نشریه علوم درمانگاهی دامپزشکی ایران
سال هفدهم شماره 1 (پیاپی 29، بهار و تابستان 1402)

Endometritis in cows is defined as the inflammation of the inner lining of the uterus and is divided into clinical and cytological. Because of the economic impact of delay in the treatment and reduced reproductive performance, there is a justification for identifying this disease as soon as possible. The aim of this study is to investigate the clinical effects of an intrauterine injection of intramammary ointment containing Cefapirin-benzathine in the treatment of endometritis in Holstein dairy cows and to compare its efficacy with two common treatments of endometritis, i.e. Prostaglandin and oxytetracycline. The present study was conducted in a unit of industrial cattle farm and among 150 cows with endometritis who were randomly divided into three groups of 50 cows receiving cloprostenol, oxytetracycline, and Cefapirin benzathine. It was found that Cefapirin significantly reduced uterine secretions, increased the pregnancy rate, and reduces the treatment to pregnancy interval compared to cloprostenol. In addition, cefapirin was able to significantly reduce the treatment to pregnancy interval compared to oxytetracycline. No significant difference was observed in the body condition score and the amount of milk production among different groups. According to the present research, the order of drug’s therapeutic effect on endometritis is cefapirin, oxytetracycline, and cloprostenol. Due to its limited human use, low diffusion to milk, and appropriate spectrum of effect against gram-positive and negative bacteria, Cefapirin seems to be a suitable drug for the treatment of endometritis in dairy cows

Effects of lighting program during production period on organs weight, immune responses, gait scoring, and tonic immobility reaction were evaluated using 900 male day-old broiler chicks (ROSS 308) in three houses. In each house, chicks were randomly allocated to 30 pens of 10 birds each. From day 7 upto 3 days to the end of the production period, three lighting programs including 17L:7D for house 1, 14L:10D for house2, and 12L:12D for house 3 were used. For immune system evaluation SRBC injection and CBH test were used. Blood samples for CBC were collected on day 40. Gait scoring and tonic immobility test were done on day 41. On day 42, 30 birds from each house (one per pen) were selected randomly, euthanized, and carcass and organ weights were recorded. Using 12 hours of darkness, comparing with 7 or 10 hours, decreased gastrointestinal weight while increased testis weight (P<0.05). Increasing the darkness period, increased the eye weight linearly. Incorporation of 10 or 12 hours of darkness decreased PCV percent (P<0.001). Immune system responses were improved by 10 hours of darkness (P<0.05). Application of 10 hours of darkness also improved the gait scoring and tonic immobility values comparing to 2 other darkness periods (P<0.05). Overall, according to the results of this study, using 10 hours of darkness would be beneficial and advisable in broiler production.

The aim of this study was to investigate the quality of semen frozen with BoviFree diluent compared to manual and Steridyl in dual-purpose Simmental bulls. Semen samples were collected from 12 bulls (three replicates for each bull and a total of 36 ejaculations) using an artificial vagina and each ejaculation was divided into three equal parts. Freezing was done by two-step dilution method and sperm quality parameters such as viability, motility, morphology and plasma membrane integrity were investigated in fresh and frozen thawed semen. The results showed that all sperm characteristics of semen diluted with manual extender in fresh semen were lower than in other diluents, and this difference was significant in the case of the plasma membrane integrity. Regarding frozen thawed semen, progressive motility and other motility parameters in the group which was frozen with Steridyl diluent was significantly more than the other two groups. There was no significant difference between the group of manual and BoviFree extender. Considering the findings of our research Steridyl has a better performance in terms of sperm motility after freezing than BoviFree and manual, it can be concluded that the Steridyl diluent is more suitable for semen freezing of dual-purpose Simmental bulls than the Bovifree and manual diluent. In addition, the results of this research determined that the diluents based on egg yolk are more suitable for bull semen freezing than the diluents based on soy lecithin.

This study was conducted to determine the effects of Vit C on Ca, P, Fe and Cu in cadmium toxicity in Japanese quail. A total of 60 1-d-old Japanese quail were randomly distributed among 4 dietary treatments with 3 replicate pens per treatment. In group1, chickens were fed on basal diet without added Cd (control group). In group 2, chickens were fed on basal diet with 40 ppm Cd in drinking water. In group3, quails were fed on basal diet + 500 ppm of Vit C; and in group 4 treatment, quails were fed on basal diet + 500 ppm Vit C and 40 ppm Cd in drinking water. Cd was added as cadmium chloride. On day 35, three quails per replicate pen were killed for collection of liver and breast and tight muscle samples. Samples were analyzed by ICP-MS. The results of our study showed that Cd toxicity led to an increase of liver and muscle Cd concentration and decreased levels of Fe, Ca, P and Cu in the body tissues. The results also showed that supplementation of vit C decreased Cd content in the liver and muscles of japanese quails. The present study revealed several correlations between essential and toxic elements, illustrating the importance of the balance between oxidant elements and antioxidants.

The aim of present study was to evaluate the length of post-partum anestrus in Sistani cows of Zahak research station and also to investigate the causes of prolongation of post-partum anestrus in this breed. The data included the date of 1188 calvings and the first post-calving estrus were extracted from the farm archive. The average calving-first estrus interval was calculated in Excel and considered as the length of post-partum anestrus. Comparison of average length of post-partum anestrus in different decades was done using One-way ANOVA test in SPSS software. To determine the causes of prolongation of post-partum anestrus, all cows that did not show estrus more than 2 months after calving at the period of the study (N: 33) were evaluated in two stages of rectal ultrasound, 12 days apart. The average length of post-partum anestrus for 1188 calvings was 126.5 ± 90.1 days. Among the anestrus cows examined ultrasonographically, 75% did not have corpora lutea in both examinations and had inactive ovaries, and 25% had corpora lutea in one or both stages, and silent estrus was considered the cause of anestrus. None of the anestrous Sistani cows had ovarian cyst or pyometra. According to the results of the present study, the period of post-partum anestrus in Sistani cows of Zahak research farm is long and the main cause for this prolongation is the delay of the ovary in returning to cyclic activity, In addition, silent estrus is the cause of some cases of anestrus.

In order to estimate the optimum dietary digestible arginine to lysine ratio for starter period at a high altitude (2100 m), 420 day-old Arian broiler chicks (210 male and 210 female) were used in a completely randomized design with seven treatments of six replicates. From 1 to 7 days of age, all chicks were fed with a standard diet. Dietary treatments with seven digestible arginine to lysine ratios (0.83, 0.93, 1.03, 1.13, 1.24, 1.34 and 1.44) were formulated and fed from 7 to 14 days of age. On day 14, feed intake and body weight gain (BWG) were recorded and feed conversion ratio (FCR) was calculated. The optimum ratio of arginine to lysine for BWG and FCR were estimated using quadratic regression (QR), linear broken line (BL), and quadratic broken line (BQ) models. The optimum ratios for BWG using QR, BL, and BQ models were estimated as 1.21, 1.08, and 1.22 (R2: 0.75, 0.70, and 0.69) respectively. Also, the optimum ratios for FCR using QR, BL, and BQ models were estimated as 1.22, 1.13, and 1.19 (R2: 0.77, 0.78, and 0.71) respectively. According to the obtained coefficients of determination (R2), it is concluded that in this study, the RQ model has more accurately estimated the arginine to lysine ratio for both BWG and FCR. Using this model, the obtained optimum ratio for both BWG and FCR in high altitudes is about 1.22 which is considerably more than the recommended ratio by the strain catalogue (1.08).

Hemorrhagic enteritis is an acute disease in turkeys over 4 weeks of age, which is usually associated with the sudden onset of symptoms of lethargy, bloody stools and death, making the flock prone to secondary infections and increasing treatment costs. Considering the importance of turkey breeding in the meat industry, for better diagnosis and reduction of mortality, this study was planned and carried out in order to investigate one of the most important infectious diseases called adenovirus infections, which causes widespread mortality in turkeys in Isfahan province. In this study, 80 blood and feces samples from 10 meat turkey farms in Isfahan province, which were collected from four regions of the province were studied. In this research, PCR method was used to identify adenovirus infection. Finally, there were 12 fecal samples suspected of inclusion body hepatitis and 2 blood samples of turkeys suspected of the disease. The result showed that turkey adenovirus is circulating in turkey farms. There is no program in controlling of this infection in Isfahan, Iran that must be considered.

The incidence of persistent post-mating endometritis (PPME) following natural mating or artificial insemination (AI) is always underestimated in mares that do not have abnormal clinical signs in reproductive tracts in routine examinations before mating in high-population horse breeding centers. In this study, 503 Arabian mares whose reproductive system status was confirmed before natural mating or artificial insemination in breeding soundness examination, were examined with ultrasonography at 24, 48, and 72 hours after ovulation, in terms of PPME following natural mating or AI, and the presence of uterine fluid accumulation with a diameter of 5 mm or more is recorded as PPME. The correlation between PPME and other variables such as age, type of mating, number of mattings in an estrous cycle, pre-ovulatory follicle (POF) size, volume and concentration of semen used in AI was investigated at different time intervals after ovulation. The results of this study showed that, the incidence rate of PPME following natural mating or AI in 48 and 72 hours after ovulation is 32 and 22%, respectively, in a normal population of Arab mares. Based on this rate, reproductive examinations are recommended 24 and 48 hours after ovulation in the group of sensitive Arab mares.

During recent decades, there have been numerous reports of Newcastle virus infection and isolation in industrial poultry, rural, and wild birds. The presence of a highly contagious and lethal disease implies the occurrence of genetic mutations in the virus, which could potentially due to the breakdown of the immune barrier from vaccination in certain instances. The hemagglutinin-neuraminidase protein plays a crucial role in the process of immune induction. Alignment analysis revealed a reduction in similarity at both the nucleotide and amino acid levels when comparing the isolates examined in this study with the vaccine strains. Moreover, the analysis of alterations in the neutralizing epitope pattern exhibited substitutions at the amino acid level in positions 347 (E to Q), 356 (R to K), 363 (N to K), 494 (G to D), and 514 (I to V) as compared to the vaccine strains. These results, proposed that these mutations may contribute to the antigenic modifications in novel strains of the virus. The glycosylation profile modifications were found to be associated with excision and introduction at positions 538 and 144, respectively, as opposed to the vaccinal strains.Therefore, it is essential to design and carry out further research studies to determine the impact of these mutations and glycosylation patterns on the virulence and ability of new viral strains to promote pathogenicity and escape immunization derived from vaccinal strains and develop potent new vaccines that specifically target these strains.

A number of 90 2-year-old Afshar ewes (second parity) with a weight of 50±5 kg and a body condition score (BCS) of 3 were selected at the end of July 1401. After one month of getting used to the sheepcotes, the study was started at the beginning of September, and 30 ewes were given a normal ration without flushing and were considered as the control group. In 30 ewes, in addition to the usual ration, from 3 weeks before ram breeding to 1 week after that, daily 450 grams of oat groats were used as flushing ration and were considered as the barley treatment group. Also, in 30 ewes, in addition to the normal diet group, from 3 weeks before ram breeding to 1 week after that, 450 grams of pounded corn was used daily instead of oatmeal, and were considered as the corn treatment group. Then, at the end of September, 6 rams (2 rams for each group) of Afshar breed (aged 2.5 to 3 years and BCS 4 ± 0.25 and weight 90 ± 5 kg) were left among the ewes. Mating in all ewes was registered and pregnancy diagnosis was done by ultrasound about 45 days after successful breeding in mated ewes. The findings showed that fecundity, prolificacy, and female sex ratio were higher in the barley group in compare to the other groups (P<0.05). It was concluded from this study that using barley as a flushing ration has better efficiency than other rations.

The researches of the past two decades in the field of laboratory embryo production in ruminants tried to maximize the number of developed embryos and increase the quality of produced blastocysts. The present study addresses the effect of gamma-oryzanol in the culture medium of ovine oocytes using embryo development evaluation. For this purpose, ovine ovaries were collected from the slaughterhouse, and then the oocytes were aspirated from 2 to 6 mm follicles subjected to washing, maturation and fertilization in vitro, then cultured in drops of medium enriched with or without 5 μM of gamma-oryzanol. Assessment of embryo development showed that the cleavage and total blastocyst rate was higher in treatment than control (P < 0.05), however, there was no difference between early, expanded, and hatched blastocysts as well as total cell number. The results showed downregulation of BAX, and Caspase-9 transcripts however no modulation was observed in the expression of BCL-2, NRF2, SOD, and CAT transcripts in treatment group compared to control. In conclusion, gamma-oryzanol improves the efficiency of ovine embryo production through an antiapoptotic pathway.

Sport horses must be able to remain calm in challenging and unpredictable situations, such as all kinds of physical and mental stress. Knowing the normal behavior of horses in sports training will help to control them in the main competitions. Stress is one of the main cognitive factors disrupting the rider's control over the horse. Measuring the concentration of cortisol hormone during exercise can be a good measure to evaluate the intensity of stress in exercise horses. As a result, this study was designed and implemented to investigate the blood cortisol hormone concentration. In this study, 10 polo horses were used before and after the simulated polo match in order to measure the blood cortisol hormone concentration. The serum cortisol concentration was measured using the ELISA method. The average concentration of cortisol hormone before the competition was 3.23+2.05 (deciliter/microgram), which was in the normal range. But after the competition, the mean concentration of cortisol hormone 8.13+1.31 (deciliter/microgram) increased with a significant difference (P<0.05). Although the concentration of cortisol hormone in the horses has increased, which indicates the high stress of these horses, however, these horses did not show severe behavioral reactions during the competition and were completely calm due to continuous specialized training. As a result, specialized training that leads to an increase in the experience of horses in certain environmental conditions can increase the ability of horses to withstand stress and maintain peace.