IRANIAN JOURNAL OF VETERINARY RESEARCH (IJVR)
Year:2009 | Volume:10 | Issue:1 (26)|Papers Count:23

Most studies regarding the marrow-derived equine mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have mainly focused on the cell transplantation without considering the capacity of differentiation and in vitro requirements of the cells. These concerns were investigated in the present study. Equine MSCs were isolated from the sterna marrow aspirates and expanded through two successive subcultures. Passage-2 equine MSC cultures were then treated with appropriate supplements in order to examine the cell osteogenic, chondrogenic and adipogenic differentiation potential. Furthermore, the culture of the cells was investigated in terms of the optimal concentration of fetal bovine serum (FBS) and the initial cell-seeding density. Additionally, a growth curve was plotted for the cells to study their growth characteristics. According to our findings, equine MSCs were easily generated specialized bone, cartilage and adipose cell lineages as confirmed by specific staining and RT-PCR analysis. Moreover, the cells exhibited rapid expansion when being cultivated in the medium with 15% FBS at 100 cells/cm2. Growth curves indicated that these cells rapidly entered the log phase after a brief lag (adaptation) period. In summary, marrow-derived equine MSCs possess tripotent differentiation capacity and rapid growth rate in the appropriate culture conditions.

Widespread occurrence of H9N2 low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) viruses in many Asian countries during the past decade has resulted in the need for evaluation of the pathogenesis of H9N2 virus infection. In this study, tissue tropism and dissemination of A/Chicken/Iran/772/1998(H9N2) virus throughout the body of broiler chickens were investigated. The clinical signs, gross lesions and antibody titer of the infected chicks were also monitored. Fifty one-day-old commercial broiler chicks were divided randomly into two groups (forty chicks in the experimental and ten chicks in the control group). At the age of five weeks the chicks in the experimental group were inoculated intranasally with the virus. The samples from various tissues were collected at 1, 3, 6 and 9 days post-inoculation (DPI). We used reverse transcriptase/polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay to evaluate the virus dissemination. Chickens exhibited mild respiratory signs, depression and 5% mortality. Viral RNA was detected in the kidneys on days 3, 6 and 9 PI. The virus was also found in the spleen, trachea and lungs on days 3 and 6 PI. Viral RNA was observed only on day 6 PI in feces. The most remarkable clinical signs and virus detection appeared on day 6 PI. Overall, out of 22 samples taken from each organ of the experimental (dead plus euthanized) birds, 4, 5, 11, 4, and 5 samples from trachea, lungs, kidneys, spleen and feces showed viral RNA, respectively. We could not trace the virus in the blood and pancreas. Data indicated that the number of infected chickens and viral RNA detection from tissues was reduced with increasing antibody titer on day 9 PI. Our findings suggest that the virus has tissue tropism for respiratory, urinary, lymphoid and digestive systems.

Today, with emphasis on the mechanical heart and heart transplantation from one human to another and one species to another, a knowledge of the anatomy of the bird’s heart could contribute to these accomplishments. Eight male adult ostriches were used to study the heart macroscopically. This study revealed that the ostrich heart has some different features from the other birds. In the ostrich, fibrous pericardium as sternopericardial ligament attaches along the thoracic surface of the sternum. The central edge of muscular valve hangs down into the right ventricle and gives attachment to its rough parietal wall by a thick muscular stalk. The left and right pulmonary veins enter the left atrium independently and their openings were completely separated from each other by a septum. In the heart of the ostrich, the moderator bands were found in both the right and left ventricles in different locations. The right ventricle presents one tendinous moderator band near the base of the ventricle that extends from septum to the muscular valve. Also the moderator bands as tendinous thread like or flat sheet are usually present at about apex of the right ventricle that extends from septum to the parietal wall. In the left ventricle, there were some tendinous moderator bands close to the apex that extends from septum to the parietal wall and between trabeculae carneae of the parietal wall.

To estimate the prevalence of subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA) in dairy cows, a total of 196 ruminal fluid samples were drawn by rumenocentesis from 10 dairy herds of Khorasan Razavi province, northeast of Iran. Two groups of 12 cows, early lactation and mid-lactation cows were sampled in each dairy herd and ruminal pH was determined immediately using a portable pH-meter. A total of 54 cows (27.6%) were found to be experiencing SARA. No significant differences were found between SARA affected and non-affected cows in ruminal contractions, faecal quality and fat and protein components of milk.

Pharmacokinetics of ceftriaxone was studied in buffalo calves (Bubalus bubalis) after single intravenous and intramuscular administration of 10 mg/kg body weight. The drug concentrations in plasma samples were measured by high performance liquid chromatography with UV detection. Following intravenous administration, the drug was rapidly distributed (Cpo: 106.5±9.64 mg/ml; t1/2a: 0.09±0.01 h; Vdarea: 0.48±0.05 L/kg) and eliminated (t1/2b: 1.27±0.04 h) from the body with a clearance rate of 4.40±0.44 ml/min.kg. Following intramuscular administration, the peak plasma concentration of the drug was 15.8±2.4 μg/ml at 0.5 h and the drug was detected up to 12 h. The drug was rapidly absorbed from the site of injection (t1/2ka: 0.35±0.01 h), widely distributed (Vdarea: 1.53±0.2 L/kg) and slowly eliminated from the body (t1/2b: 4.38±0.4 h; ClB: 4.01±0.30 ml/min.kg). The bioavailability of ceftriaxone was 70.2±2.0% following intramuscular injection. Intramuscular injection of ceftriaxone has favourable pharmacokinetics and moderate bioavailability in buffalo calves and can be used for susceptible infections in calves.

Avian adenovirus was isolated from naturally infected birds during 1990 to 2003 in the vicinity of Karachi, Pakistan. The virus is known to cause hydro-pericardium syndrome (HPS) in poultry. The mortality was recorded 20-50% in commercial broilers. Fifty field samples were collected; however, six samples were selected for molecular studies. These isolates were grown and characterized by cell culture using chicken embryo liver cell culture, chicken embryo pathogenicity, agar gel precipitation (AGP), serum neutralization test, DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction enzyme analysis (REA). Reference strain J2-A (ATCC VR-829) was used to confirm that HPS isolates belongs to avian adenovirus type-4. The disease was reproduced in 28-day-old broilers by intramuscular inoculation of cell extracts. Typical hydro pericardium was observed in experimental chickens 72 h post-inoculation. The 50% neutralization endpoint of pooled sera of these isolates was not recorded more than 1:40. The results showed that there was no difference in PCR product of 1319 bp with H3/H4 primer on agarose gels, which is characteristic of group 1 avian adenovirus (AA). Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of PCR products using restriction enzyme Hpa II resulted in five bands confirming the presence of AA in the analyzed samples.

Adenylate kinases (ADK) are ubiquitous enzymes that contribute to the homeostasis of adenine nucleotides in living cells. In this study, the cloning of a cDNA encoding an adenylate kinase from the filarial Onchocerca volvulus has been described. Using PCR technique, a 281 bp cDNA fragment encoding part of an adenylate kinase was isolated from an O. volvulus cDNA library. Use of this fragment as a probe allowed the isolation of a larger cDNA clone through the searching the GenBank expressed sequence tag database. The full-length cDNA encodes 236 amino acid residues with a predicted molecular mass of 26.177 kDa. The deduced amino acid sequence exhibited 80% identity to the homologous adenylate kinase identified from Caenorhabditis elegans. Domain analysis of the resulting protein sequence was found to contain "adenylate kinase signature" motif which is highly conserved in all known ADKs. Multiple alignments showed that the N-terminal is well conserved, whereas the C-terminal is the most variable region.

Respiratory disorders are major concern for dairy cattle industry. Viruses and bacteria in combination with stress play a key role in triggering acute respiratory infections. The most important viral agents are bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV), bovine herpes virus type 1 (BHV-1), bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV), parainfluenza virus type 3 (PIV-3) and bovine adenovirus (BAV). This cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the serological status of BVDV, BHV-1, BRSV, PIV-3 and BAV in dairy herds in Kerman province, Iran. From June to November 2007, 181 serum samples were collected from 1–3-year-old cattle from 15 industrial dairy farms in Kerman province using cluster sampling. The samples were tested by commercial indirect ELISA kits. Antibodies were detected against BVDV, BHV-1, BRSV, PIV-3 and BAV in 77.90, 30.39, 100, 100 and 100% of serum samples, respectively. All farms were positive at least for one of these viruses and antibodies against all the 5 viruses were detected in 4 (26.66%) herds among 15 dairy farms. According to the present study, BVDV, BRSV, PIV-3 and BAV are common viruses in dairy herds in Kerman province.

The role of endogenous histamine and H1, H2 and H3 central receptors on food intake in broiler chickens was investigated. For this purpose, a probe was used to manipulate the concentration of endogenous histamine by intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of thioperamide, an H3 receptor antagonist, and R-a-methyl histamine, an H3 receptor agonist and subsequently the effects of brain histaminergic system on food intake was assessed. Moreover, to determine the receptors involved in histamine-induced feeding behavior changes, H1 and H2 blockers were administered to thioperamide-treated chickens. Injection of thioperamide (600 and 300 nmol) decreased food intake dose-dependently (P<0.05). On the contrary, ICV injection of R-a- Methyl histamine (400 and 200 nmol) increased food intake (P<0.05). Chlorpheniramine (128 and 256 nmol), a H1 receptor antagonist, increased food intake (P<0.05). Famotidine, a H2 receptor antagonist at 74 or 148 nmol had no effect on food intake but at 296 nmol significantly decreased food intake (P<0.05). Pretreatment with chlorpheniramine (256 nmol) significantly attenuated thioperamide effects (600 nmol) on food intake (P<0.05). In conclusion, the results of the present study demonstrated that histamine exerts anorexigenic effects through H1 but not H2 receptors in broiler chickens. Furthermore, it was shown that thioperamide through stimulation of synthesis and release of endogenous neuronal histamine can decrease food intake in broiler chickens.

In this study, five carp pituitary glands were collected and dispersed enzymatic ally and mechanically. Then, the cells were cultivated as monolayer in MEM (minimum essential medium Eagle). The culture media were collected after 72 h and frozen at -20oC. Carp ovarian follicles also were separated mechanically and incubated in BSS (basic salt solution) Cortland medium in 24-well micro plates for 48 h at 20oC. Then, they were divided into two groups: control group which were incubated in BSS medium and experimental group which subdivided into three subgroups according to treatment with different concentration of collected pituitary secretion (50, 100 and 200 ml/ml). Follicles culture media were collected 24 h later and were analyzed for 17-b-oestradiol (E2) and 17-a-hydroxy progesterone (P4) content by radioimmunoassay (RIA). The results showed that adding low concentration (50 ml/ml) of collected pituitary secretion (CPS) increased steroid hormones (E2 and P4) secretion of incubated ovarian follicles significantly (P<0.05) but the high concentration of CPS (200 ml/ml) significantly decreased the secretion of E2 and P4 (P<0.05). Collected pituitary secretion at the concentration of 100 ml/ml had no significant effect on steroid hormones (P>0.05).

The purpose of this study was to investigate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the normal feline eye and optic nerves using T1-weighted and T2-weighted images. A total of 6 healthy female domestic short hair cats age 2-2.5 years and weighing 3.2±0.4 kg were selected. Magnetic resonance imaging data were collected using GEMSOW (Philips) at a magnetic field strength of 1.5 T. Dorsal, sagittal, and transverse plane images were obtained from left and right eyes. Intraocular structures of the cats visible on T1-weighted and T2-weighted images include cornea, anterior chamber, posterior chamber, lens, iris, sclera, and chiasma.Cornea was well detected in T1-weighted, the iris in T2-weighted and chiasma was well detected in T2- weighted in dorsal plane. Measurements of the visible structures on T1-weighted and T2-weighted images did not show any significant difference between the left and right eyes (P>0.05). MRI provides excellent anatomical detail of the feline eye and optic nerve due to its superior soft tissue contrast and its multiplanar and multislice imaging capability.

In the present study, we reported infection with eighteen species of the genus Dactylogyrus, belong to the family Dactylogyridae from five breeder fish species, including common carp (Cyprinus carpio), grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), big head carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) and black carp (Myelopharyngodon piceus) which introduced and imported to Iranian freshwaters from Russia, Romania, Hungary and China over the last 40 years. The infection was also found in Carassius auratus gibelio, it is not known when this fish species was introduced into the country. The Dactylogyrus spp. were as follows: Dactylogyrus achmerovi, D. anchoratus, D. aristichthys, D. baueri, D. dulikeity, D. ctenopharyngodonis, D. extensus, D. hypophthalmichthys, D. intermedius, D. intermedioides, D. lamellatus, D. magnihamotus, D. nobilis, D. sahuensis, D. suchengtaii, D. taihuensis, D. vastator and D. wegeneri. Among these, D. vastator and D. anchoratus infecting common carp and D. lamellatus infecting grass carp are very harmful and were responsible for high mortalities observed in fry and fingerling production in Iran. Uncontrolled import of live fish into the country can lead to transmission of pathogenic monogeneans or other group of parasites to native fishes, causing a great economical and ecological threat to valuable native fishes. For example, transmission of D. anchoratus from common carp to Barbus sharpeyi, an important native fish species, despite of the high host-specificity of monogeneans, indicates the possibility of transmission of exotic monogenean parasites to native hosts. It is strongly suggested that the risk of introducing exotic pathogens along with importing fish or any other living organism to the country, should be assessed well in advance, in order to protect native species and the ecosystem.

In this study, genital tracts of 20 healthy non-pregnant buffaloes were collected from Urmia abattoir. These genital tracts were selected based on their ovaries conditions, half of them were in follicular phase and the other half were in luteal phase. The samples were taken from anterior, middle and posterior regions of the cervix and fixed in 10% buffer formalin. Then, histological sections of 5-7 mm thickness were prepared and stained with haematoxylin and eosin for histomorphometrical study and toluidine blue for study of mast cells. Histomorphometrical study was accomplished by graded and latticed objective lens device. The results revealed that the thickness of epithelium significantly (P<0.05) increased in the luteal phase. Mean thickness of mucosa-sub mucosa layers in the middle (290.4±12.69 mm) and posterior (283.14±16.49 mm) regions of the cervix in the follicular phase was significantly more than the luteal phase (P<0.05). Mean thickness of tunica muscular is increased significantly (P<0.05) during the follicular phase in the anterior region of the cervix (3325.28±286.69 mm). This study also revealed that the mean distribution of mast cells in the luteal phase (0.53±0.02) was significantly more than the follicular phase (P<0.001). Generally, this study showed that the histomorphometrical changes in the cervix of buffalo occur in the follicular and luteal phases of oestrous cycle. These changes may be related to the fluctuation of oestrogen and progesterone hormones and distribution of mast cells.

Postmortem examination of a 5.5-year-old Holstein cow with history of sudden death showed a very huge spleen (120x45x10 cm) associated with severe haemoperitoneum. Histopathological findings included extensive infiltration of medium to large sized lymphocytic and lymphoblastic cells with small amounts of cytoplasm, round nuclei with coarsely granular chromatin in the spleen, and limited foci of similar cellular infiltration in the liver. This case was diagnosed as a fatal splenic rupture caused by an atypical malignant lymphoma.

A 2-year-old male hamster was presented because of left facial swelling and salivation. Necropsy was performed and affected cheek pouch with tissue samples of regional and internal organs were submitted for histopathological study. In histopathological examination it was found that the tumor consisted of cords and islands of tumoric epithelial cells which were diffused in the dermis. Vacoulation of cytoplasm in many cells were striking features. The lesion was infiltrated by mononuclear cells. These findings were consistent with differentiated squamous cell carcinoma, which restricted only to the left cheek pouch. There was no evidence of tumoral invasion to the other organs. Cheek pouch spontaneous tumors in hamsters have been rarely reported.

A 4-day-old Holstein bull calf with considerable oedema of the belly (water belly) was referred to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the School of Veterinary Medicine, Shiraz University. The owner did not observe any urination since birth. Rupture of the urethra was suspected. Perineal urethrotomy was performed. Subsequently, catheterization of urethra revealed the obstruction near the external urethral orifice. Urethrotomy showed a three cm long rupture of urethra proximal to the penile orifice. Surgical exploration showed the penile urethral aplasia which confirmed by histopathological findings. Permanent perineal urethrostomy was the surgical treatment of choice. Fluid and antibiotic therapy were administrated postoperatively. Postoperative follow-up showed a healthy calf without any signs of water belly.