فصلنامه دامپزشکی ایران
سال نوزدهم شماره 78 (بهار 1402)

Hyperadrenocorticism (HAC), also known as Cushing's syndrome, is caused by chronic exposure to excessive glucocorticoids. The objective of this study was to determine the epidemiological and clinical (especially ophthalmic) findings of dogs with HAC to increase recognition of suspicious cases in clinical routines. This study was examined on thirty dogs from Tehran, Mazandaran, and Guilan provinces between April 2021 and May 2022. The dogs included in the current study, who all had confirmed Hyperadrenocorticism, were selected based on the clinical findings suggestive Cushing disease as well as positive low-dose dexamethasone-suppression test. Then, general information, clinical signs, and ophthalmic factors were examined and recorded. The data were analyzed using the Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, McNemar test, independent samples t-test, one-way ANOVA and LSD post hoc test. The mean age for the dogs with HAC was 9.7 years. The risk of HAC was also higher in neutered than intact dogs and also in terrier breed than other ones. Furthermore, significant differences were statistically observed concerning ophthalmic evaluations, including eye lesions, palpebral reflex, ophthalmic structural disorders, conjunctival, sclera, lens, retina, iris, and optic nerve involvement. However, gender, breed, common clinical manifestations, behavioural status, PLR test, menace test, dazzle test, cotton test, and corneal involvement did not show significant differences statistically. It was concluded that indoor and gonadectomized dogs had higher frequency in the studied population. We conducted epidemiological and clinical study of Cushing's disease in dogs in Iran, and for the first time, we examined the eye factors associated with this syndrome. These results support a better understanding of the canine hyperadrenocorticism in Iran. According to this study, the studied population resembles the profile described in European and North American epidemiologic studies, and the clinical picture of the HAC dog appears to be similar worldwide.

Neospora caninum is an intracellular parasite causing abortion and reproductive failure in cattle. The aim of this study was to determine the association between serum parasitemia and seropositivity in cows with no sign of abortion and their full term calves. For this purpose, 49 serum samples of normal full term delivering dairy cattle and their precolostral new born calves were tested by using PCR, nested-PCR and a new developed whole cell-based ELISA. Fourtheen of 49 mothers (28.57%) and 6 of 49 calves (12.24%) showed anti-Neospora serum antibodies and Neospora DNA, concurrently. All infected calves were born from infected mothers and the vertical rate of transmission among all samples was 6 out of 49 (12.24%) and from infected mothers 6 out of 14 (42.84%), based on different serum analyses. Eight out of 14 calves (57.14%) born from infected mothers were Neospora free. In conclusion, despite the presence of anti-Neospora serum antibodies in infected cows and calves, the parasite was not completely removed from the blood and so it seems that the presence of antibodies is not necessarily a sign of effective immunity.

Muscular stomach or gizzard is one of the most important parts of gastrointestinal tract in birds for mechanical and chemical digestion and can vary depending on the bird's eating habits. In the present study, the morphology of muscular stomach in common kestrel, steppe eagle, golden eagle and imperial eagle has been investigated and compared.

In this study, common kestrel (n=4), steppe eagle (n=5), golden eagle (n=4) and imperial eagle (n=6) which died because of broken leg and wing, sent to the faculty of veterinary science at Bu-Ali Sina University of Hamadan. The gizzard samples were fixed in 10% formalin buffer solution and the histological process was carried. Finally, H&E, Masson’s trichrome, Orcein and PAS staining were utilized.

The most important difference between the stomach of steppe, golden, and imperial eagles and common kestrel was the lack of keratinous layer in the surface of stomach in eagles. The histological structure of stomach in imperial eagle was more similar to that of steppe eagle. The differences of the stomach of imperial eagle were due to the presence of a thick muscle layer in several different rows with different directions in comparison with steppe and golden eagles.

It can be concluded that, the structure of muscular stomach in common kestrel was similar to gizzard, while the stomach in three species of eagles did not have a keratinous layer.

Widespread immigrant beekeeping activity, inadequate quality queen bee production and the excess of uncontrolled crossbreeding are great problems for the quality of honey bee races in Türkiye. However, the effects of uncontrolled crossbreeding on the spermatological parameters are not fully known. In this study, samples were analyzed in terms of morphometric parameters such as cubital index, hantel index and discoidal shift. Drones belonging to the same colonies were investigated in terms of spermatological parameters such as total motility, Plasma Membrane Integrity (PMI), Mitochondrial Membrane Potential (MMP) and spermatozoa concentration (SCON). The wing index values of the samples were similar to the wing values of some races. Racial similarities rates were50% Caucasian (A. m. caucacia), 49% Anatolian (A. m. anatoliaca), 24% Brown (A. m. mellifera), 13% Italian (A. m. ligustica) and 8% Carnolian (A. m. carnica). These results showed that the expected Anatolian race in the region had changed greatly and there is a danger of crossbreeding of bee races (Apis mellifera anatoliaca) in Central Anatolia Region. The averages of spermatological parameters were 85% motility, 82% PMI, 78% MMP and 5.9 × 109/ml sperm concentration. In addition, no significant correlative relationship was found between morphometric and spermatological parameters (p˃0.05). In this study, the samples of honey bee colonies in the Central Anatolia Region showed random and uncontrolled crossbreeding among different races. The spermatological parameters were found to be sufficient for fertility but there was no significant relationship detected statistically between the spermatological and morphometric parameters.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Eggplant peel extract on post-thawed ram sperm quality in a Tris-based extender. Semen was collected by artificial insemination vagina. Samples were pooled to prevent individual effects. Then ram semen samples were obtained, extended with Tris-based extender and supplemented with 0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8% Eggplant peel extract. Later, samples were frozen by liquid nitrogen in the straw (0.25 ml). After thawing, sperm motility, viability (Nigrosine–eosin staining), membrane integrity with Hypo osmotic (Host) and morphology abnormality (Hancock test) were evaluated. Results showed that the value of 2% (62.4) of the Eggplant extract peel had a significant effect on sperm motility and membrane integrity after thawing. Also, the 2% and 4% of Eggplant peel extract groups had the most significant motility as compared to the control group and, the least motility was regarded as the most concentration of 8% of the Eggplant peel extract as compared to the control group. Thus, adding 2% and 4% of the Eggplant peel extract to Tris-based extender preserved Farahani ram sperm after thawing.

The purpose of this research was to look for primordial germ cells in male gonads at various stages of the pheasant embryos. Primordial germ cells are cells that differentiate into sperm or oocyte and are important for the transmission of genetic information across generations. In this study, embryos were extracted in embryonic days 8-24. The primordial germ cells were recognized in paraffin and resin tissue sections on days 8 to 10 of embryogenesis owing to the specific properties of these cells, which included a large size, large nucleus and nucleolus, and little cytoplasm. The primordial germ cells in the testes were identified using histochemical and immunostaining techniques. Periodic Acid-Schiff method, immunohistochemistry using stage-specific embryonic antigen-1, alkaline phosphatase and toluidine blue staining were used to identify primordial germ cells. Germ cells were detected only in semithin sections at older ages (10-24 days). Moreover, the response of these cells was negative, at all ages, to alkaline phosphatase, Periodic Acid-Schiff staining and stage-specific embryonic antigen-1 reaction. The findings of this study revealed that primordial germ cells in the testicular tissue of pheasant embryos of all ages tested responded adversely to histochemical and immunohistochemical techniques. Also, this study showed that routine staining of hematoxylin and eosin and using semithin sections are suitable for the histological diagnosis of these cells.

Estrogen consumption in women can increase the risk of breast cancer. Estrogen stimulates the growth of cancer cells through the estrogen receptor alpha (ERα). One of the strategies that has recently been considered is the use of phytoestrogens. Previous studies have shown that Chaste-berry contains high levels of phytoestrogens. Scientists disagree on whether the phytoestrogens in Chaste-berry are used to treat many diseases in women, which are ERα or ERβ selective. In the present study, laying hens were used as a model to find the answer because only alpha estrogen receptor is expressed in the oviduct. In this study, the effect of Chaste-berry fruit powder on performance, egg quality, immune response, and the expression of GnRH, LH, ovalbumin (OVAL), and ovomucoid (OVM) genes in laying hens were evaluated. A total of 90 leghorns (Hy-Line, W-36) laying hens (at 72 to 80 weeks old) were used in a completely randomized design with three treatments and five replicates (n=6). The treatments were various levels of Chaste-berry fruit powder including zero, 1, and 2% levels of Chaste-berry fruit powder per kg of diet. Our results showed that performance parameters, egg quality factors, and immune responses were not significantly affected by various levels of Chaste-berry fruit powder. Moreover, the results indicated that the various levels of Chaste-berry did not have a significant effect on LH, OVAL, and OVM gene expression. However, GnRH gene expression was significantly increased in treatment 3 (a diet containing 2% Chaste-berry) compared to the control and 1% Chaste-berry groups. Moreover, the addition of 1% Chaste-berry fruit powder to the diet had no significant effect on GnRH gene expression. Therefore, Chaste-berry supplementation is not recommended in laying hens. Furthermore, our data reinforce this theory that phytoestrogens in Chaste-berry fruits are ERβ-selective.

Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the challenges in health system in occurrence of which oxidative stress plays an important role. Considering Froriepia subpinnata (Anarijeh=FS) antioxidant effects, this study aimed to investigate its effect on preventing the occurrence of liver toxicity induced by Trichloroacetic acid (TCA) in animal model. FS hydroalcoholic extract was prepared from the aerial parts by maceration method. Forty-eight rats were divided into 8 groups as: control animals, treated with TCA (500 mg/kg) TCA+FS treated groups (100, 200, 400 mg/ kg), FS treated group 400 mg/kg, and doxorubicin (DOX) treated group (at 2.5 mg/ kg) and TCA + DOX treated group. After 28 days, blood was collected and serum was isolated. then Malondialdehyde (MDA), Glutathione peroxidase (GPx), Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) were measured followed by liver tissue examination of histopathologically by light microscope. TCA significantly increased the amount of MDA and FS, at different concentrations, (100, 200, and 400mg/kg) decreased it compared to other groups (P≤0.05). The amount of TNFα was decreased by TCA but DOX increased considerably and FS treatment did not change the effect of TCA on TNFα level. Serum level of GPX, TAC, ALT, AST and ALP did not change by either TCA or FS treatment. TCA damaged liver tissue and caused hepatocyte degeneration, sinusoidal stenosis and vacuolization of cytoplasm. FS protected liver tissue in a dose dependent manner and at the dose of 400 mg/kg had better effect on reducing tissue damages. FS has a protective effect against histopathological changes induced by TCA in rat's liver tissue.

In this study, 73 non-pregnant and clinically healthy and lactating Holstein cows without any clinical signs, and with a mean parity of 3.2 ± 1.4, days in milk at the beginning of study 110 ± 20 days, body condition scour (BCS) of about 3.2 ± 0.3, and milk production rate of 48± 10 kg were selected and randomly placed in two treatment and control groups. In the treatment group (n=36), arginine (155 μmol / kg body weight) was injected once every 8 hours a day for 6 days, and in the control group (n=37) saline solution (0.11 ml/kg body weight, once every 8 hours a day) was injected for 6 days. The results showed that there was no difference between the treatment and the controle group in terms of milk production (38.5 and 36 kg, P=0.3), fat (3.7 and 3.8%, P=0.8) and protein (3.1 and 3.1%, P=0.5) levels.  It was concluded from this study that the use of arginine after the peak of milk production could not increase the fat, protein, and production levels of milk.

This study investigated the efficiency of substituting conventional gonadotropin-based technique with letrozole based regimen in reproductive parameters and hormonal changes in Farahani sheep during the breeding season. For this this purpose, 40 Farahani ewes (3-4 years, 44±2.3 kg BW, BCS 3.12±0.5) were treated with intravaginal CIDR for 14 days and then were divided into four groups: one group was considered as the control, the other groups received eCG (400 IU, intramuscularly), hCG (400 IU, intramuscularly) and letrozole (7.5 mg, oral), respectively. Blood samples were taken from three days before CIDR removal. The reproductive parameters were calculated after parturition. Fecundity and multiple lambing were numerically higher in the eCG group; however, there was no significant difference in reproductive performance between treatments. Estrogen concentrations showed an increasing trend in all treatments. Results of this study showed that letrozole was not a reliable substitute for eCG to increase the ovulation rate in sheep.