z. ansari pirsaraei

Studies show that sodium chloride soluble in water can be used as a source of mineral supplementation to meet part of the mineral needs of birds and that sodium water can replace the dietary sodium supplement completely. Therefore, if it is possible to exploit this ability of poultry and to provide some of the water they consume from salt water, while preserving the country's fresh water resources, the problems caused by saltwater use will be largely resolved. This study examined the effect of high salt concentration in Caspian Sea water on the quality of the meat, intestinal morphology, and histopathology of the liver and kidney tissues of broiler chickens. As the permitted limit for total dissolved solids in broilers is 1000-3000 ppm, the amount of seawater used for broiler chickens was within this range. Based on the hardness of drinking water in poultry farms at 340 ppm and the annual mean hardness of seawater at 3,700 ppm, as well as the permissible NRC hardness limit for water consumption, the study was carried out in a completely randomized design with four experimental treatments including 1. Control, 2. A mixture of seawater and drinking water with TDS equal to 1000 ppm, 3. A mixture of seawater and drinking water with TDS equal to 2000 ppm, and 4. A mixture of seawater and drinking water with TDS equal to 3000 ppm in five replications. To check the quality of the meat at the end of the incubation period, five chickens of average weight were selected and slaughtered from each of the experimental groups. To measure the meat pH, we mixed 10 grams of minced chicken meat with 90 mL of distilled water and measured the meat pH with a calibrated pH meter. For the measurement of water retention, after centrifugation and weighing, the sample was placed at 70°C for 24 hours, and its weight was again recorded and finally calculated by the formula. To check the textural characteristics of meat, cube-shaped samples (2×2×2 cm) and rectangular cubes (4×2×2 cm) at a speed of 1 mm/s with a pressure of 50% and a penetration depth of 10 mm were prepared. They have been tested with the Texture Profile Analyzer (TPA). For the histopathological examination of the liver and kidneys, which included sampling, fixing, and molding of samples, tissue cutting, staining, and laminating of samples, the birds were completely dissected at the end of the incubation period, and after the birds had been killed and their histopathological changes recorded on slides for microscopic examination. To examine the intestinal morphology, a 3 cm long sample from the mid-joint of the small intestine was prepared and transferred to a 10% buffered formalin stability solution after washing with 0.9% saline. All the same procedures were then applied to liver and kidney tissue samples, and finally, 6-mm diameter cross-sections were prepared and stained with hematoxylin and eosin staining to investigate intestinal morphology. The length, width, depth, and the ratio of the length of the villus to the depth of the crypt of each tissue sample were then measured under a microscope and used for the study. There is no significant difference in the feed conversion rate of treatments by adding different percentages of seawater to drinking water, but water consumption and moisture content of the litter have increased. Comparing the average parameters of meat under the different TDS caused by the mixture of Caspian Sea and drinking water, no significant differences were observed in the pH, gumness, coagulation, chewing time, and chewing consistency of the examined treatments. It has shown that different TDS of water have no effect on these meat parameters and statistically they have almost the same average. The only significant difference observed was between the flexibility, water retention capacity, and hardness of the meat tissue, which indicates that meat tissue from treatment with a high TDS had a lower water retention capacity than control treatment. Concerning the length of the villus, which is one of the morphological parameters of the small intestine, it may be considered to be related to the increased capacity of the bird to absorb nutrients, as the length of the villus increases. Slow, longer villi prevent faster passage and increase conversion factor, and lower crypt depths indicate a decrease in the metabolic regeneration of the intestinal epithelium. Based on the results for the length of the blisters, the largest difference compared to the control treatment was related to the treatment with 75% Caspian Sea water, which resulted in a statistically significant difference. Based on the results concerning the width (depth) of the villa and the depth of the tomb, no significant difference was observed when using a mixture of water from the Caspian Sea and drinking water. Results from histopathological examination of the kidney and liver tissues of the treatment groups in this study showed that consumption of 1000 ppm seawater in these animals did not result in significant changes in liver and kidney tissue. There was significant tissue damage in these liver and kidney tissues, and the severity of these changes and damage was directly correlated to the increased seawater concentration in the diet. Based on the results of histopathological examination of kidney and liver tissues from the treatment animals, consumption of 1000 ppm seawater in these animals did not result in significant changes in liver and kidney tissue. When 50% of the water from the Caspian Sea was used and added to drinking water, no significant differences were observed in the ability to absorb and access nutrients from the intestinal villi and finally in the morphology of the small intestine.

The objective of this was to consider relationship between heat shock proteins (HSP) with early embryo loss and pregnancy loss in Holstein dairy cows during summer season. Thirsty-two Holstein cows (with milk production> 30 Kg/d and 3.3±1.7 in parity) were selected. All cows were synchronized by G7G heat synchronization protocol. Blood samples were collected from all cows at d 16 after timed artificial insemination (TAI) to measure ISG15 gene expression. According to ISG15 results, 16 cows showed early embryo loss, then HSP gene family (HSP27, HSP40, HSP60, HSP70 and HSP 90) were compared between healthy cows and those with early embryo loss using t-test. Beta-actin gene was used as a housekeeping gene to compare results. Results showed ISG15 gene expression were greater in pregnant cows compared to early embryo loss (6.6 fold). Among HSP family gene considered in present study, HSP27 and HSP60 gene expression were similar between groups (p < 0.05). HSP40, HSP70 and HSP 90 genes expression were lower in pregnant cows compared to early embryo loss (4.7, 3.6 and 5.2 fold, respectively). In conclusion present study results showed among HSP family, there was an association among HSP40, HSP70 and HSP 90 genes expression and early embryo loss.

This experiment was conducted to compare the effect of natural mating (NM) and artificial insemination (AI) on reproductive performance in Chukar partridges. A total number of 96 female partridges were randomly assigned to two equal groups (four replicates of 12 birds each) to produce hatching eggs by either NM or AI. In addition to female partridges, one hundred forty-four male partridges were randomly selected where 48 and 96 numbers of those assigned to NM and AI treatment groups, respectively. The female partridges in both treatment groups were kept individually in cages for two weeks. Afterwards, one male partridge was randomly allotted to each female (a total of 48 male partridges) in the NM group. However, the female partridges in the AI group were inseminated by semen collected from 96 male partridges. During 10 days, 184 and 188 hatching eggs were collected for the NM and AI groups, respectively. The hatching eggs were then incubated. No significant differences were found between the NM and AI treatment groups in fertility rate (91.3 and 88.8%, respectively), hatchability of set eggs (58.1 and 53.2%, respectively) and hatchability of fertile eggs (63.7 and 59.9%, respectively). A high embryonic mortality rate was observed during the first 48 h of incubation (i.e. early mortality) in both NM (32.1%) and AI (31.7%) treatment groups; however, there were no significant differences between the treatment groups in embryonic mortality. In general, the efficiency of AI technique in Chukar partridges is comparable to that of natural mating.

After parturition, inflammation of the reproductive tract in cows is common because of bacterial contamination of the uterine lumen. To investigate the beneficial effects of dietary Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) supplementation on health status mediated by change in pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine genes expression, endometrial samples were collected from Holstein cows with similar parturition date and reproductive records. From day 21 before calving to day 42 after calving, cows were fed isonitrogenous, isocaloric, and isolipidic diets that differed only in the source of fats. Cows were fed diets supplemented with palm oil as control group (saturated FA; n= 8), and CLA for the treatments, and the rate of each fat in any diet was 75 g d-1</sup>. CLA-supplemented diet was provided with a mixture of trans</em>-10, cis</em>-12 CLA and cis</em>-9, trans</em>-11 CLA isomer. Rumen protected CLA provided 10 g d-1 </sup>each of trans</em>-10, cis</em>-12 CLA and cis</em>-9, trans</em>-11 CLA isomers. Uterine endometrial biopsies were collected at days 21 and 42 after calving and were prepared to determine pro-inflammatory [including Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNFα), InterLeukins (IL-1, IL-6, IL-8) and InterFeron-gamma (IFN-γ)] and anti-inflammatory [interleukin 10 (IL-10)] cytokine genes expression. Results showed that dietary CLA supplementation decreased the expression of IL-1 and IL-8 at days 21 (respectively, 1.8 and 3.9 fold) and 42 (respectively, 4 and 104 fold) postpartum and increased expression of IL-10 at days 21 and 42 (respectively, 9.7 and 2.5 fold). The TNFα expression significantly decreased in day 21 in CLA groups compared with palm (2.5 fold). There was no difference between groups for IL-6 expression. IFN-γ expression decreased in day 21 (3.0 fold) and, conversely, increased in day 42 (2.5 fold) in CLA group compared to palm. Our results showed that, during transition period, dietary supplementation with CLA reduced inflammatory processes via inhibiting pro-inflammatory cytokines and stimulating anti-inflammatory cytokines.

To study the effects of terbutaline (a beta adrenergic agonist) on performance of broiler chickens, 21 d-old male and female Cobb broiler chicks (n=300) were randomly assigned to one of five dietary treatments containing 0 (control), 5, 10, 15 and 20 mg terbutaline per kg diet. The feed conversion ratio (FCR), feed intake and body weight gain were measuered after 3 weeks. At 42-d age, six males and six females were randomly selected from each treatment and their live weight and weights of carcass, breast, breast muscle, drumsticks, drumstick muscle and abdominal fat were determined. Terbutaline didn’t affect daily weight gain, but FCR of male chicks was reduced for 5 and 10 mg/kg terbutaline treatments comapared with the control group (p<0.05). Carcass weight and weight of drumsticks, drumstick muscle, breast, breast muscle and ratio of breast to live weight of female chicks reciving 5 mg/kg terbutaline were higher than for other treatments (p<0.05). In male chicks, the live weight and weight of carcass, ratio of carcass to live weight, drumsticks and drumstick muscle at 5 mg/kg terbutaline treatment were higher than for other treatments (p<0.05). This experiment also showed that the addition of 5 mg terbotaline per kg diet during growing period improved FCR and ratio of carcass to live weight of male chicks, increased the ratio of breast to live weight of female chicks, and increased the carcass weight of male and female Cobb chicks.