The present study was conducted on 42 dogs with a histopathological diagnosis of skin neoplasia presented in the Shiraz University Veterinary Clinic from April 2012 to December 2017. All cases were reviewed, excluding the mammary gland neoplasms. The histopathological type, prevalence, sex, age, breed and site distribution of the neoplasms were described. In addition, previous studies on canine skin tumors from other geographic regions were evaluated and compared with the results of the present study. Fifteen different histopathological types of tumor were diagnosed. The prevalence of epithelial, mesenchymal, melanocytic and lymphohistiocytic tumors was 61.9%, 35.7%, 2.4% and 0%, respectively. Th e three most common tumors were sebaceous gland adenoma (21.42%), squamous cell carcinoma (11.9%), and lipoma (11.9%). The incidences of these tumors were more than other researches. Although there is no obvious explanation for these geographical differences, the possible reasons may be the geographical locations, environmental infl uences, and the study population and breed. Terriers were the most common type of the dogs in this study (34.4%). The present findings about the dogs age and various skin tumors and the anatomical locations indicates that there is no signifi cant variation in these important parameters among the Iranian dogs and dogs from other parts of the world.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of replacing glycerol with erythritol on cryopreservation of ram spermatozoa. Semen samples (n=24) were collected from four rams in six times. In each session, the collected ejaculates (n=4) were pooled and split into 12 equal parts. The amount of 0.032 M glycerol (G32E0, equal to 3% glycerol), 0.016 M glycerol and 0.016 M erythritol (G16E16), 0.008 M glycerol and 0.024 M erythritol (G8E24), 0.032 M erythritol (G0E32), 0.054 M glycerol (G54E0, equal to 5% glycerol), 0.027 M glycerol and 0.027 M erythritol (G27E27), 0.013 M glycerol and 0.041 M erythritol (G13E41), 0.054 M erythritol (G0E54), 0.076 M glycerol (G76E0, equal to 7% glycerol ), 0.038 M glycerol and 0.038 M erythritol (G38E38), 0.019 M glycerol and 0.057 M erythritol (G19E57) and 0.076 M erythritol (G0E76) were added. The diluted samples were frozen using standard protocol. After thawing, the samples were incubated at 37°C for 6 h. Results showed that progressive sperm motility and acrosome integrity were higher in G13E41 (18.85 % and 27.41 %, respectively) than treatments that contained only glycerol at 6 h (p < 0.05). At the level of 0.032 and 0.054 M cryoprotectant, the highest of total sperm motility was observed in G8E24 (19.16 %) and G13E41 (18.85 %) at 6 h, respectively (p < 0.05). Therefore, the quality of frozen-thawed ram spermatozoa can be improved by using the mixture of 0.013 M glycerol plus 0.041 M erythritol or 0.008 M glycerol plus 0.024 M erythritol.

The effects of indigenous probiotics Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus pentosus alone, and in combination with β-1,3-glucan in juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were investigated. Eight groups were defined: control (G1), 1% β-1,3-glucan (G2), L. plantarum (G3), L. pentosus (G4), L. plantarum + L. pentosus (G5), L. plantarum with 1% β-1,3-glucan (G6), L. pentosus with 1% β-1,3-glucan (G7) and L. plantarum + L. pentosus with 1% β-1,3-glucan (G8). After eight weeks, the innate immune responses were elevated in all treated groups; however, synergistic effects were observed for anti-trypsin, bactericidal activity and respiratory burst activity in groups 7 and 8. Although the other immune responses were higher in treated groups, they did not make statistically significant differences. Checking microbiota showed that β-1,3-glucan improved conditions of indigenous probiotics. The diet 8 caused significant alterations in the intestinal microbiota by significantly decreasing the proportion of total count bacteria to lactic acid bacteria, which were demonstrated by reducing the total number of bacteria in Group 8 compared to the control group.

This study investigated the effects of Aloe vera and Salvia officinalis extracts on hematological and haemato-biochemical parameters, histopathology, and resistance against hypoxia stress in Oncorhynchus mykiss. The rainbow trout (10 ± 0.1 g) were fed seven different diets supplemented with 0% (control), 0.5%, 1% and 1.5% of A. vera or S. officinalis extract for 30 days. The feeding in all treatments was continued for 2 weeks using control diet. The fish blood samples were collected on days 30th and 45th, and total red blood cells, hematocrit and hemoglobin were measured. The glucose and cortisol of serum were examined just before and one hour after hypoxia stress (3 mg L-1) at days 30th and 45th. The gill tissue samples were taken from all treatments for histopathological study at the end of experimental period. The S. officinalis (0.5%) treated group showed a significant increase (p< 0.05) in red blood cells, hematocrits and hemoglobin compared to control group. While the A. vera (1 and 1.5%) treatments revealed significant increase in hematocrit and hemoglobin concentration compared to the control group (p< 0.05). Moreover the glucose and cortisol levels of serum were increased significantly only in S. officinalis (0.5%) treated group after hypoxia stress on days 30th and 45th compared to the control group (p< 0.05). No serious histopathological changes were observed in any treatments and control group. Based on the results obtained, dietary S. officinalis (0.5%) hydroethanolic extract improved the haematological and haemato-biochemical parameters and increased the rainbow trout resistance against hypoxia stress.

Anorexia is a part of the acute phase response (APR). Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is frequently used to mimic APR and induces anorexia. The mechanism underlying anorexia associated with APR in chicks is not well understood. In the present study, the possible involvement of corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) on anorexic effects of LPS in neonatal chicks was investigated. For this aim, different doses of LPS were administrated via both intracerebroventricular (ICV) and intraperitoneal (IP) routes in order to assess its effects on chick’s food intake. Subsequently, the effect of ICV injection of astressin, a CRF receptor antagonist, on anorexia induced by ICV and IP administration of LPS was investigated. Food intake was significantly decreased following either central or systemic administration of LPS. ICV co -injection of astressin and LPS significantly diminished anorexic effects of central LPS. However, anorexia induced by peripheral LPS was not attenuated by central injection of astressin. These data indicated that the brain CRF receptors are involved in central LPS-induced anorexia in chicks.

The aim of this study was to investigate the fungi and algae isolated from milk samples in dairy cows with clinical and subclinical mastitis from dairy farms around Mashhad, Iran. A total of 503 milk samples were obtained from 10 industrial dairy farms. All samples were simultaneously cultured on the surface of Blood agar, Macconkey agar, and Sabouraud dextrose agar supplemented with chloramphenicol. Fungi and algae were identified using phenotypic characteristics. In the examined samples, the bacterial contamination (338 out of 503 samples; 67.20%) was the most dominant followed by algae (93 out of 503 samples; 18.5%), filamentous fungi (32 out of 503 samples; 6.4%) and yeast fungi (26 out of 503 samples; 5.2%).Penicillium spp. (2.8%), Aspergillus spp. (2.6%), Cladosporium spp. (1.2%), Geotrichum spp.(0.4%), Ulucaladium spp., Scopolariopsis spp. and Alternaria spp. (0.2% each), Cryptococcus neofermenes (3%), Candida spp. (1%), Trichosporon spp. (0.8%) and Rhodoturula spp. (0.4%) were the filamentous and yeast fungi isolated from milk samples. Of the 93 algae isolated from 503 milk samples (18.5%), 83 (16.5%) samples were positive for Prototheca zopfii and 10 (2%) samples for Prototheca wickerhamii. According to the results of this study, yeast fungi, filamentous fungi and algae, especially Prototheca spp. are important contaminant factors in milk and contribute to clinical and subclinical bovine mastitis. Therefore, proper sanitation practices and management of dairy herds and judicious use of antibiotics is essential to control the fungal and algal contamination both in the environment and the breast.

Growth hormone has mitotic and anti-apoptotic effects which may increase proliferation and transformation of cells when it is expressed aberrantly. This study investigated the effects of resistance training and growth hormone injection on circulating IGF-1, IGFBP-3 levels and IGF-1/IGFBP-3 ratio in male Wistar rats. Thirty-two male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to a control group (C, n = 8), a resistance training group (RT, n = 8), a growth hormone injection group (GI, n = 8) and a resistance training + growth hormone injection group (RG, n = 8). The resistance training protocol comprised of climbing a ladder (5 days/week, 3 sets/5 reps) while carrying a weight suspended from the tail. The growth hormone (2 mg/kg/day, 5 days/week) was injected before an exercise session. Serum IGF-1, IGFBP-3 levels, and IGF-1/IGFBP-3 ratio were measured after 8 weeks. One-way ANOVA analysis was used for comparison of serum IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels between groups. Serum IGF-1 levels and IGF-1/IGFBP-3 ratio signifi cantly decreased, but serum IGFBP-3 levels showed no significant change in the RT group compared to the C group. Also, both serum IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels and IGF-1/IGFBP-3 ratio in GI and RG groups significantly increased compared to the other groups. In conclusion, resistance training decreases serum IGF-1 levels and/or IGF-1/IGFBP-3 ratio in normal condition. On the other hand, the growth hormone injection with and without the resistance training increases serum IGF-1 levels and IGF-1/IGFBP-3 ratio which could be noted as a condition with a higher risk of neoplasm.

This study examined the effects of skim-milk based extenders supplemented with proline and glutamine on motility, lipid peroxidation and enzymatic antioxidant status of cooled-stored equine sperm and determined the role of seminal plasma as well. The semen was collected with artificial vagina. In experiment 1, native semen was diluted in skim-milk based extender containing 5mM glutamine and 3mM proline, stored at 5°C and analyzed at 4, 24 and 48 hours storage for motion parameters. In experiment 2, semen was centrifugated, sperm pellet resuspended in the extenders and stored at 5°C for 4 hours to determine motion parameters. The level of catalase, glutathione peroxidase activity and malondialdehyde formation was determined for all samples at 4 hours. Glutamine and proline signifi cantly preserved the percentage of motile sperm (76.5 ± 2.7 and 79.4 ± 1 vs 69 ± 1.4), increased the progressive motility of cold-stored semen (66.1 ± 2.5 and 73.7 ± 2.9 vs 56.2 ± 1.4), increased catalase activity, and decreased malondialdehyde. However these effects were disappeared after seminal plasma removal. We conclude that glutamine and proline would amplify the antioxidant activity of equine cold-stored semen and preserve its motility. This effect seems to be related to interactions with seminal plasma.

The animal health monitoring is required to issue health certificates. The viral hepatitis virus is one of the most important infectious agents in mice breeding colonies. This research used RT-PCR to identify contaminations to mouse hepatitis virus. 18 out of 29 specimens were found to be infected, a prevalence of 62%. PCR product was purified and sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the identified strain in this study was closely related to a strain reported from France. In the conventional system, contamination with different infectious agents is inevitable, thus it is better to replace the contaminated colonies with clean animals.

An 8-week feeding experiment was conducted to investigate the inclusion potential of five levels of Calotropis persica seed powder (CSP) (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 g/kg of the basal diet) in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) diet, in a completely randomized design. To perform the test, 3600 fries (11.5 ± 3.64 g) were treated for 56 days. According to the results, the increase in milkweed seed powder up to 40 g/kg, resulted in a significant increase in specific growth rate and intestinal lactic acid bacteria count compared to the control (p < 0.05). The best results of survival rate, feed conversion ratio, hepatosomatic and gastrosomatic indices were achieved in the treatments receiving 20, 30, 40, and 50 g/kg CSP (p < 0.05). Antibacterial activity of skin mucus, lysozyme and alkaline phosphatase showed the highest level in the 40 g/kg treatment (p < 0.05). Based on the results, the inclusion of 40 g/kg milkweed seed powder caused positive health effects and could be a suitable herbal feed additive in the rainbow trout diet.