Abstract Background: Very clinical cases of mineral deficiency, specially associated with copper in sheep of Khuzestan province have been annually seen; whereas the studies on soil and forage related mineral and effects of them on zonal domestic animals are rare. Objectives: The aim of the present study was to investigate the copper, sulfur, iron, molybdenum and zinc of soil and pastures forages status in order to see the probable correlation of these elements with copper and zinc serum of sheep in Susngerd town of Khuzestan province. Methods: 5 soil and forage samples and 50 blood samples from sheep that were grazing in the area were taken. All the samples were sent to the institute of radiation at atomic energy organization of Iran for the elements measurement. The soil samples were alkaline digested and read by ICP-OES apparatuses. After acidic digesting, forage samples were read by ICP-MS apparatuses. Serum levels of copper and zinc were also measured by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Results: The averages iron and sulfur content of soil were higher than international standard and critical levels, while the averages copper and molybdenum were within normal range. The mean of soil zinc in comparison to the crisis amounts was in the lower level (p= .05). Comparing the mean values of forage elements with their critical levels showed that sulfur and iron were higher than standard levels. The results revealed that the serum copper and zinc were lower than normal and sheep under this investigation were mostly in a borderline deficiency status. Conclusions: It seem that high levels of sulfur and iron in pastoral forages reduces intestinal absorption and bioavailability of copper and zinc in sheep grazing in the under study areas.

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The middle ear ossicles have a fundamental role in the transmission of sound to the inner ear and therefore it will lead to sound understanding. There is no anatomical and morphometrical research performed on this organ in 91 to 117-day-old Makouei sheep fetuses. OBJECTIVES: Morphological and morphometrical study of middle ear ossicles in Makouei sheep fetuses. METHODS: For this study 8 sheep fetuses at the age of 91 to 117 days were collected from Urmia slaughter-house, then the heads were cut and the middle ear ossicles were obtained from the tympanic bulla and each of the ossicles were assessed anatomically by means of stereomicroscope.Then factors such as shape, dimensions and processes of each of the ossicles were measured. RESULTS: Anatomical results showed that the tympanic cavity contains three middle ear ossicles; respectively Malleus, Incus and Stapes. Rostral process of malleus wasn’t found but in the same place, there was a osseous lamina between the head and muscular process of the malleus that continues to the tympanic ring. Lenticular bone and muscular process of incus weren’t found. There was a distinctive surface at the junction of the head and caudal crus of stapes for the stapedius muscle insertion. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, anatomical findinges of ossicles are similar to the other animals but there are some differences in these fetuses that can be useful for study of evolution and creation process and diagnosis of anomalies. For statistical analysis, one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s post-hoc test were used, and the value of P<0.05 was considered as the criterion for statistical significance.

BACKGROUND: Fish gill is one of the important organs of fish which in different fish perform a variety of functions including respiratory gas exchange and important physiological processes such as osmoregulation, ion regulation, nitrogen wastes excretion and acid-base balance maintenance. Objectives: The present study was performed to determine and recognize the histological and histometrical in Gills Silver Carp Immature and Mature. Methods: Samples of gills were harvested as 0.5cm in diameter and fixed in Formalin 10% solution, then the routine tissue processing steps were performed and samples were cut into 5 to 6 µm in diameter and finally were stained with hematoxylene &amp; eosin and acid Schiff solutions. Results: This study was conducted on 10 immature silver carps with mean body length and weight about 10.95± 0.36 cm and 12.02 ± 1.08 g and 10 mature silver carps with mean body length and weight about 41.4±1.07 cm and 1.5± 66.6 g, respectively to evaluate the morphology and morphometric measurements of gills in this species. Gills consist of four gill arches within operculum which is located on either side of the pharynx. Freshly this organ appears to be bright red in color. Micrometric studies on the thickness of epithelial tissue covering the primary lamellae and gill rakers at both right and left sides in both mature and immature fishes, does not show significant differences. In mature fishes, the epithelial covering of gill rakers was measured thicker in apical area comparing to other parts. The results also revealed that the number of orifices of gill raker gap decreased with fish’s weight but was larger in diameters in both mature and immature fishes. The number of mucous cells in club-shape of primary lamellae was much greater in number than in the other parts which reflects more mucous secretion in these areas. Conclusions: The covering epithelium of lamella in this specific species, does not show any difference with other fishes in the family. The only difference was in the shape and length of the gill rakers.

BACKGROUND: Escherichia coli is a particularly complex species that is grouped into pathotypes of partly zoonotic intestinal pathogenic E. coli and extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC). Strains belonging to ExPEC are able to cause various clinical signs in hosts and due to similar genetic determinants, these hosts may act as a source of infection for each other. OBJECTIVES: Recent reports of outbreaks of human urinary tract infections (UTIs) have stimulated interest in the potential that E. coli from animals has to cause human UTIs via the food supply especially poultry meat, so we aimed to assess the genetic relationships between strains from these two hosts. METHODS: A total  of  260  E. coli  isolates  were  obtained  from human  UTI’s (160 strains) and  poultry colibacillosis cases (100 strains)  and  phylogenetic  grouping  was  done  based  on  the Triplex-PCR  method and virulence genotyping was carried out using a modified Tetraplex-PCR detecting hly, iucD, papEF and sfa/focDE genes. RESULTS: Statistical analysis of results demonstrated that prevalence of B2 &amp; D phylogroups in human UTI’s (77%) and D &amp; A groups in poultry strains (66%) are higher than others, considerably. Statistical analysis showed that distribution of A phylogroup within poultry isolates versus human and B2 phylogroup within human isolates versus poultry ones were higher, significantly. It was shown that iucD is noticeablymore prevalent in poultry strains rather than human isolates,. Also, sfa/focDE gene was significantly more distributed in human strains than poultry isolates. CONCLUSIONS: In sum, despite the minor genetic differences between isolates from both hosts, our results showed that there are major genetic similarities in E. coli isolates from human UTI and poultry colibacillosis cases in the region and these two hosts can play an important role as infection source for the other one.   ________________________________________________________________

BACKGROUND: This study was initiated to improve our understanding  of the health and environmental impact of silver nanoparticles (Ag-np). OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study is application and direct effects of silver nanoparticles on Zebra fish (Danio rerio). METHODS: After characterizing the AgNPs using TEM, EDX, UV-Vis Spectroscopy, XRF and SEM methods, their effects on some vital tissues have been tested successfully in vitro. In this study, 540 fish (2±0.05 g) were randomly divided into 9 groups in triplicate for acute tests (0,10, 50, 100, 200, 400, 600, 800 and 1000 mg/kgfood). After short term (96h), chronic toxicity tests were evaluated using under lethal concentration (100, 400, 600 and 800 mg/kgfood) fed with experimental diet for 8 weeks. Fish in groups 1 to 4 were fed by food supplemented with 100, 400, 600 and 800 mg/kg food, respectively. Group 5 was fed with basal food without supplementation. After histopathology, heavy metals were measured by spectrum photometry reveal. RESULTS: According to the results of acute tests, the 96h LC50 values in 24, 48, 72 and 96h were 804.601, 486.637, 323.696 and 195.208 mg/kgfood AgNPs for the Zebra fishes respectively. According to the results of chronic toxicity tests, fed via oral administration of AgNPs produced significant histopathological effects. Also, the most important histopathological effects of AgNPs were observed in the liver (vasculature and exposure, degeneration of some hepatocytes), intestine (increase in the submucosa layer, narrowing of the intestinal lumen  and reduced intestinal absorption), gills (clubbing of gill secondary lamaleas, hyperplasia, hyperemia and shortening of the primary lamaleas gills) and kidney (degeneration, high increase in interstitial cells and dilatation of Bowman’s space of glomeruli), respectively. The greatest bioaccumulation of silver occurred in the liver, gills and muscle of fish respectively (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The release of untreated nanoparticle waste to the environment should be restricted for the well-being of human and aquatic species.

BACKGROUND: Lactic acid bacteria are the most common class of bacteria used in aquaculture as probiotic. ObjectiveS: In this study the effects of various levels of Lactobacillus casei on the growth performance and digestive enzymes activity of juvenile Shirbot were evaluated. Methods: Four hundred-eighty juvenile Shirbot weighing 40 g were divided randomly in four treatments (in triplicate). Treatments of A, B and C were fed with 5×106 CFU g-1, 5×107 CFU g-1, 5×108 CFU g-1, respectively for 60 days. Control group was fed with free-probiotic diet. After the period, treatments were fed with free-probiotic diet for 15 days. Growth indices and digestive enzymes were examined on days 0, 30, 60 and 75. Results: In the Treatment B, Specific Growth  Ratio, Daily Weight Growth and Relative Growth Rate, after 30 days from the beginning of experiment improved considerably which, compared to control group had significant difference (p<0.05). Activity of chymotrypsin enzyme in treatment of group B after 30 days and similarly, trypsine in treatment of group C after 30 and 60 days, were increased significantly compared to control group (p<0.05). In the other points of sampling and enzymes, considerable difference was not seen (p>0.05). Conclusions: Results showed that 5×107 CFUg-1 of Lactobacillus casei for 30 days and 5×108 CFUg-1 for 60 days, are the best doses of probiotic.

BACKGROUND: Yeasts are microorganisms that have the ability to absorb aflatoxins. Objectives: The effect of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (PTCC 5177) on aflatoxin B1 detoxification and absorption of toxin in in vitro (the cow rumen) was investigated. METHODS: For this purpose, the yeast used in various treatments (live-treated, autoclave, heat-treated, treated with acid  100 °C) was prepared and added to the rumen of cattle. Aflatoxin B1 in different doses (0, 5, 10, 20) ppb in the rumen were added and were incubated at 37°C for one and two hours. The amount of toxin residues was measured by ELISA using Europroxima kits. RESULTS: The results showed that microorganisms that have been treated in an autoclave have the highest amount of toxin removal (90.5%) (p<0.05). Also, with increases in the incubation time, the amount of toxin absorbed significantly increased (78%) (p<0.05) and with increasing concentrations of toxin in vitro the yeast’s ability to absorb toxin increases. These results demonstrate  that the major toxin is absorbed by the yeast cell wall and therefore non-living microorganisms shown an ability to absorb higher. This is because the composition of the yeast cell wall mannoprotein that are effective at absorb in toxin. CONCLUSIONS: As a strategy for the animal feed industry the use of glycomannan yeast cell wall can be useful for reducing aflatoxin B1.

BACKGROUND: Caseous lymphadenitis, caused by Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, is one of the most important diseases of sheep and goats, causing considerable losses for herd owners. Phospholipase D (PLD) is a potent exotoxin produced by C. pseudotuberculosis and it has been considered as the major virulence factor for this bacterium, possibly contributing to the spread of the bacteria from the initial site of infection to secondary sites within the host. Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are important candidates for the development of vaccines because they are usually able to promote both humoral and cellular immune responses in mammals. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was the cloning and expression of the PLD and HSP60 genes of C. pseudotuberculosis, used subsequently to evaluate the protectivity of these recombinant proteins for vaccine development against this bacterium. METHODS: PLD and HSP60 genes were cloned into pMAL-c2X vector and recombinant plasmids construct was transformed to DH5 strain of E. coli. Expression of the proteins was shown by SDS-PAGE and accuracy of the cloned genes was confirmed by nucleotide sequence analysis. RESULTS: The transformed E. coli strain DH5 expressed PLD and HSP60 proteins effectively. The expressed fusion protein was found almost entirely in the soluble form. CONCLUSIONS: In the following studies the immunogenicity and protectivity of these recombinant proteins against C. pseudotuberculosis infections can be assessed.

BACKGROUND: Heat stress reduces the poultry performance through physiologic changes. OBJECTIVES: This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of different levels of tryptophane on performance, carcass characteristics and some blood parameters of broiler chickens under heat stress condition. METHODS: Two hundred and fifty one-day-old broiler chicks (Ross 308) were used in a completely randomized design with four treatments and five replicates (pen), 10 birds in each replicate. The chickens of experimental treatments were fed basal diet (control group) and the diets plus the different levels of 100, 120 and 130 and 140% of the Ross strain tryptophane requirements. The experimental diets were used during the finisher period (day 25 to 42 of age) and under heat stress (32±1 ºC as cyclic from 9.00 AM to 5.00 PM). RESULTS: The results showed that the weight gain was  increased linearly by increasing the tryptophane level to 110% of Ross requirements but increasing the tryptophane level to 120, 130 and 140% caused the deteriorated weight gain (p<0.05). The feed conversion ratio was linearly decreased during the finisher and whole the period by supplementation of tryptophane to 110 and 120% but the higher tryptophane levels (130 and 140%) increased the feed conversion ratio during these two periods (p<0.05). Increasing the tryptophane level to 130% of Ross requirements caused a linear increase in the amount of lactate dehydrogenase, alanine amino transferase and alkaline phosphatase (p<0.05). Dietary supplementation of tryptophane had no effect on the blood urea, protein, creatinine, albumin, glucose and cholesterol at day 42 of age but triglyceride (p>0.05). Increasing the tryptophane level to 140% caused the lower blood triglyceride content (p<0.05). CONLUSIONS: Totally, the results of recent experiment show that consumption of 110 and 120% tryptophane of Ross requirements is the best level for performance improvements in broiler chickens under heat stress.

BACKGROUND: The insoluble fiber content of poultry feeds is often considered as an unfavorable factor which reduces the nutritive value of diet. OBJECTIVES: The effects of barley hulls on performance traits of broiler chickens were evaluated. METHODS: The experiment was carried out using 200 Ross 308 broiler chickens in a completely randomized design with 5 treatments and 4 replicates. The experimental diets  consisted of a control hulls-free diet and four diets containing 0.75 or 1.5 percent barley hulls with particle sizes of less than 1 mm or between 1-2 mm. RESULTS: The dietary type did not affect feed intake of the experimental groups. In the whole the experimental period, the weight gain and feed conversion ratio in the broiler chickens feed, the diet that contained 1.5% barley hulls with 1-2 mm particle size improved compared to the control group (p<0.05). In the jejunum, fiber feeding resulted in an increased goblet cell number as compared to the control group (p<0.05). Unexpectedly, barley hulls feeding reduced the villi height compared to the control group (p<0.05). In jejunum the crypt depth in control birds was more than the treatment fed 1.5% barley hulls with less than 1 mm particle size (p<0.05). The ratio of crypt depth to villus height in control group was more than the birds fed the diet that contained 1.5% barley hulls with less than 1 mm particle size (p< 0.05). In ileum the chickens fed the control diet had more lactobacillus and less Escherichia coli than the majority of the treatment fed barley hulls. CONCLUSIONS: Inclusion of 1.5% barley hulls with particle size of 1-2 mm in diet improved performance traits of broiler chickens. On the other hand, using 1.5% barley hulls as a lignocelluloses source increased lactobacillus growth and reduced Escherichia coli population. This alteration in intestinal micro flora suggests a prebiotic effect for barley hulls in the gastrointestinal tract of broiler chickens.