Leptospirosis is a zoonosis with numerous reservoir hosts. The disease is caused by infection with various serovars of Leptospira interrogans sensu lato. This study was conducted to evaluate the seroprevalence of leptospiral infection in stray cats in Ahvaz (south-western Iran) from April 2007 to June 2008. Blood samples were collected from 102 stray cats and screened for leptospiral infection using the microscopic agglutination test (MAT). Five of the 102 cats (4.9%) were serologically positive for at least one serovar of L. interrogans. The greatest number of reactors was for L. interrogans serovar balum (five serum samples). Antibodies against more than one serovar (namely, serovars balum and australis) were detected in one sample. All positive titers were detected at 1:100 dilution. The prevalence of leptospiral infection was 5.3% and 4.4% in male and female cats, respectively. There was no significant difference in positive titer prevalence between different sexes but prevalence was significantly different between age groups (P = 0.021), as all cats with positive titers were three years of age or more. This is also the first report of infection with L. interrogans serovars balum and australis from cats in Iran.

Avian chlamydiosis is one of the most important infectious diseases of birds. Despite the rapid growth of exotic bird populations in Iran, there is little or no information on the specific infections that these types of birds carry. In this study, conventional isolation methods were used in cell culture to study occurrence of infection in pet birds. Samples from the conjunctiva, choana, and cloaca and/or droppings were provided from 17 birds of different species. The samples were used to infect McCoy cell culture to isolate Chlamydophila psittaci. The inoculated cells were fixed, stained by Giemsa, mounted on slides using Entellan® and observed by light microscope for the presence of typical chlamydial inclusion bodies. Chlamydophila psittaci was isolated from four birds including a ring-necked parakeet (Psittacula krameri), an Alexandrine parakeet (Psittacula eupatria), an African grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus), and a Timneh grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus timneh). All negative cultures were passaged a further two times. To the best of our knowledge; the report represents the first isolation of chlamydia from birds in Iran.

Hair samples from 58 healthy camels were examined for the presence of saprophytic fungi. One -hundred and seventy-four samples were obtained from three different locations of dromedary camel's body. Several fungal specific media were used for isolating and identifying the saprophytes. Fungal isolates belonged to 15 genera. The most common in order of frequency were members of the genera Aspergillus (48% of the total examined camels), Penicillium (16.1%), Mucor (14.2%), Alternaria alternata (5.6%), Rhizopus (3.1%), Chrysosporium (2.7%), Acremonium (1.1%), Scoupolariopsis (1%), Cladosporium (0.8%), Fusarium, Psuedallescheria boydii and Stachybotrys atra (0.2%). The highest frequently yeasts isolated were related to Candida species (6%), followed by Geotrichum candidum (0.6%) and Malassezia species (0.2%). Skin infections caused by any of the contaminants were not encountered. The study demonstrates that Aspergillus, Penicillium and Mucor species were the common components of healthy camel skin mycoflora, and that camel hair analyzed in this study was free from true dermatophyte.

Avian intestinal spirochetosis (AIS) is a disease of birdscharacterized by a marked colonization of the cecum and/or rectumwith anaerobic intestinal bacteria of the genus Brachyspira. Thepurpose of the study was to determine the occurrence of Brachyspiraspp from avian sources in Iran and to characterize selected isolates bybiochemical and molecular methods. Out of 165 fecal samples obtained from commercial layer, broiler and broiler breeder chickens, turkeys and ostriches, 16 samples were positive in phase contrast microscopy examination and selective culture media. Biochemical scheme, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and sequencing of partial sequence of 16S rDNA, revealed that all of isolates were Brachyspira pilosicoli, a broad spectrum host member of this genus that infects both humans and animals. This is the first report on isolation andidentification of Brachyspira pilosicoli from birds in Iran.

In this study, immune responses against Streptococcus iniae infections in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were analyzed. Anti-streptococcal antibody (ASA) levels, respiratory burst activity (RBA), phagocytic activity (PA) and phagocytic index (P index) were measured in kidney macrophages. Fish were allocated to three experimental groups (n = 50 per group): survivors of natural S. iniae infections, non-exposed healthy fish immunized by immersion with formalin-killed S. iniae bacterin and a control group of non-exposed healthy fish. Blood sera and kidney samples were collected from each group (n = 10 fish) at days 0, 15, 30, 45 and 65 post-immunization (p.i.). Analysis of ASA levels, RBA, PA and P index in survivors of Streptococcus infections revealed optical density (OD) values of 0.082-0.091, 0.089-0.091, 53-55 and 1.8-1.9 respectively. In the immunized non-exposed group, the ASApeak antibody level occurred at day 15 (mean OD=0.122) and declined significantly by day 65 (p

Role of the protein overexpression is very important in the pathogenesis, diagnosis and prognosis of neoplasia. Cases of overexpression of p53 and Ki67 proteins were investigated in 19 ocular squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) in dairy cows. Microscopically, insix cases the tumors were carcinoma in situ (noninvasive carcinoma, G0), and in the remaining 13 cases the tumors were invasive carcinoma. The distribution of invasive carcinoma was as follows: G1, 1 (7.6%); G2, 1 (7.6%); G3, 3 (23.0%); G4, 8 (61.8%). Of the 19 tumors, 18 were immunoreactive for p53 (++), and 14 showed Ki67 expression (++). A significant positive correlation was found between the percentage of p53 stained nuclei and the degree of differentiation. The Ki67 index showed a significant negative correlation with the histological pattern, where the greatest proliferation was found in the most poorly differentiated OSCC. As in human squamous cell carcinoma(SCC), p53 overexpression is frequent in bovine OSCC, providing support for a possible role of the protein in the pathogenesis of this neoplasm.

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is a common household plant grows in many parts of the world, including Iran. Rosemary leaves are used in folk medicine as an antispasmodic, analgesic, diuretic and ntiepileptic agent. The objective of this study was to investigate the antinociceptive mechanisms of rosemary extract using a writhing test as a model of visceral pain. Possible antinociceptive mechanisms were explored by testing the effects of naloxone (nonselective opioid antagonist), cyproheptadine (nonselective serotonin antagonist), Chicago sky blue 6B (inhibitor of glutamate uptake) and bicuculline (GABAA antagonist) on rosemary extract-induced antinociception. Results showed that rosemary extract (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg, i.p.) induces antinociceptive effects in a dose-dependent manner (p< .001). Pre-treatment with naloxone and bicuculline significantly reduced this effect (from 61.04% to 27.56%, and from 60.31% to 42.09%, respectively; p

Low nutritive value and suitability of barley as a feedstuff for broilers is mainly due to its non-starch polysaccharides. An experiment was carried out to evaluate if diets high in barley alter the mechanisms responsible for the absorption of nutrients across the intestinal epithelium of broilers, using D-xylose absorption test. Thirty, 14-d old male broiler chicks (Ross 308) with similar body weights (430g ± 10) were randomly divided into 3 groups of 10 birds, each bird as one replicate. Each group was offered a diet based on maize, high quality wheat or barley as the main source of carbohydrate, for 14 days. On the last day of the experiment, all birds were weighed individually and Dxylose absorption test was performed. Following the test, all birds were sacrificed and the relative size and weight of digestive tract were measured. Those birds fed on barley diet had lower weight gain when compared with maize or wheat fed birds (p0.05). No difference was also observed in absorption capacity of small intestine for D-xylose between the experimental groups (p>0.05). It was concluded that the differences observed in weight gain among the experimental groups was not related to the absorption capacity of intestine as this parameter was not changed. It appears that, in short term, barley antinutrients show their negative effect on growth performance of the birds by other means.

A water snake (Natrix natrix) was referred to the Small Animal Teaching Hospital, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran. It had two subcutaneous masses. Radiographic and ultrasonographic images revealed the presence of two subcutaneous abscesses. The abscesses were removed surgically and specimens were examined by conventional microbial culture and multiplex PCR. Inv-A universal primers were selected for detection of Salmonella at genus level. In order to identify Salmonella tphimurium, specific primers of Rfbj, Fljb and Flic related on genes sequences of O4, H1:i and H2:1,2, respectively, were used. In the positive control for expected size, PCR products were amplified from the fliC, inv-A, fljB and rfbJ genes. According to the results, this study showed antigens can be useful for detecting and identifying Salmonella typhimurium and can be achieved by using specific primers of O4, H1:i and H2:1,2 antigen, because only S. typhimurium has this antigenic structure out of about 2668 Salmonella serovars

This survey was aimed at detecting histological and histometrical changes of Common Carp ovaries in Khouzestan Province climate conditions. The goal was to determine the ovarian status in the breeding period of the reproductive cycle. Ovaries of 49 Common Carp brooders were collected from April to October, 2010. The samples were taken from the anterior, median and posterior portions. 5-6µ sections were made by the paraffin embedding method and stained by H&amp;E and PAS. The results showed that the breeding season in Common Carp in this area takes at least 7 months and spawning continues from April to October. It seems that the previtellogenesis and vitellogenesis stages are short in the Khouzestan climate conditions and this species rapidly enters into the maturation phase. It seems that Common Carp have the ability to spawn three times during an annual cycle in the Khouzestan climate conditions. Histological and histometrical results showed that in the three stages, from anterior to posterior, the mean percentage of vitellogenic follicles increased significantly (p