The direct effects of ketamine-xylazine (KET-XYL) on vascular function have not been investigated in rabbits. The short-term cardiovascular effects of intravenous (IV) KET-XYL bolus injection, therefore, should be investigated using vascular ultrasonography.In this prospective experimental study, KET-XYL anesthesia was induced IV in 9 female New Zealand White rabbits before 3 defined test bolus injections of KET-XYL were given IV. Before and for 10 min after each KET-XYL injection vascular and hemodynamic variables were recorded at the left common carotid artery (ACC) after the 1st injection, and at the abdominal aorta (AA) after the 2nd injection. Echocardiography was performed after the 3rd injection to investigate changes in cardiac parameters.Ketamine-xylazine IV caused a significant increase in vessel diameter at the ACC and AA. Average volumetric flow significantly decreased at the ACC and pulsatility index significantly decreased at the AA. Fractional shortening (FS) and heart rate significantly decreased, while mean arterial blood pressure initially increased.Bolus injections of KET-XYL IV produced a transient vasodilatation at the ACC and AA. Despite central vasodilatation, bradycardia, and decrease of FS and average volumetric flow (VFave), mean arterial blood pressure did not significantly decrease indicating well-preserved cardiovascular compensatory mechanism after the ratio and doses of KET-XYL IV bolus injections used in this study.

This study assessed the protective efficacy of oral vaccination with 2 experimental attenuated Salmonella Typhimurium-vectored vaccines for necrotic enteritis in protecting chickens against intestinal colonization by common serovars of Salmonella belonging to the 4 major serogroups affecting chickens. Birds were vaccinated orally with 1 × 108 colony-forming units (CFU) of 1 of the vaccine strains χ9241 and χ9352, which express a plasmid-encoded partial recombinant hypothetical protein gene (tHP) of Clostridium perfringens, at days 1 and 7 of age, and then were challenged at 14 d of age with 106 CFU of Salmonella serovars Anatum, Enteritidis, Heidelberg, Kentucky, or Typhimurium (representative serovars of serogroups B, C, D, and E). Birds were necropsied at 4 wk of age, and samples were collected to determine reduction in tissue and intestinal colonization. The chickens vaccinated with χ9241-tHP showed reduced colonization by Salmonella Enteritidis (serogroup D) and by Salmonella Heidelberg and Salmonella Typhimurium (serogroup B) compared with the control birds. No reduction in colonization was observed in the chickens vaccinated with χ9352-tHP. There was an association between the efficacy of these vaccine strains in protecting against necrotic enteritis, assessed on an earlier occasion, and their efficacy in protecting against Salmonella colonization. Thus, the choice of an attenuated Salmonella Typhimurium vaccine vector for delivery of heterologous antigens to chickens should be based partly on the vaccine’s value in protecting against colonization by serovars within serogroups B and D. Such vectors would have the additional benefit of reducing colonization of important Salmonella serovars.

Feline serum samples (n = 434) were classified as hypercalcemic, normocalcemic, or hypocalcemic based on both total calcium (tCa) and ionized calcium (iCa) concentrations. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), positive diagnostic likelihood ratio (PDLR), and negative diagnostic likelihood ratio (NDLR) were calculated for prediction of hypercalcemia and hypocalcemia in all samples, in hypoalbuminemic cats, and in those with chronic renal failure (CRF) as compared with cats that had other conditions. Diagnostic discordance in prediction of iCa using tCa was 40%. Sensitivity of tCa in prediction of ionized hypercalcemia was low and specificity was high. The PDLR for prediction of ionized hypercalcemia or hypocalcemia was low in all cats, especially in those with CRF. Due to the high level of diagnostic discordance, tCa should not be used to predict iCa concentration. Concentration of iCa should be measured directly when accurate assessment of calcium status is needed.

Male Japanese black bears (Ursus thibetanus japonicus) have an explicit reproductive cycle. The objective of this study was to clarify the variation of plasma testosterone, FSH, inhibin, LH levels and testicular gonadotropin receptor mRNA expression of male bears associated with their testicular activity. Notably, this study investigated peripheral FSH concentration and localization of gonadotropin receptor mRNAs for the first time in male bears. Blood and testicular tissue samples were taken from captive, mature, male Japanese black bears during testicular active, regressive and recrudescent phases. Plasma hormone concentrations were measured by immunoassays, and gonadotropin receptor mRNA expression in the testis was investigated by in situ hybridization technique and also by real-time PCR. There were significant variations in plasma testosterone and inhibin concentrations. Changes in FSH concentration preceded these hormones with a similar tendency. Hormones started to increase during denning, and achieved the highest values at the end of the recrudescent phase for FSH and in the active phase for testosterone and inhibin. These changes in hormone concentrations were accompanied by testicular growth. In situ hybridization analysis revealed that FSH and LH receptor mRNA was possibly expressed in Sertoli cells and Leydig cells, respectively, as they are in other mammals. However, neither plasma LH concentration nor testicular gonadotropin receptor mRNA expression level varied significantly among the sampling months. These results suggest that FSH, inhibin and testosterone have roles in testicular activity in male bears. This study provides important endocrine information for comprehending seasonal reproductivity in male Japanese black bears.

The objective of this study was to investigate the changes in synovial fluid concentration of collagen type II cleavage site (C2C) and pro collagen II C-propeptide (CPII), markers of joint cartilage degeneration and synthesis, respectively, in horses with intraarticular fracture or osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD), and to examine the relationship between arthroscopic findings and these biomarker levels. Synovial fluid was collected from 36 joints in 18 horses (6 fractures and 12 OCDs). Samples from contralateral normal joints, when available, served as controls (n=12). Concentrations of C2C and CPII were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbant assays. Moreover, the severity of the cartilage degradation was graded arthroscopically in 16 horses, and the correlation between the C2C and CPII levels and the arthroscopic scores were investigated. Compared to the control, the concentration of C2C was increased in OCD joints but not in fracture joints, whereas the concentration of CPII was increased in fracture joints but not in OCD joints. Within each disease group there was no correlation between biomarker levels and arthroscopic findings. Therefore, although C2C and CPII have diagnostic potential further knowledge is required to provide accurate analysis.

The mRNA from distal ileum of Indian goat was cloned and characterized after purification. cDNA was synthesized using goat ileal epithelial RNA, omniscript and sensiscript reverse transcriptase and amplified by Hotstart Taq DNA polymerase with primers designed by taking conserved regions of cattle enteric _Ò-defensin, cattle lingual antimicrobial peptide(LAP) and goat _Ò-defensin-2 sequences. The amplified cDNA of 253bp was, ligated to linearised TA cloning vector and transformed into XLblue strain of E.coli which was grown overnight at 37oC in a LB plate containing ampicillin, IPTG and X-Gal. The recombinant plasmid was isolated and digested with NcoI. The white colonies showed a release of 253bp insert. The sequence analysis showed 26, 16 and 5-nucleotide substitution having 85.6%, 91.3%, 97.4% homology with reported cattle EBD, buffalo EBD and goat BD2 mRNA respectively. The deduced amino acid sequence encodes for a 64 amino acid precursor peptide showing 12,18 and 4 amino acid substitution having 80%, 70.8%, 93.8% homology with buffalo EBD, cattle EBD and goat BD2 peptide respectively. Both nucleotide and amino acid sequence homology showed that the cloned sequence was closer to goat BD2.

The effect of addition of Melia azedarach (fruit), Pimpinella anisum (seed), Cuminum cyminum linn (seed), Murraya koenigii (leaves), Emblica officinalis (fruit), Allium sativum linn (bulb), Terminalia arjuna (bark), Sapindus trifoliatus (seed), Zingiber officinale (rhizome), Trigonella foenun-graecum (seed) at three dose level (1.5%, 2.0% and 3.0% of DM) on pH, dry matter and organic matter digestibility of feed was studied with rumen liquor of goat. There was no significant change in the in vitro fluid pH, showing no adverse effect of herb addition. The addition of all the herbs at 1.5% level had no significant (P 0.05) effect on in vitro dry matter and organic matter digestibility. There was slight improvement in dry matter and organic matter digestibility with the addition of Trigonella foenungraecum at 2% level as compared to control. At 3% level of addition of this herb, there was significant (P 0.05) increase in the in vitro dry matter digestibility (%) with Trigonella foenun-graecum (51.97) as compared to control (43.95). Similarly there was significant (P 0.05) increase in the in vitro organic matter digestibility (%) with Trigonella foenun-graecum (54.95) as compared to control (46.87) having with no addition of herbs. So Trigonella foenun-graecum (seed) at 3% dose level can be further explored in in vivo experiment to utilize it as a feed additive to increase the digestibility of feed in goats.

Therapeutic and anti-inflammatory potential of aqueous extract of Phyllanthus emblica (Common name - Amla) was evaluated in mastitic cows. The milk Somatic Cell Count (SCC) and ceruloplasmin concentration was significantly (P0.05) higher in mastitic cows prior to treatment. The parameters of mastitic cows treated with P. emblica (group III) and with amoxicillin sulbactum combination (group IV) were compared to that of healthy cows (group I and II). Significant reduction (P0.05) in Somatic Cell Count (SCC) was observed in both the treated groups. The level of ceruloplasmin significantly (P0.05) reduced in group III and IV after treatment. Results of the present experiment indicate reduction of SCC and ceruloplasmin level in the mastitic animals treated with the P.emblica extract. The extract of P. emblica significantly reduced (P0.05) the udder inflammation and helped in lowering the concentration of inflammatory marker ceruloplasmin. Therefore P. emblica extract could be advised for the treatment of bovine mastitis.

Recombinant LipL32 and LipL41 outer membrane proteins of Leptospira interrogans serovar Canicola were produced, and used as a pooled antigen in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect leptospiral antibodies in bovine sera samples. The optimum concentration of the pooled antigen was found to be 50ng of each antigen per well by using known positive and negative cattle sera. Using a total of 500 bovine sera samples the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of pooled antigen based ELISA as compared to microscopic agglutination test (MAT) were 100%, 88.1% and 91.6%, respectively. The results suggested that antigen in ELISA could be preferred for detection of all those cases, which might have remained undiagnosed by performing MAT.

The study was conducted on twelve normally calved, suckled, lactating Murrah buffaloes, aged 57.9±3.2 months from 1st to 3rd parity. The animals varied from 12 to 30 days postpartum at the start of experiment and suckling was restricted to twice daily (before milking). The objective of the study was to monitor ovarian follicular changes during early postpartum in Murrah buffaloes using a real time Bmode ultrasonography. Only 3 out of 12 animals showed cyclicity during observation period. Large follicles (8 to 10 mm) were detected for the 1st time at 24.4±1.99 days, whereas 10 mm follicles were first noticed at 26.0±1.41 days. The duration of growth of dominant follicle (9.3±0.48 days) was higher than duration of its regression (7.1±0.40 days), thereby indicating that the rate of regression is faster (0.73±0.03 mm/d) as compared to rate of growth (0.64±0.02 mm/d). The duration of growth of corpus luteum formed after 1st ovulation was very short (8.67±1.44 days). The largest diameter attained by first postpartum ovulatory follicle was 13.0±1.10 mm and the calving to first postpartum ovulation interval was 52.67±8.02 days in the present study. It is concluded that very few (25%) buffaloes experience ovulations in early postpartum period (within 2 months postpartum). Low number of buffaloes displayed spontaneous resumption of postpartum cyclicity although ovaries of all the animals exhibited follicular activity.