Iranian Journal of Veterinary Medicine
Year:2010 | Volume:4 | Issue:3|Papers Count:16

This survey aimed to evaluate the level of lead (Pb) pollution in cattle in the vicinity of the Shiraz oil and petrochemical industries using hair samples. Dairy farms located within 10 km of the Shiraz oil and petrochemical industries were identified and divided into four groups. Farms that were located in the radial zones of 0.5-1.5 km, 1.5-5 km, 5-7 km, 7-10.5 km were considered as groups A, B, C and D, respectively. Fifteen cattle from a farm that was located far from the polluting areas comprised the control group (E). Head hair samples were collected from fifteen age-matched cows from each of the five groups in each season round year. Cattle that were located closer to the oil and petrochemical industries had higher hair Pb concentration. In all groups, the hair lead concentrations of cattle that were reared near to the oil industry were significantly higher than of those reared in the region of the petrochemical industry (p<0.05); and showed pollution factors of about two folds when groups in the same distances of oil and petrochemical industries were compared. In this study, there was a declining trend in hair lead concentration from spring to winter from 8.3 to 2.6 ppm and from 4 to 2.2 ppm in cows located near to the oil and petrochemical industry plants, respectively.

The aim of this study was to isolate, identify and determine the antimicrobial susceptibility of Clostridium perfringens (CP) isolates from acute necrotic enteritis of broiler chickens. All broiler carcasses diagnosed as necrotic enteritis (NE) were sampled, subjected to microbial tests and 40 isolates were identified according to standard procedures. The antimicrobial susceptibility of CP isolates to 20 antibacterial agents was then determined. The results show widespread resistance among CP isolates. The most frequent resistance was observed to neomycin sulfate (87.5%), and then to lincomycin and tetracycline (both 80%). No isolate was resistant to chloramphenicol and the least frequency of resistance was observed to vancomycin (10%), sulfamethoxazole + trimethoprim (17.5%), and penicillin (20%). All isolates were multiple drug resistant types. There were 39 resistant patterns among the CP isolates, 95% of which were distributed in 38 resistant patterns. These multiple and variable resistance patterns observed among the CP isolates, even among different isolates from one farm, demonstrate a challenge for veterinarians in the field to choose the correct compound to combat the occurrence of NE.

Aloe vera is well-known for its pharmacological and nutritional properties. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of A. vera gel extracts on the secretion and cell content of triglyceride (TG) and cholesterol (TC) in HepG2 cells and their short-term effects on the dietary hyperlipidemic guinea pig model. The effects of increasing concentrations of A. vera crude gel and its alcoholic and hydro-extract were compared to HepG2 cells in both basal and TG induced conditions with 20 mM glucose for 24 h. In addition, 24 male guinea pigs were randomly separated into six experimental groups as follows: control, hyperlipidemic control, levostatin control and A. vera receiving groups (fed with lipid-rich diet supplemented with A. vera crude gel, alcoholic or hydro-extracts of A. vera gel). Treatments were carried out for 10 d TG and TC levels were measured in both collected fluid (sera and media) and extracted tissue (HepG2 and liver) Although basal and stimulated conditions of crude gel and its hydro-extract decreased the secretion and cell content of TG, compared to the control (p<0.05). This pattern was not seen with the alcoholic extract. Furthermore, A. vera did not have any effect on the serum or liver contents of TG or TC. Our results suggest that A. vera could be a beneficial supplement to modulate the levels of TG and TC. However, it does not appear to be a short-term lipid modulator for hyperlipidemia.

Exogenous nitric oxide donors such as DETA NONOate, spontaneously release nitric oxide. This study aimed to investigate the effect of DETA NONOate as a nitric oxide releasing drug on the rate of collagen synthesis during the impaired wound healing in a rat model of diabetes. Twelve male Sprague–Dawley rats were transferred into separate metabolic cages. Nine days before wounding, the rats were injected intraperitoneally with streptozotocin (STZ, 55 mg/kg body weight in citrate buffer 0.1 mol/L, pH 4.5) to induce diabetes. The dorsal surface of each rat was properly shaved and a full thickness dermal wound was made. The test group (n=6) was treated with 100 mM DETA NONOate in phosphate buffer while the control wounds (n=6) received sterile saline (PBS) only on the same day as wounding and every three days for one week. After the skin incision, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) sponges were implanted subcutaneously on the dorsal of each animal under sterile conditions for the collection of wound fluid. Electrophoresis (current: 20 mA) was performed on the wound fluid. The gel was stained with Coomassie blue G-250, destained, and photographed. DETA NONOate treatment increased the rate of collagen synthesis in the diabetic test group compared to the control group. The nitric oxide donor, DETA NONOate, may represent a potential treatment for impaired wound healing in diabetes by increasing the collagen synthesis at the wound site.

The objective of the present study was to determine whether there was an association between the in vitro antimicrobial susceptibility test results of subclinical mastitis pathogens and bacteriological outcomes of intramammary treatments using cefquinome. A total of 110 intramammary pathogens from 51 cows were assessed in this study. Most intramammary infections were due to coagulase-negative staphylococci, environmental streptococci, and coliforms. The antimicrobial susceptibility to cefquinome was determined using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. Bacteriological cure rates for the sensitive, intermediate, and resistant isolates in the standard treatment group (three intramammary infusions of 75 mg cefquinome at 16 h intervals) were 82.4%, 90%, and 87.5%, respectively. These figures in the extended treatment group (six intramammary infusions of 75 mg cefquinome at 16 h intervals) were 83.3%, 100%, and 100%, respectively. Treatment outcomes were not associated with the results of sensitivity tests in the standard group. However, in the extended group, the probability of a bacteriological cure was lower in quarters from which cefquinome-sensitive pathogens were isolated than the quarters from which intermediate or resistant pathogens were isolated. Based on this study, the Kirby-Bauer susceptibility test result is a poor predictor for the bacteriological cure of subclinical mastitis treated with intramammary cefquinome.

The aim of this study was to isolate and identify airborne fungi from locations in Babol city, Babolkenar forest and a beach on the Caspian Sea (all in North part of Iran) in spring and summer. Of 126 samples collected, the most clinically important isolated fungi were Mucor spp. (18.6%) in the forest, Alternaria spp. (13.4%) at the beach, and Cladophialophora spp. (15.8%), Mucor spp. (11.7%) and Alternaria spp. (10.6%) in the urban areas. Non-sporulating fungal isolates were grouped in Mycelia sterilia. The concentration of air spora in the forest location was significantly greater than the other locations (p<0.05). In this study, the highest quantities of isolated fungi were found in the summer. The results showed that Alternaria spp., Cladophialophora spp. and Mucor spp. were the most predominant fungi isolated in the different locations. Since some allergenic fungi have been shown to play a role in the appearance of clinical signs in allergic conditions, the results of this study can be used by physicians and veterinarians for the diagnosis and treatment of allergies.

This study was carried out to determine the prevalence and type of renal lesions in cattle that were slaughtered at the Ghaem (Shahriar) and Ziaran (Ghazvin) abattoirs. A total number of 405 clinically normal cattle were randomly selected and renal samples were taken for histopathological study. The cattle were divided into two groups according to sex, and female groups were divided into two age groups (heifer and cow). Thirty-five (8.6%) out of the studied animals had renal lesions including interstitial nephritis, cysts, glomerolonephritis, acute tubular necrosis (ATN), pyelonephritis, amyloidosis, leukosis hydronephrosis and unilateral renal aplasia. Interstitial nephritis was the most common observed lesion (85.7%). The prevalence of renal lesions in female and male cattle were 8.5% and 9.4%, respectively, which was not a statistically significant difference. The prevalence of renal lesions in cows and heifers were 10% and 2.8%, respectively (p<0.05). It is concluded that age is more important influence factor on renal lesion than sex.

Understanding the distributions of poultry diseases will help planning for disease control and prevention more effectively. Studies on poultry diseases in Iran are scarce. We investigated the incidence of mortality in broiler chicken flocks in Iran as part of a national project. Specifically, documents from September 2004 to November 2005 related to the mortality of broilers that were covered by the national insurance scheme were analyzed retrospectively. Of the 439,188,406 broiler chickens that were covered by insurance services, 188,680,459 chickens were exposed to different diseases. The most common diseases (in descending order) were infectious bursal disease (IBD), infectious bronchitis (IB), chronic respiratory disease (CRD), colibacillosis and avian influenza (AI, subtype H9N2). The mean mortality rate in broilers was 7.89%. Mortality rates were higher during chicks between the third to sixth weeks of age. AI (H9N2) produced the highest mean mortality rate of 26.1%, followed by IB with a mean mortality rate of 22.1%. Most of the mortalities were recorded from the southern provinces of Iran. The distributions of diseases were differed in different regions which could be related to regional conditions and management parameters.

Rapid spreading of the low pathogenic avian influenza virus (AIV) caused by the H9N2 subtype and the highly pathogenic AIV caused by H5N1 have caused serious economic losses in the poultry industries of Asia. Therefore, the early detection of AIVs is crucial for the control of the disease. In the present study, the applicability of a rapid immunochromatographic (RIC) assay, which specifically detected type A antigens of AIVs, was evaluated. This assay detected H9N2 viruses at 103.2 ELD50/ml and H5, H7 and H9 antigens at 128 HA titers, but did not react with other respiratory viruses. The assessment of cloacal swab samples prepared from 1 to 10 d post-inoculation (PI) revealed that the first positive samples were detectable on day 2 and 3 PI, and the last positive samples were detectable on day 10  and 9 PI,  by the virus isolation (VI) and RIC assays, respectively. Collectively, the relative specificity, sensitivity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, accuracy and correlation rate of the RIC and VI assays, were 100%, 71.5%, 100%, 78.5%, 0.86, and 0.98, respectively. There was also a good correlation (K>0.81) between the results of the haemagglutination (HI), VI and RIC assays of cloacal/tracheal swab samples that were obtained from broiler flocks involved with viral respiratory diseases. Overall, RIC showed a low sensitivity and high specificity for the rapid diagnosis of H9N2 isolates in both experimental and clinical infections.

In this study, the immunostimulatory effect of dietary Aloe vera crude extract was investigated in Cyprinus carpio. Three hundred fish were randomly divided into four groups. The first group was immunized with Aeromonas hydrophila bacterin (A.h) and was fed a diet contained 0.5% Aloe vera. The second group was immunized with A.h and fed a diet without Aloe vera. The third group was not immunized and fed with a diet that contained 0.5% Aloe vera. The fourth group remained as the control group and was neither immunized nor fed with Aloe vera supplements. Blood samples were taken every 14 d for eight weeks and samples were analyzed for hematological and immunological parameters. White blood count (WBC), red blood count (RBC), packed cell volume (PCV), lysozyme activity, serum bactericidal activity, complement activity, total protein, IgM concentration and specific A. hydrophila antibody were assessed. At the end of treatment, 20 fish from each group were challenged with A. hydrophila. WBC value, antibody level, lysozyme and bactericidal activity were significantly increased in the serum of fish treated with Aloe vera (p<0.05). No significant differences were seen in the RBC, PCV or complement activity among the groups. The relative percent survival (RPS) was found to be increased in fish fed with Aloe vera. This study indicates that the oral administration of Aloe vera is able to enhance some specific and non-specific immune responses in the common carp.

At present, a great deal of attention is being focused on the tortoise as a domestic pet. Knowledge of the blood biochemical parameters in captivity of this animal would be helpful for evaluations of their health. In this regard, the serum biochemical values were measured in 12 Asian tortoises (6 males and 6 females) before hibernation. Serum values of total protein (TOP) 63.19±7.57 g/L, Albumin (Alb) 47.24±10.66 g/L, creatinine (Crea) 57.4±4.68 mmmol/L, glucose (Glc) 81.46±21.88 mmol/L, urea 7.52±2.74 mmol/L, uric acid  (UA) 0.11±0.028 mmol/L, aspartate transaminase (AST) 0.46±0.017 µkal/L, alanine transaminase (ALT) 0.44±0.053 mkal/L, amylase 1,157±33.96 mkal/L, calcium (Ca) 2.74±0.65 mmol/L, magnesium (Mg) 1.98±0.24 mmol/L, and inorganic phosphorus (P) 1.26±0.101 mmol/L were determined respectively. There were no significant differences in TOP, Alb, Glc, Crea, urea, UA, AST, ALT, amylase, Ca and P, and also Mg levels between males and females.

Outbreaks causing mass mortalities have been observed in the golden grey mullet (Liza auratus) population in southern coastal area of the Caspian Sea since 2002. The clinical signs include neurological abnormalities, such as erratic swimming behavior, spiral swimming, belly-up at rest and over inflation of the swim bladder. Three hundred and twelve samples of moribund fish with sizes that ranged from 15-26 cm showing abdominal enlargement were collected from 2006-2008. No pathogenic bacteria and parasite were found. The observed histopathological changes in 29 fish were necrosis and vacuolation of the brain, optic nerve and retina. Cytopathological effects of nodavirus characterized by vacuolation were observed in the SSN-1 cell line at 25oC, 5 d after inoculation with the filtered supernatant of the brain and eye of four affected fish. The recovered virus from cell line exhibited 104 TCID50 per mL when titrated. Indirect immunoflorescent antibody test showed nodavirus antigens in the retina and positive-CPE SSN-1 cells. Also, a RT-PCR product of approximately 289 bp was amplified from the brain and retina of the 23 samples, including the SSN-1 positive samples. This is the first report of the isolation and characterization of nodavirus from golden grey mullet from the Caspian Sea and, therefore, possible infections in other valuable species of the Caspian Sea warrant further studies.