Dietary supplementation of Bacillus subtilis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and their symbiotic effect on serum biochemical parameters in broilers challenged with Clostridium perfringens

The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of an antimicrobial growth promoter (AGP), probiotic, prebiotic and their combination (symbiotic effect) on blood biochemistry of broiler chickens challenged with Clostridium perfringens. Two hundred and forty, 1-d-old Ross 308 broilers were distributed into six groups – the negative control (basal diet), positive control (C. perfringens infection), AGP + challenge, probiotic + challenge, prebiotic + challenge and synbiotic + challenge. The results showed significant differences in total protein, albumin, globulin and glucose in AGP with no significant difference between negative and positive control. Triglyceride and total cholesterol decreased significantly among all groups compared with positive control. Heterophils and heterophils-to-lymphocytes ratio (H/L) were significantly (P < .001) lower, and lymphocytes were significantly (P < .001) higher in all groups compared with positive control. It can be concluded from this study that the synergistic effect of Bacillus subtilis and Technomos was superior to that of the AGP in improving the blood biochemical profile of broiler challenged with C. perfringens

Efficacy of tocilizumab in patients with severe COVID-19: Survival and clinical outcomes

Background: SARS-CoV-2 is associated with a severe inflammatory response contributing to respiratory and systemic manifestations, morbidity, and mortality in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: Tocilizumab (TCZ) efficacy on mortality and length of hospital stay was retrospectively evaluated in patients who received TCZ and compared with that in controls with a similar severity of COVID-19. The primary endpoint was survival probability on day 28. The secondary endpoints included survival at day 14 and length of hospital stay. Results: Of the 148 patients included in the study, 62 received TCZ and standard of care, whereas 86 served as a control group and received only standard of care. The two groups were similar, although TCZ-treated patients were more likely to exhibit hypertension (46.7% vs. 29.8%), chronic kidney disease (14.5% vs. 1.1%), and high Charlson score (1.18 vs. 1.00; p = 0.006) and less likely to receive corticosteroid treatment (48.5% vs. 93.0%). TCZ was associated with lower mortality on both day 28 (16.1% vs. 37.2%, p = 0.004) and day 14 (9.7% vs. 24.4%, p = 0.022). The hospital stay was longer in the TCZ-treated than in the control group (15.6 ± 7.59 vs.17.7 ± 7.8 days, p = 0.103). Ten patients (16.0%) in the TCZ-treated group developed infections. Conclusion: TCZ was associated with a lower likelihood of death despite resulting in higher infection rates and a non-significant longer hospital stay