Levels of selected minerals, nitric oxide, and vitamins in aborted Sakis sheep raised under semitropical conditions

The serum levels of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, copper, zinc and iron and of nitric oxide, retinol, and β-carotene were determined in Sakiz ewes that had experienced an abortion and in healthy controls. Ten healthy and 25 aborted Sakiz sheep were selected from Afyon zone in western Turkey. Their ages ranged between 2 and 4 years weighing between 40 and 60 kg at the time of experiment. All of the abortions occurred in October. The concentrations of retinol, β-carotene, phosphorus, and zinc were significantly lower and those of calcium and nitric oxide were increased in aborted ewes relative to healthy controls. The serum levels of iron, copper, and magnesium were not significantly different among the two groups. In conclusion, abortion is an important problem in commercially important species of ruminants in many regions in the tropics including of western Turkey. Deficiencies of retinol, β-carotene, phosphorus and zinc, and the increase of calcium and nitric oxide concentration may play an important role in the etiology of abortion in ewes. Prophylactic measures such as vitamin and mineral supplementation may be of help to prevent or reduce the incidence of abortion in sheep

Antibiotic usage in hospitalized patients: a one-day point prevalence study

PMID = 3239315

Circulating mineral element concentrations in Sakiz crossbred lambs with pica disorder

The aims of this study were to determine the serum calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, cupper, zinc and iron concentrations in lambs with pica disorder, and to evaluate the efficiency of mineral preparation as treatment. The study was performed on 25 Sakiz crossbred lambs, 1-2 months old, whose 15 lambs exhibiting clinical signs for pica (soil eating, surface licking, wool-eating, weight loss, development retardation and a strong desire to eat non-food objects) and 10 were apparently healthy. Blood samples were taken for measuring serum concentrations of minerals and trace elements 5 days before and after treatment with a vitamin-mineral combination (Kalmina (R) VIL-SAN, 0.3 ml/kg, IV). Whereas serum Ca, Mg, P, Cu and Zn concentrations did not significantly differ between affected and healthy lambs, it was observed a marked decrease of iron concentration (P < 0.05) in all animals with pica. After Kalmina (R) injection, clinical signs of pica totally disappeared in 67% of diseased lambs (10/15) and a significant increase of P concentrations compared to initial values (P < 0.05) was observed associated with slight and not significant increases of serum Cu and Zn concentrations. The sideremia was also significantly enhanced (P < 0.05) but remained below control values, particularly in the 5 lambs which still presented an abnormal behaviour. Consequently, it was concluded that iron deficiency may play an important role for the aetiology of pica and the mineral element supplementation could be beneficial for the treatment of lambs with pica

Antimicrobial susceptibilities of Brucella isolates from various clinical speciemens

Purpose: Brucellosis is a worldwide zoonotic disease and still constitutes a major public health problem. In the study we claimed to identify Brucella species from clinical samples of patients with active brucellosis from Van region of Eastern Anatolia and to determine in vitro antimicrobial susceptibilities of these strains to commonly used anti-Brucella agents and a possible new alternative tigecycline. Materials and Methods: A total of 56 Brucella isolates were enrolled the study and the identification of the isolates were based on conventional methods. In vitro activities of an-timicrobials were evaluated by the E test method. Results: All isolates were identified as B. melitensis. MIC90 values of doxycycline, strepto-mycin, rifampin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and tigecycline were 0.064 mg/L, 1 mg/L, 2 mg/L, 0.125 mg/L and 0.094 mg/L, respectively. Tigecycline had low MIC50 and MIC90 values against all B. melitensis strains; the highest MIC observed was 0.25 ?g/mL. Conclusion: Our data suggest that tigecycline can be a therapeutic alternative option for the treatment of brucellosis. © Ivyspring International Publisher

Serum biochemistry and native protein electrophoresis in diarrheic calves with arthritis

In this study, serum biochemistry and native protein electrophoresis in newborn calves with diarrhea and arthritis, were performed in order to evaluate the changes along with clinical findings for their possible application in the diagnosis and prognosis of disease. Based on clinical examination, animals were allotied into two groups comprising either diseased or healthy animals. Urea, creatinine, ALT, AST, LDH, albumin, total protein, glucose, total cholesterol, uric acid and iron levels were determined in the sera. Serum protein native polyacrilamide gel electrophoresis (nPAGE) was performed followed by protein band ratio estimation supported with densitometry at 596 nm. Differences between the average mean of healthy and diseased animals were compared statistically (Kruskal-Walley test). In this study a decrease in serum glucose and cholesterol values (p&lt;0.001), increase in urea, LDH levels and α1-and α2-globulin levels (p&lt;0.01 and p&lt;0.05 respectively) were found to be associated with the disease. As a result, the observed significant changes in biochemical parameters and clinical investigation in calves, suggesting acute inflammation causing the decrease in glucose and increase in α-globulins, may be of prognostic value