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Assessment of heavy metal concentration and blood profiles of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) in Sabiyal Lake, Aliero Local Government, Kebbi State, Nigeria Full text
2025
D.J. Bawa | S. Abdulrahman | A. Tukur | B. Abubakar | S. Pourmozaffar | I. Adeshina
Although sabiyal wetland is supposed to sieve pollutants carried by the lake, growing human activity has caused it to deteriorate and shrink in size, reducing its ability to do so and allowing waste to flow into the lake. This makes evaluating the effects of wastewater in that lake urgently necessary. Since little is known about the use of serum and haematological assays to assess fish health in relation to heavy metals, this study is essential. This study aims to evaluate African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) blood profiles and heavy metal concentrations in Sabiyal Lake, Aliero, Nigeria. The study was conducted in Kebbi State's Aliero Local Government Area, specifically at Sabiyal Lake. For this investigation, five percent (5%) of the C. gariepinus that were caught were used. Samples of blood, gills, and bone were obtained using conventional techniques. Heavy metal analysis was done on all samples, while haematological, plasma, and serum analyses were done on the blood samples. The findings indicated that there was a huge variation in the haematological variables during the course of the research periods (p<0.05). Decreased plasma biochemistry (p<0.05) and different enzymes (p<0.05). The blood, gills, and bone of fish collected from Sabiyal Lake showed varying levels of heavy metal contamination. Fish collected in October had the highest concentration of lead, copper, zinc, cadmium, and iron, while fish recorded in December had the lowest concentration. The investigation found that the high concentration of heavy metals had an impact on the fish from Sabiyal Lake's haematology, biochemistry, and blood enzymes. Therefore, more study should be done to monitor and control the fish and water in Sabiyal Lake.
Show more [+] Less [-]Using principal component analysis to identify the component affecting skull weight of Japanese Quail Full text
2025
israa Abd Alsada
Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is a powerful statistical tool used to reduce the complexity of large datasets while preserving significant variations. In this study, PCA was applied to explore the morphological traits of Japanese quails (Coturnix japonica), specifically focusing on skull measurements to identify key components affecting skull weight. A total of 112 quails (64 males and 48 females) were measured for various skull features, which were then analyzed through PCA. The analysis extracted three principal components for both sexes, explaining 52.76% of the variance in males and 56.52% in females. Key features such as Cerebellar Prominentia and Paraoccipital Process were identified as significant contributors to skull morphology. PCA was correspondingly applied to the measurements of male and female Japanese Quails' skulls, in order to identify those components which may explain most of the variation in skull weight. In this respect, simplification of data by PCA may indicate which morphological features supply most to the observed variation in skull weight and, therefore, provide interesting insights into the avian skull morphology. The goal of this research will be helpful in the laying of clear understanding regarding the anatomical features highly influential for skull structure, and of high importance to evolutionary biology, studies of veterinary importance, and poultry breeding programs. These findings highlight the applicability of PCA in anatomical studies and provide a deeper understanding of avian skull morphology.
Show more [+] Less [-]Histological Effects of Potassium Dichromate on Ovaries and Thyroid Gland in Adult Female Rats Full text
2025
Ola Raad Bader, Murtada Faraj Abdul-Hussein.
The current study was designed to Know the Potassium dichromate (chromium) effects of histological structure on ovaries and thyroid glands in adult female rats. Twenty-one adult female rats were divided into three groups. The first group (n=7) animals received distal water as the control group, the second group (n=7) animals received potassium dichromate dissolved in distal water at a dose (n= 8.5 mg\kg), and the third group (n=7) animals received potassium dichromate at a dose (n= 4.25 mg\kg) dissolved in distal water. Animals received chromium orally by gavage for 30 days. The animals were sacrificed at the last experiment and the ovaries and thyroid have been isolated for histological study. Results showed normal ovarian histological structure in the control group and normal collagen fibers surrounding the vascular tissues. The potassium dichromate-treated group showed cysts, hemorrhage, distortion of granulosa cells, and collagen fibers not appearing with high doses. Histological ovarian sections in the treated group at a low dose of chromium showed normal ovarian structure with few fibroblasts. Normal thyroid follicles appeared in the control group. Thyroid gland structure in the treatment group at high doses of chromium showed the epithelium follicles have hyperplasia with distortion of follicle cells and walls. The follicles in the low dose group of chromium showed damage to follicle cells, vacuolated and limited hyperplasia. Therefore, chromium directly or indirectly affects of ovaries and thyroid glands
Show more [+] Less [-]Molecular detection of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolated from Subclinical Mastitis Cows in Basrah Province. Full text
2025
Zainab Abdulameer Farhan, Nawres Norri Jaber, Rana Adnan Fayez.
Out of 200 milk samples collected from apparently normal cows in Basrah province from 21 November 2023 to 6 February 2024, 95 (48)% were positive for the CMT test. This study used various techniques to detect the presence of staphylococcus aureus, including conventional microbiological assays (mannitol salts agar and CHROMagar™ Staph aureus) and molecular methods (amplifying the nuc gene using polymerase chain reaction ). The percentage of S. aureus isolates was 38 (19 % ).From 38 ( 19 %) S. aureus isolates, 27 (71%) carried the mecA gene, 6 (16%) carried pvl, while none of the isolates carried the mecC gene.
Show more [+] Less [-]Exploring the Therapeutic Efficacy of Iraqi Frog Bile Extract on SKGT4 and AMGM Cell Line Activities Full text
2025
wafeeq Al Ismaeel
AbstractThe potential of natural extracts in cancer treatment has garnered significant attention, particularly for their ability to target cancer cell proliferation. In this study, the cytotoxic effects of bile juice extracted from the Iraqi Eastern Green Frog were investigated on two cancer cell lines: SK-GT-4 (esophageal cancer) and AMGM (glioblastoma). This study demonstrated the dose-dependent cytotoxic effects of Iraqi frog bile juice on both SK-GT-4 and AMGM cancer cell lines. MTT assay results showed that bile juice significantly inhibited cell proliferation, with the highest concentrations (6000 µg/ml and 2000 µg/ml) showing substantial inhibition. For SK-GT-4 cells, the inhibition reached 79.35% at 6000 µg/ml, while for AMGM cells, the inhibition was 67.54% at the same concentration. At lower concentrations (500 µg/ml), inhibition was minimal, with SK-GT-4 cells showing only a 7.85% inhibition and AMGM cells showing 2.02%. The IC50 values were calculated as 1674 µg/ml for SK-GT-4 and 1879 µg/ml for AMGM cells. The results suggest that bile juice from the Iraqi Eastern Green Frog possesses significant anticancer activity, particularly against esophageal cancer (SK-GT-4) and glioblastoma (AMGM) cells, with a clear dose-dependent response. These findings highlight the potential of frog bile as a natural agent for cancer treatment. Future studies should focus on isolating and identifying the active compounds in the bile, exploring their mechanisms of action, and evaluating their therapeutic potential in vivo.
Show more [+] Less [-]PREVALENCE OF COCCIDIOSIS AND CECAL COCCIDIOSIS AMONG BROILER FARMS IN DUHOK PROVINCE, IRAQ Full text
2025
Shameeran Ismael | Khalid Aziz | Farhad Mikaeel
This study aimed to determine the prevalence of coccidiosis in broiler farms in Duhok Province, Iraq. A cross-sectional study was performed from June to October 2023. 600 fresh fecal samples were collected from the litters of the suspected farms, and the parasitological examinations were carried out using standard methods by using both direct fecal and flotation fecal methods for searching for coccidian oocysts. Also, 600 intestine and ceca samples were collected from the same chicken for macroscopic examination to report the presence of any pathological changes in the intestine and the ceca. The study findings revealed a high prevalence rate of coccidiosis (60%) among broiler farms in Duhok Province. Regarding ages, the ages 4-6 weeks were observed the most prevalent for infection (66.56%) than in other age groups. This study revealed that the infection rate of coccidiosis was higher in the Autumn season than in the summer season. According to the gross examination, most cases showed positive for Eimeria tenella (4433%), which indicates cecal coccidiosis and (55.7%) were positive with other Eimeria spp. Finally, some positive cases of Eimeria tenella were found infected with other species. The prevalence of coccidiosis among broiler farms was high in this study, especially, cecal coccidiosis and this is associated with several risk factors such as poor management, bad ventilation systems, humidity, and inadequate biosecurity systems in the farms.
Show more [+] Less [-]Multi-drug resistant pattern of Escherichia coli isolated from cattle, human diarrheal cases and environment samples in Basrah Province Full text
2025
Mariam Issam Abdullah, Rasha M. Othman, Nawres Norri Jaber.
The aim of the present study is to diagnose the multidrug resistant Escherichia coli that has been isolated from human and animal’s diarrheal cases and from environmental samples, the results of bacterial culturing methods revealed that out of 250 collected samples, 53 of isolates exhibited characteristic greenish metallic sheen colonies on EMB agar with bright pink lactose fermenting capabilities on MacConkey agar. Additionally, the conventional PCR assay was used to identified the E. coli species based on uidA gene, the results shown that all of isolates (100%) having the target gene. The results were also revealed the incidence rate of MDR Escherichia coli isolated among cattle, humans, and the environment which seem to have a similar rates of resistance for the five classes of antibiotics. Furthermore, MDR E. coli isolated from humans, animals, and the environment exhibited a high 100% resistance to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, as well as (66.66, 83.33, and 72.72) resistance to aminoglycosides (gentamicin and streptomycin), 56.66%, 66.66%, 81.81% resistance to tetracycline (tetracycline), and 66.66%, 50%,100% resistance to dihydrofolate (trimethoprim), while it showed less resistance to quinolones (Nalidixic acid) 20%, 25%, and 18.18% respectively.
Show more [+] Less [-]PCR detection of Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria 16s rDNA and its Relation to Bovine IL6 Concentration in Subclinical Mastitis Cow's Milk Full text
2025
Rawa Zubairi | Moaed H. Sayhood
The mammary tissue gets inflamed when it is affected by mastitis. Inflammation is indicated by changes in the appearance and color of clots, also by an increase in milk cell counts. The current research sought to determine how leukocytes alter Interleukin (IL) 6 concentrations in milk and the role of nontuberculous mycobacteria concentration (NTM) as an accusatory agent in subclinical mastitis (SCM). The major screening method for subclinical mastitis in samples of cow's milk was Modified Whiteside Test (MWT). A total of 58 out of 70 (82.9%) exhibited positive SCM reactions, according to the test results; of these, 22 out of 70 (31.5%) had a strong SCM reaction (+++ve), 25 (35.7%) had a slight (1.5%) SCM reaction (++ve), and 11 (15.7) had a moderate SCM reaction (++ve). The 16s rRNA-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been used for confirming the existence of NTM spp in the examined cow's milk samples. Out of 70 milk samples, 3 (4.3%) had positive PCR results. ELISA test was used to ascertain the impact of somatic cell count on concentration of IL-6 in cow's milk. The test's findings have shown that there was a significant variation (P<0.05) in the mean concentration regarding IL-6 in SCM milk. Cow's milk samples with considerable SCM reaction (++ve) had a higher mean IL-6 concentration (474.5670), while milk samples with modest SCM reaction (+ve) had a lower mean IL-6 concentration.
Show more [+] Less [-]Investigating methylparaben’s oxidative stress effects on rainbow trout blood, liver, and kidney toxicity Full text
2025
Mert Calisir | Gokhan Nur | Emrah Caylak
The widespread use of parabens has led to their accumulation in aquatic environments. This study examined the effects of methylparaben on rainbow trout, dividing 96 fish into control and treatment groups (1 mg/L, 5 mg/L, and 8 mg/L). Results showed dose-dependent weight loss, altered hepatosomatic indices, increased serum urea, uric acid, and Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and decreased Glutathione Peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity. Histopathological analysis revealed liver and kidney abnormalities in treated groups, including hepatocyte degeneration, proliferation in the bile duct, glomerular atrophy, reduced haematopoietic tissue, increased melanomacrophage centres, necrosis and fibrosis. Contribution: These findings highlight methylparaben’s toxic effects, emphasising the need for stricter regulations and further research to safeguard aquatic ecosystems and understand its impact on aquatic organisms.
Show more [+] Less [-]Spatiotemporal analysis of African swine fever in wild boar in Serbia from 2020 to 2024 Full text
2025
Dimitrije Glišić | Sofija Šolaja | Ljubisa Veljović | Jelena Maksimović-Zorić | Vesna Milićević
African swine fever (ASF) is a highly fatal viral haemorrhagic disease affecting pigs. This study uses official surveillance data to investigate the persistence and spread of ASF in wild boar populations in Serbia from 2020 to 2024. A total of 480 ASF cases were analysed, with spatiotemporal clustering conducted via SaTScan™ and proximity analyses performed in the Quantum Geographic Information System. The yearly prevalence of ASF in wild boar rose steadily from 0.66% in 2020 to 1.47% in 2023. Seasonal trends showed a significant increase in cases during winter (68%) and spring (24%). Five distinct clusters were identified, predominantly near the borders with North Macedonia and Bulgaria, suggesting potential cross-border transmission. Proximity to major roads was significantly associated with ASF case distribution (p 0.01), while proximity to water bodies and elevation showed no consistent pattern. The findings highlight critical gaps in current passive surveillance systems, which likely underestimate ASF prevalence. The study underscores the need for enhanced surveillance in remote and wooded areas and proposes strategies to improve ASF monitoring and control in wild boar populations. Contribution: This study highlights the feasibility of cost-effective, non-invasive surveillance methods for ASF detection, offering critical insights for low-income countries where resources for intensive disease monitoring are limited. By demonstrating how environmental and anthropogenic factors drive ASF dynamics, this research provides actionable strategies for improving regional and global ASF control efforts.
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