A total of 35 Sprague-Dawley adult rats were used to investigate the effect of aluminium toxicity on behavioural patterns of adult female rats and learning ability of offspring. Rats were allotted into 4 groups, group one received 2g/l anhydrous aluminium chloride (n=10), group two received 3g/l anhydrous aluminium chloride (n=10), group three received 3.5g/l anhydrous aluminium chloride in drinking water (n=10) and control group did not receive anhydrous aluminium chloride (n=5) from 8th day of pregnancy till weaning of pups. The obtained results showed that feeding time increased significantly in 2g/l and 3.5g/l anhydrous aluminium chloride groups than control one, while, litter licking frequency and nursing time increased significantly in 2g/l anhydrous aluminium chloride than other groups. On contrarylying time decreased significantly in rats treated with 2g/l anhydrous aluminium chloride than other groups, licking and scratching decreased in 3g/l and 3.5g/l anhydrous aluminium chloride groups. In considering, the time spent in closed arms by offspring pups exhibited much times significantly than control group, while, time spent in open arms of elevated plus maze decreased significantly in all treated groups than control group. On the other hand, number of entries in open arms significantly decreased in treated groups than control one.

The effect of rabies infection and vaccination on pregnancy was investigated in different groups of pregnant rats as an animal model. Intracerebral and intramuscular experimental infection with CVS rabies virus strain was applied on four pregnant rats groups at the middle (seven days after mating) and late stages of gestation (14 days after mating). Subcutaneous rout vaccination of other three pregnant rat groups five to seven days before; seven and 14 days after mating with the inactivated cell culture local rabies vaccine. Each group of infected rats showed clinical signs of rabies although their fetuses did not show any abnormalities. Virus recovery from the placenta and fetuses from dead and sacrificed animals failed to induce rabies signs in mice inoculated intracerebrally with placenta and fetus suspensions while brains of infected dams; through the routes; revealed positive FA by using fluorescent antibody technique. Vaccinated pregnant rats did not show any abnormalities with normal fetuses and good levels of specific rabies antibodies when estimated by serum neutralization test. These findings indicate that rabies vaccination of pregnant animals is safe and it could be recommended to protect both of dams and their offspring in the first months.

Objective: To develop an orthotopic model of canine osteosarcoma in athymic rats as a model for evaluating the effects of stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) on osteosarcoma cells. Animals: 26 athymic nude rats. Procedures: 3 experiments were performed. In the first 2 experiments, rats were injected with 1 × 10(6) Abrams canine osteosarcoma cells into the proximal aspect of the tibia (n = 12) or distal aspect of the femur (6). Tumor engraftment and progression were monitored weekly via radiography, luciferase imaging, and measurement of urine pyridinoline concentration for 5 weeks and histologic evaluation after euthanasia. In the third experiment, 8 rats underwent canine osteosarcoma cell injection into the distal aspect of the femur and SRT was administered to the affected area in three 12-Gy fractions delivered on consecutive days (total radiation dose, 36 Gy). Percentage tumor necrosis and urinary pyridinoline concentrations were used to assess local tumor control. The short-term effect of SRT on skin was also evaluated. Results: Tumors developed in 10 of 12 tibial sites and all 14 femoral sites. Administration of SRT to rats with femoral osteosarcoma was feasible and successful. Mean tumor necrosis of 95% was achieved histologically, and minimal adverse skin effects were observed. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance: The orthotopic model of canine osteosarcoma in rats developed in this study was suitable for evaluating the effects of local tumor control and can be used in future studies to evaluate optimization of SRT duration, dose, and fractionation schemes. The model could also allow evaluation of other treatments in combination with SRT, such as chemotherapy or bisphosphonate, radioprotectant, or parathyroid hormone treatment.