Novel Preparation Technique of Hyperimmune Globulins against Bovine Coronavirus as Surrogate of Beta Coronavirus

Consuming time and effort to prepare hyperimmune globulins using Freund’s adjuvant is a sophisticated and harsh technique. In this work, a novel, safe, and rabid method was proposed using monolaurin as an immune-stimulating agent in hyperimmune globulins production against Bovine coronavirus (BCoV). The mentioned virus was used as a surrogate to family Betacoronavirus. Bovine coronavirus (Mabus strain) with titer log10 5.8 tissue culture infective dose infectivity (TCID50)/ml was used in this experiment. The inactivation of the virus was done using 1% ascorbic acid for 24h. Monolaurin emulsion (10% w/v) of was prepared by sonication using tween 20 and water. The inactivated bovine coronavirus was added to the emulsion by 20% of the final volume. The immunoglobulins were prepared by inoculating the inactivated virus with the adjuvant in rabbits and evaluated on the Madin-Darby bovine kidney (MDBK) cell line by virus neutralization test (VNT). The effect of the adjuvant was assessed by histopathological examination of vital organs such as the kidney and liver. The antibody titer against the BCoV was reached its peak, log2 1024 TCID50/ml, at the 3rd-week post-inoculation in the rabbits. The level of the globulin reached a high level and its peak (14.3g/dL) at the end of the experiment. No abnormalities were seen in the livers and kidneys of the negative control group of rabbits. Monolaurin showed a new level of safety and efficacy when used as an adjuvant during the preparation of the immunoglobulins against BCoV.

Application of Biometric Traits for Predicting Weaning Weight of Dorper Sheep using Path Analysis

The current study was conducted to examine the relationship between weaning weight and biometric traits viz; heart girth (HG), rump height (RH), body length (BL), withers height (WH) and sternum height (SH) and, also to determine direct and indirect influence of biometric traits on weaning weight (WW) of Dorper sheep. Dorper sheep lambs (females=23, males=16) were used. Pearson’s correlation and path analysis were used for data analysis. Female correlation results indicated that WW had a positive highly significant correlation with HG (r=0.66), BL (r=0.66) and RH (r=0.55), and positively statistical correlation with WH (r=0.45) at P<0.05 whereas in males, results demonstrated that WW had a negative highly significant correlation with HG (r=-0.51) at P<0.05. Path analysis results on females showed that BL (0.34) had the greatest direct effect on WW while HG (0.31) had the highest indirect contribution on WW, males’ results indicated that HG (0.97) had the highest direct contribution on WW while WH (0.69) had the greatest indirect effect on WW. Current study information will assist rural farmer who lack weighing scales to predict weight of their animals for various reasons such as for breeding and marketing purposes and again study outcome will help sheep breeders to select direct and indirect traits influencing weaning weight for improvement.

Development of Canine Chronic Kidney Disease Model: A Pilot Study

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a worldwide health problem with a poor prognosis. The exploration of possible medical intervention requires the presence of a suitable animal model. This work aims to induce a model of canine CKD with persistent uremia. Three dogs were used to develop canine CKD models with different techniques based on the remnant kidney model. Model (1) was subjected to excision of one renal pole of the right kidney. Model (2) was subjected to the excision of two renal poles of the right kidney. Model (3) underwent ligation of two renal arterial branches of the right kidney. A contralateral nephrectomy was performed in the three models after two weeks from the first operation. Blood and 24-hour urine samples were collected weekly to determine renal function parameters. Histopathology, Immunohistochemistry of α-SMA expression, and quantitative real-time PCR for Kim-1 & NGAL gene expression were performed on kidney tissues. According to the IRIS staging system in dogs, model (1) represented stage one of CKD with less expression of genes and α-SMA in the interstitial tissue. Model (2) represented stage three of CKD with moderate expression of genes and α-SMA and moderate glomerulointerstitial nephritis. Model (3) suffered from severe uremia. It showed the highest expression of genes and α-SMA with severe glomerulointerstitial nephritis and infarction. Therefore, model (2) was considered the best technique for developing a model of canine CKD with persistent uremia. The dog in this model became uremic and remained stable for a long time which would allow experimental manipulation.

An Outbreak of Ovine Listeriosis in Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia: Epidemiological, Clinical and Treatment Outcomes

This study was carried out to describe the epidemiological, clinical and treatment outcomes of an outbreak of listeriosis in a sheep flock at Qassim Region, central of Saudi Arabia during January 2020. The flock consisted of 700 sheep of different age and sex. The overall morbidity rate was 57.14%, while the mortality rate was 50% and the case fatality rate was 87.5%. The morbidity rate was statistically lower (P=0.0001) in sheep having age less than 6 months (16.66%) than those over 6 months (74.48%). On the contrary, the case fatality rate was not statistically different (P=0.9) in young sheep (97.14%) compared to adult animals (86.57%). The clinical signs observed were acute deaths, nervous manifestation in the form of staggers, ataxia, head tilt and circling. Initial diagnosis was made on the basis of the typical clinical signs, while confirmatory diagnosis was made on the basis of bacteriological examination. Treatment using penicillin as antibiotic in addition to flunixin meglumine as anti-inflammatory gave good results in case of early intervention whereas late-stage treatment gave bad prognosis. So, early intervention is the key to treatment success.

A Mathematical Model for Calculating Intestinal Villus Surface Area in Broiler Chickens

Villus surface area (VSA) is measured to reflect the active absorption surface of the intestine under different experimental conditions. In context, it has been recommended to use a suitable model for calculating VSA of different shapes. However, no more attention has been paid to this point. Thus, a mathematical model, to calculate the VSA of ridge-like shape villi, was proposed for increasing the accuracy of VSA measuring. Then, to test the proposed model, a comparison between the common (tube-like) and proposed (ridge-like shape) models was done using real 416 villi morphometrics (height and width) of one-day-old specific pathogen-free broiler chicks. Also, Python program® was used to do a microcomputer simulation for comparing between models. Statistically, the apex surface area of the tube-like shape was greater than that of the ridge-like shape (P<0.0001). While the total VSA of tube-like shape villus was numerically greater than this of ridge-like shape ones. These results were confirmed by the simulation study. In conclusion, since the villus shape affects the VSA, the proposed model can be recommended for calculating the surface area of the ridge-like shape villi instead of the common ones. Besides villus morphometrics, the villus shape-surface area relationship can be used to explain the changes in absorption capacity and related economic parameters such as growth rate and body weight under different experimental conditions.

Prevalence of Pulmonary Mycotic Lesions and Antifungal Susceptibility Pattern of Fungi Isolated from Nigerian Trade Cattle

Pulmonary mycosis is a major cause of deaths in many livestock herds, especially in immune-compromised animals. A total of 138 lung samples (6mm in size) were collected from cattle slaughtered for meat at Nsukka abattoir. Swab sticks were dipped into each lung sample and streaked on freshly prepared Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA) for fungal isolation. Isolated fungi were identified using morphological and microscopic features. Disc diffusion method was used to test the antifungal susceptibility pattern of a randomly selected isolates with voriconazole (1μg), fluconazole (25μg) and methanol extract of Garcinia kola, using disc diffusion method. The lung samples were examined for lesions using histopathological procedures. Out of the 138 lung samples, 23 had fungal growths while 115 had no growth of any sort. A total of 34 fungi were isolated as pure cultures. Aspergillus spp. had the highest frequency of isolation, 44.92%, followed by Penicillium spp. 11.76%, Trichophyton spp. 5.88%, Conidiobolus and Sporothrix species had 2.94% isolation rate each. About 29.6% of the isolated fungi could not be identified. Fungal positive lungs showed acute to sub-acute inflammatory responses with bronchiolar septal, alveolar interstitium and peribronchial inflammatory cell infiltration and thickening of the lung tissues. All the screened fungal isolates were sensitive to voriconazole with the zone of inhibition ranging from 12-27mm. The fungal isolates were all resistant to fluconazole and G. kola extract, except one that showed sensitivity to the extract. Voriconazole showed strong antifungal effect on all the fungi; but the efficacy of the G. kola on the fungal isolates was very low compared to voriconazole.

Evaluation of Bali Cattle Semen Quality During Cryopreservation with Coconut Water-Based Extenders

The aim of this research was to evaluate the Bali cattle semen quality during cryopreservation with different types of extenders in term of live, total motility, progressive motility, and abnormality of post-thawed bull sperms. The treatments were AndroMed® (T0), Tris-based egg yolk diluent (T1), Tris-based coconut water diluent (T2), Coconut water egg yolk diluent (T3). Bulls’ semen was collected from two adult Bali cattle maintained at the semen production facility at Bali Artificial Insemination Center, Tabanan Bali. The age of the bulls were 6 years old. Sperm live, total motility, progressive motility, and abnormality were analyzed with computer assisted sperm analysis (CASA) post-dilution, before and after thawed. The study was replicated five times, and data were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results showed that AndroMed ® and Tris-based egg yolk had significantly higher sperm live, total motility, progressive motility and abnormalities of spermatozoa for post-dilution, after equilibration and post thawed than Tris egg yolk coconut water and Coconut water egg yolk diluent. It was concluded that AndroMed® and Tris-based egg yolk can be considered as the best suitable extender for Bali cattle sperm cryopreservation. Coconut water had a deleterious effect when supplemented with 20% in tris and egg yolk.

Direct and Indirect Effects of Egg Quality Traits on Egg Weight of Potchefstroom Koekoek Chicken Genotype

Path analysis is the statistical tool used to assess the direct and indirect effects of independent variables on the dependent variables. This study was done to examine the association among egg weight (EWt) and egg quality traits, including egg length (EL), egg width (EWD), yolk weight (YW), shell weight (SW), shell ratio (SR), shell index (SI), albumen weight (AW), albumen ratio (AR) and yolk ratio (YR), and assess the direct and indirect influences of egg quality traits on egg weight. Three hundred eggs of Potchefstroom Koekoek chicken genotype were used in the study to determine egg weight and egg quality traits. Pearson’s association and path coefficient analysis were utilised for analysing data. The findings of association showed that EWt had positively high statistically significant association (P<0.01) with EL (r=0.79), EWD (r=0.55), YW (r=0.45), AW (r=0.48), and AR (r=0.38). Path analysis results revealed that YR (-1.98) followed by YW (1.72) made the biggest direct influence on the EWt, while AR followed by SW displayed the highest indirect effect on EWt via YR and YW. Correlation findings recommend that improving EL, EWD, YW, AW and AR might result in increased EWt. The results of path analysis indicate that YR and YW could be selected during breeding to improve EWt of Potchefstroom Koekoek chicken genotype. Chicken farmers may use the outcomes of the current study to predict EWt using egg quality traits.

Acaricidal Activity of Phenolic Crude Extract from Artocapus lakoocha Leaves against Cattle Tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus

Cattle ticks and tick-borne diseases (TBDs) are well known for their harmful effects to cattle health. The problem of TBDs has been ranked high in terms of their adverse impact on the livelihood of poor farming communities in developing countries including Thailand. The aim of this research was to evaluate the efficacy of phenolic compounds of crude acetone extract and crude ethanol extract from Artocapus lakoocha leaves in the elimination of the cattle ticks which were tested in the form of crude extract at the concentration of 400, 800 and 1600μg/ml. From the record of mortality rate within 48 hours and propagation index within 15 days, it was found that the extract at the concentration of 1600μg/ml had the best efficacy to eliminate cattle ticks when compared to control group and other concentrations (P<0.05). It was also discovered that the mortality rate of ticks was 72%. Moreover, index of egg laying, and inhibition percentage were equal to 0.14 and 49, respectively. The negative control group adding with polyethylene glycol (PEG, Phenolic inhibitors) had mortality rate of cattle ticks at 0% and median of toxic concentration (Lethal Concentration 50: LC50) of phenolic crude extract was 1050μg/ml. Thus, the phenolic crude extract from Atrocapus lakoocha leaves was effective in getting rid of cattle ticks, this approach could be further developed as the effective method for controlling and eliminating ticks in the form of products such as shampoo and tick spray for cattle or other animals.

Blood Constituents, Antioxidant Activities and Hormonal Profile in She-camels (Camelus dormedarius) during different Physiological Statuses in the North Western Coast of Egypt

To monitor blood constituents and hormonal profiles in dromedary she-camels at different physiological statuses in the Northwestern Coast of Egypt, twenty-four she-camels, aged 7-10 years were used from December 2016 to March 2019. Animals were divided according estrous behavior and ultrasound scans of ovarian structures into estrus and non-estrus groups before natural mating. Pregnancy was diagnosed 30 days after mating by ultrasonography. Blood samples were collected from all animals during estrus and non-estrus and monthly during gestation and lactation periods. During the follicular phase GLC and P4 levels decreased (P<0.05). Levels of E2 and PRL increased (P<0.05). Follicles number and diameter in both ovaries increased (P<0.05) in estrus group. Cyclic status correlated negatively with GLC, P4, total number follicles of left ovary (TLO) and diameter follicles of left ovary (DLO) and positively with AST, E2 and DLO. In 1st trimester of pregnancy, GLC levels decreased. Higher (P<0.05) activity of ALT (2nd and 3rd trimesters) and ALP (1st and 2nd trimesters) were recorded. SOD and HP changed (P<0.05). Pregnancy status correlated negatively with GLC, ALP, HP and SOD and positively with TG and ALT. During lactation, ALB, CHOL, TG, ALT, ALP, P4 and PRL were affected (P<0.05). SOD and HP were higher (P<0.05) in 2nd and 1st trimester, respectively. Lactation status correlated negatively with P4 and PRL and positively with CHOL, ALB, ALP, ALT and TAC. In conclusion, the knowledge the values of hormonal, blood biochemical, antioxidant activities are necessary for diagnostic interpretation of pathological and adjusting the different functions throughout different physiological statuses under arid conditions.