A wide range of essential plant oils and extracts have been shown to be fungal inhibitors and could provide attempting alternative for treating animal infections. The current study screened the in-vitro antifungal properties of propolis in addition to Eucalyptus and Moringa essential oils on some fluconazole-resistant Candida isolates recovered from cases of bovine and ovine mycotic mastitis through determination of their Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Fungicidal Concentration (MFC). Propolis recorded MIC and MFC ranged from 44 mg/mL to 175 mg/mL and the isolates of C. albicans were the most sensitive. Eucalyptus was the most effective essential oil with MIC and MFC ranged from 2 mg/mL to 16 mg/mL and was mostly effective against C. tropicalis, C. albicans and C. kefyr. Regarding Moringa essential oil, the recorded MIC and MFC ranged from 31.25 mg/mL to 125 mg/mL and the most sensitive isolates were C. tropicalis and C. kefyr. The molecular characterization of azole-resistance genes revealed that all tested isolates harbored CDR gene 100%, while MDR1 and ERG11 genes were represented as 80% and 40%, respectively. Therefore, the antifungal effect of propolis and essential oils of Eucalyptus and Moringa against fluconazole-resistant Candida species were highlighted in the current study and can be employed as useful alternatives for the treatment of bovine and ovine mycotic mastitis.

The present work was carried out to study the effect of different levels of Moringa Oleifera leaf meal (MOLM) content as untraditional feedingstuff constituents on ducks performance, carcass traits, blood biochemical parameters and meat chemical composition. A total of 50 mulard ducklings (two weeks old) were randomly divided into 5 groups of 10 ducklings each. The first group was considered the control group (T1) and was fed ad-libitum on a grower-finisher diets. The remaining four groups (T2, T3, T4 and T5) were fed on diets containing MOLM at levels of 2%, 4%, 6% and 8%, respectively. All diets were formulated to be isocaloric (3000 kcal/kg ME) and isonitrogenous (16% CP) as recommended by NRC (1994) for growing ducks. The experiment was extended for 8 weeks. Growth performance parameters include body weight, weight gain, feed consumption, feed-to-gain ratio, relative growth rate, performance index, protein intake, protein efficiency ratio, energy intake and calorie efficiency ratio were all recorded. At the end of the experiment, three randomly selected ducks were slaughtered to evaluate carcass characteristics, meat chemical composition and blood biochemical parameters. The results showed that ducks fed diets containing 2 and 4% MOLM had higher in body weight and weight gain than ducks fed diets containing 6 and 8% MOLM. Feeding of different levels of MOLM to ducklings had no significant effect on feed consumption. The best feed conversion ratio was recorded in group T3 followed by group T2 compared to other tested groups and control T1. Ducks in group T3 fed on 4% MOLM showed improvements in their relative growth rate (RGR) and performance index (PI) compared to other tested and control groups. There were no significant (P>0.05) differences between the control group and the other tested groups in terms of protein intake and protein efficiency ratio, as well as energy intake and calorie efficiency ratio of ducks. Pre-slaughter weight, eviscerated weight and dressing weight were significantly higher in groups T2, T3, T4 fed (2%, 4%, 6%) MOLM compared to those fed on 8% MOLM and control diets. There were no significant differences in the relative weights of the internal organs (liver, heart, proventriculus, gizzard and spleen). Supplementation of duck diets with MOLM significantly (P<0.05) increased DM, CP, EE of the breast and thigh meat compared to the control group, while ash content was not affected. There were no significant (p<0.05) differences between different experimental groups in hematological pictures, except for WBCs, lymphocytic count, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), hematocrit (HCT) and platelets. Inclusion of MOLM in duck diets reduced the serum cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations, while the serum total protein and its fractions (albumin and globulin) were not affected. It was concluded that supplementation of Moringa oleifera leaf meal (MOLM) in duck diets had beneficial effects on the growth performance parameters, meat composition and carcass characteristics, as well as improved the immunity by increasing the number of white blood cells and lymphocytes and reduced serum triglycerides and cholesterol concentrations.

The study was conducted to determine the role of Ca2+ and K+ channels in Moringa oleifera flowers extract-induced myometrial contractility of buffalo uterus. Myometrial strips were prepared, mounted in an organ bath containing Ringer Locke solution maintained at 37oC and responses recorded using a kymograph. Moringa oleifera flowers extract (MOFE) produced quite conspicuous and concentration-dependent contractile effect on buffalo myometrium and the EC50 value was found to be 31.62 ìg/ml. Verapamil (10-12M) not only completely inhibited normal spontaneous rhythmic contractions of myometrial uterine strips but also inhibited MOFE-induced spontaneous rhythmic contractions. Ethylene glycol tetra acetic acid (EGTA; 0.1-0.2mM) reduced both the frequency and amplitude of spontaneous contractions and also produced around 28% reduction in the amplitude of MOFE-induced contractile effect. Similalrly, pinacidil (10-6M-10-5M), glibenclamide (10-5M) and 4- amino pyridine (4-AP; 1mM) pretreatments inhibited spontaneous contractions as well as the contractile effects of MOFE (250ìg/ml). Based on the results of present study, it may be inferred that both the extra- and intracellular Ca2+ are very vital for the oxytocic effect of MOFE. Functional presence of K+ ATP, K+ V and/or K+ Ca channels in buffalo myometrium and their involvement in mediating MOFEinduced contractility can not be ruled out. Moringa oleifera flowers possessed promising oxytocic activity and can be exploited in drug-development programme for evolving natural and effective oxytocic or abortifacient.