مجله تحقیقات دامپزشکی
سال هفتاد و هفتم شماره 3 (پاییز 1401)

Ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma, also known as jaagsiekte, is a chronic, contagious, and transmissible lung cancer. It is prevalent in ovine spp while rarely occurring in caprine with long incubation period. The disease is mostly observed in older animals (over 2 years old).

The present study aims to determine the prevalence of the disease based on histopathological diagnosis and investigate its correlation with age and sex in the slaughtered local sheep in Garmsar (Semnan province).

Herein, the lungs of 9030 slaughtered sheep are morphopatthologically examined for the presence of ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma.

Based on the morphopathological examination, ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma was observed in the lungs of 438  (4.87 %) out of 9030 sheep. That said, 250 indicated the classical form, as firm, white to grayish coalescing masses mostly in the cranio-ventral lobes; this form is associated with wet cut surface and frothy fluid in the airways. The remaining 188 sheep showed the atypical form, as small, clear demarcated nodules mostly in diaphragmatic lobes associated with dry cut surface and minor fluid in the airways. Almost similar histopathological changes were seen in the two forms. An acinar or papillary growth of neoplastic cells in the alveoli and polypoid proliferation of bronchiolar epithelium were observed in both forms. However, there were variable amounts of connective tissue, and infiltration of lymphocytes and plasma cells in the interstitial tissue of the affected alveoli and no metastatic lesion in the lymph nodes. The peribronchial and peribronchiolar lymphoid aggregates were consistent features in most of the cases studied.

The findings of the present study, as the first report of ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma in sheep from Garmsa county, revealed the higher prevalence of this disease compared to that reported in previous reports in the country. Moreover, according to the obtained results, atypical and classical forms represented different stages of a single disease spectrum.

Cheese is recognized as a source of foodborne illness worldwide.

In this study, the growth inhibition of Aspergillus flavus inoculated on Iranian white cheese was investigated using cold atmospheric plasma and Zataria multiflora essential oil individually and in combination along with their effect on the sensory properties of cheese .

Slices of cheese cut in the presence and absence of 100 ppm of Zataria multiflora essential oil were exposed to cold atmospheric plasma for 2 and 5 minutes and stored in a refrigerator for 60 days. Afterwards, they were incubated in 5 time intervals (days 0, 15, 30, 45 and 60) and each was evaluated over a period of 10 days at 25 °C.

Based on the results, the plasma inhibitory effect had a pattern dependent on the plasma flow time and the increase in the flow time reduced the radial growth rate of mold. At all times of plasma flow, a significant inhibitory effect was observed on the mold growth compared to the control group (P<0.05). In terms of growth inhibition percentage, the lowest inhibition was detected in the presence of essential oil alone and the highest inhibitory property resulted from 5 minutes of plasma flow with essential oil. There was no difference between the sensory properties of plasma-treated cheese and the essential oil in combination with those of plasma-treated samples alone. The findings also showed that the addition of essential oil had no effect on the sensory properties of cheese.

Gliding arc plasma has inhibitory effects on the growth of Aspergillus flavus mold in cheese without adverse sensory changes, but the conditions must be optimized for industrial applications.

Microencapsulation of probiotic bacteria is an area that has rapidly expanded over the recent years. It is one of the new methods of improving probiotics stability, through which the biological agents are protected with an enclosed coating to release the active agents within the coating at a controlled rate in time and under special conditions.

The present study the aims to evaluate the effect of Lactobacillus plantarum microencapsulation with chitosan/alginate microparticles on the oxidative response of Nile tilapia fish (Oreochromis niloticus).

Herein, 240 pieces of Nile tilapia, with an average weight of 15.56±0.02 g, were randomly divided into four groups as follows: group1 or control with a diet without probiotics, groups 2, 3, and 4 respectively with a diet containing 108 Log CFU/g of unencapsulated Lactobacillus plantarum, a diet containing microencapsulated Lactobacillus plantarum, and with feed containing alginate with chitosan without the presence of bacteria. They were fed for 60 days at the rate of 2 % of body weight twice a day.

The activity level of oxidative enzymes, biochemical factors, and liver enzymes of the Nile tilapia fish were investigated. The findings revealed that oxidative enzymes, biochemical factors, and liver enzymes were positively affected in the groups with microencapsulated Lactobacillus plantarum (P<0.05). The three enzymes of alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, and alkaline phosphatase were higher in the micro-encapsulated probiotic group compared to the two groups of probiotics and alginate with chitosan without the presence of bacteria, and all the three groups performed better compared to the control (P<0.05).

Microencapsulation of probiotics maximizes the efficiency of probiotics in reducing oxidative stress.

Oxidative stress is believed to be one of the major causes of tissue damage in aquatic animals exposed to heavy metals. It leads to certain changes in the antioxidant and enzyme system. Given the fact that research on the effect of sub-acute toxicity of silver nitrate in shrimps is not very developed, the present study can be conducive to formulating the international standards of contamination of shrimps with silver nitrate.

The present study aimed to evaluate the toxic effects of silver nitrate on the changes in the antioxidant and enzyme systems of hepatopancreas, muscle and gills of Litopenaeus vannamei.

After acclimatization of shrimps, they were exposed to silver nitrate with concentrations of 0.0084, 0.021, 0.042 and 0.063 mg/L for 21 days. At the end of the experimental period, gill, muscle and hepatopancreas were sampled, and the changes in the antioxidant system (SOD, GPx and GST) and metabolic enzymes (ALT, ALP, AST and LDH) were examined.

There was no significant difference in terms of SOD and GST activity in the gill and muscle of the exposed shrimps (P>0.05). However, GPx in treatment 4 increased significantly in gill and muscle while it saw a decrease in hepatopancreas (P<0.05). In hepatopancreas, GST significantly increased in treatments 3 and 4 (P<0.05) whereas SOD did not show any significant changes compared with other treatments (P>0.05). The metabolic enzymes of the muscle did not show any significant differences in any of the treatments (P>0.05), but in gill, the level of ALT in treatment 4 decreased significantly while the levels of AST and LDH in treatment 3 and 4 significantly increased (P<0.05). In hepatopancreas, the activity of ALT in treatments 2 and 4, AST in treatments 3 and 4, and ALP in all treatment except treatment 1 saw significant reduction. Nevertheless, LDH in treatments 3 and 4 had a significant rise (P<0.05).

A significant increase in GST and LDH as well as a significant decrease in GPx and ALT, AST and ALP enzymes in the hepatopancreas revealed that the antioxidant and enzyme system of shrimps is further disturbed with the rise in silver nitrate concentration in the hepatopancreas compared to the gill and muscle.

Vanadium and zinc are identified as low-concentration elements in the body of living organisms with a wide range of activities. Their insulin-like activity, through regulating the metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, and eliminating the secondary symptoms of the disease, clearly demonstrates the ability of these elements to improve diabetes.

The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of vanadium-zinc complex on the structural, functional, and oxidative stress changes in liver tissue in adult diabetic male rats.

Herein, we recruited 40 adult male rats with the same weight range. They were randomly divided into four groups of 10, namely control, diabetic, healthy mice receiving vanadium-zinc complex, diabetic mice receiving vanadium-zinc complex) and received this combination at the rate of 10 mg / kg once a day for 60 days by oral gavage. At the end of the course, following blood sampling, part of the liver tissue was removed from the body to measure oxidative stress and the rest for stereological and histological studies. The serum isolated from the animals was also used to measure liver tissue functional enzymes (aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase).

The results of this research revealed that vanadium-zinc complex has no side effects on liver tissue in most case, but can greatly prevent structural damage to liver tissue by lowering blood glucose levels in diabetic rats and improving oxidative stress.

Vanadium-zinc complex can be utilized with a certain mechanism in order to control blood sugar and inhibit oxidative stress. It could be regarded as an appropriate approach to preventing liver damage following chronic hyperglycemia in diabetic patients.

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) encodes for highly variable molecules, most of which are responsible for foreign antigen recognition and activation of immune responses in the host. LEI0258 microsatellite, located in the poultry MHC region, is a suitable genetic marker for determining MHC haplotypes and genetic diversity in poultry.

Considering the fact that there is no report on the frequency and types of MHC alleles and population genetic analysis in Ross 308 poultry in Iran, the present study aimed to investigate the diversity of MHC haplotypes of Ross 308 broilers by LEI0258 microsatellite.

A total of 216 blood samples were collected from two productive herds of Ross 308 broilers. After extracting DNA of the blood samples and amplifying LEI0258 microsatellite alleles, genotyping of MHC haplotypes was performed using agarose gel electrophoresis and fragment analysis techniques.

A total of seven alleles and 21 genotypes were identified for LEI0258 microsatellite in these two groups. the highest and the lowest frequencies belonged respectively to allele 385 bp (42.86 %) and allele 300 bp (4.33 %). Heterozygous 207/385 was found to be the dominant genotype in both populations. According to the similarity matrix analysis, there was an 84.56 % similarity between the two groups.

The results obtained in this study revealed a high level of heterozygosity (85.71 % and 91.35 %) and deviation from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (P<0.0001) in these two Ross populations. Ross 308 broiler chickens had lower allelic diversity and higher genetic similarity compared to the native ones. These findings provided additional information on the use of MHC as a candidate gene marker in genetic improvement and resource conservation in broiler populations.

In bovine tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium bovis, cattle are known as the main host, and sheep are relatively resistant. Sheep become infected only when there is very close contact between cattle and sheep or when the mycobacterium is abundant in the environment. In the present study, a case of generalized tuberculosis was reported in the sheep of the Sanandaj slaughterhouse.The examined animal carcass was transferred from the slaughterhouse to the University of Kurdistan microbiology laboratory and was dissected under complete health safety conditions. In the carcass examination, necropsy lesions (generalized tubercular granulomas) were visible in different organs and mediastinal lymph nodes, bronchioles, mesentery, and liver portal system. These lesions were seen in the lymph nodes of different body parts, including the lung, liver, digestive system, reproductive system, bladder, and different muscles, including the peritoneal muscle, diaphragm muscle, and abdominal muscles.Diagnostic tests included clinical observations, Ziehl-Neelsen staining for Mycobacterium bacteria, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) molecular technique. In Ziehl-Neelsen staining, Mycobacterium acid-fast bacilli were seen in red color on the pale blue background of the slide. Also, the product of 499 base pairs was amplified in the specific PCR reaction, which confirmed Mycobacterium bovis.The present report shows that Mycobacterium bovis strains present in the region can be transmitted to sheep and cause disease with severe clinical symptoms. This report is critical, particularly for mixed cattle and sheep farming. Since cattle and sheep are kept together in many breeding farms in Kurdistan province, special attention was paid to the possibility of transmission of bovine tuberculosis to sheep and humans.