal diseases of the bovine species. A study of the reported foci of these diseases over the last two decades indicates that epidemiological units, especially industrial livestock, are circulating annually and have inflicted economic damage on these units. Unfortunately, there has been no comprehensive study program on the strains producing the mentioned diseases in the country and the studies have been limited to the evaluation of serum assessments. In this study, while introducing and describing the mentioned diseases in Iran and other countries, the problems and limitations for their control are discussed and after determining the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, the SWOT method and related strategies are analyzed and introduced to disease control.

One of the important recommendations of laboratory animals related associations is the use of animals with defined microbial flora because the results of the work on them should be repeatable, reliable and generalizable. Therefore, animal health monitoring is mandatory for certification of their health status at animal breeding and production centers. Mouse hepatitis virus and theiler's encephalomyelitis virus are the most important recommended by FELASA that to examine them in the NIH Laboratory mice colony in this project. The research methods in this study was RT-PCR, using specific primers of the virus. Designing and preparing a positive control sample was carried out using plasmid transformation containing the most appropriate viral gene fragment in E.coli for amplification and extraction. The samples are collected from intestine (colon) containing feces and prepared by standard methods and RT-PCR was performed. The virus theiler's encephalomyelitis, number 13 out of 29 samples with prevalence of 45% among NIH mice were infected with the virus. PCR product was purified and sequenced. In a strain alignment study, it was compared with the eight other species obtained from the NCBI gene. In the phylogenic tree, the KX774639 0.15874 strain belonged to this research most closely related to M20562 from Austria and NC_001366 from England. Because the infection can not be transmitted to humans, immediate removal of the colony is unnecessary.

The cause of tyzzer's disease is Clostridium piliforme bacteria. Since the international standards on determination of contamination in laboratory animals in Iran It's not done.This study intends review the incidence of Clostridium piliforme infection in laboratory NIH mice colonies in a laboratory animals breeding center. 82 mice from a colony of breeding laboratory animals were randomly selected and were examined by indirect ELISA method for specific antibodies against Clostridium piliforme in serum. Also after necropsy the gastrointestinal were studied examined for symptoms of the disease. Of these, two positive cases were identified in ELISA and any symptoms of disease was not observed in necropsy. According to the FELASA instructions, it can be concluded with 99.9% confidence, the contamination with Clostridium piliforme in breeding facilities, much less than 10% (2.43%) in the NIH mice colony is obtained and is not need to remove the colony. However, should be considered carefully and be more sensitive to this bacteria in periodic testing.

Due to the numerous reports concerning the Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) in different regions of Iran, the isolation and genetic characterization of native isolates is very important. During 20132014, 168 samples were collected from whole blood, eye, nasal and oral swabs, and lymph nodes of sheep and goats with clinical signs in nine provinces with infected focal zones in Iran. Vero cell line and primary Lamb Kidney cells were inoculated with isolates and observed at least in 5 consecutive passages for cytopathic effects (CPE). The sheep samples from two provinces, created CPE in both kinds of cell cultures. Observation by electron microscopy and confirmation by RT-PCR was used to confirm PPR.

Trichosomoides crassicauda is a thin nematode in the urinary bladder and renal pelvis of rats and in some cases can cause urolithiasis and tumor. This parasitic infection may have been done adverse effect on the results of research works. Therefore the study of parasitic infection in breeding center is essential. In this research in a Wistar and Sprague-Dawley strains of rat colony number of 110 adult rats of both race and sex were randomly selected and were examined after autopsy. The histopathology of bladders and so lungs were done for presence of parasite larvae. In 60 examined Wistar rats, in the 54 (37 female and 17 male) and in 50 Sprague-Dawley rats, in the 43 (31 female and 12 male) parasitic infection was found. Immature worms separately and male and female adult worms were seen together. In the uterus of female worms, the eggs containing larvae were detected. In urinary bladder of 12 rats, the cyst were observed that after unpacking, debris of worms were visible.There were no evidence of tumors in various organs and in histopathology, in many cases, the body of the parasite in tissue sections and hyperplasia and wound was observed in the bladder wall. In the lungs and renal pelvis, there were no evidence of larvae and parasites.

The present study investigates and reports the effects of sudden salinity changes on short-term hematological and biochemical responses in Walton's mudskipper, Periophthalmus waltoni. For this purpose, mudskippers caught from coastal area of Persian Gulf (Bandar Khamir, Hormozgan Province, Iran) were acclimated and fed with frozen blood worms (Chironomus) for one month prior to the start of experiments. After acclimation, groups of 15 individuals were fully submerged in either dechlorinated tap water (fresh water; Group A), 50% seawater (SW) (17‰ salinity; Group B), or 100% SW (35‰ salinity; Group C) during a period of 24 hours. Fish which were free to be in or out of 50% SW served as controls. Statistical analysis showed a significant influence of salinity levels on erythrocyte, haemoglobin, haematocrit, leucocytes, lymphocytes, neutrophils, monocytes and on all biochemical parameters tested during the study. It seems that the changes recorded in haematological and biochemical parameters were the best strategy that the Walton's mudskipper has to adapt itself to an environment with different salinity levels.

Abortion in a dairy cattle herds is observed in breeding farms of most provinces of Iran, as little information is known about causative agents on these aborted exceptional for Brucella abortus so, seroepidemiological study was conducted in a dairy cattle herds with evidence of history of abortion that was in a breeding farms in nearby of a province of Iran .Blood samples from each animal was taken and seropositivity to infectious bovine rhinotracheitis,B. abortus , blue tongue virus,bovine viral diarrhea virus were determined . The most evidence for IBR (69.8 and 3.70 % ,P>0.05) followed by B.abortus (6.32 and 6.42% ,P>0.05), BVDV (9.3 and 6.4%, P>0.05) and BTV (4.7 and 6.4%, P>0.05), whereas, all the animals were seronegative to T. gondii where with respect to age , there was a significant difference (P

Serological diagnosis of infectious haematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) in tissues of kidney, spleen and liver of rainbow trofi(O.mykiss)fry. Design: Cross- sectional study. Animals:Ninty nine samples consisting of smears from kidney, spleen and liver were obtained from rainbow trout. Procedure: Kidney, spleen and liver from rainbow trout (O.mykiss) fry less than 3 g body weight obtained from some farmed rainbow trout of Tehran and Char mahal - va- Bakhtiari provinces. Indirect immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT) was undertaken using both polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies to IHNV to identify the IHNV antigens in the tissue samples.

Only eleven samples from the region of Char mahal - va - Bakhtiari were positive for IHNV using both monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies to IHNV.

Because of economic losses due to disease caused by IHNV in farmed rainbow trout, it is necessary to do a comprehensive screening test, virus isolation and evaluation of the pathogenicity of recovered virus.