Age, Sex and Body Weight Related Echocardiographic Parameters of Clinically Healthy New Zealand White Rabbits

Background: Echocardiography provides useful additional information on cardiac dimensions including heart wall and dimension of the ventricles, atria and conditions. Rabbits have been diagnosed with cardiac diseases, and an understanding of the animals’ cardiac chamber dimensions is vital in assessing the diseases’ severity and prognoses. Changes in cardiac dimensions due to age related and body weight were determined at different animals. The increased incidence of congenital cardiovascular anomalies makes it essential to establish the diagnosis at an early age. The aims of this study 1) establish normal values for the commonly used two-dimensional (2D) M-mode parameters using pre anaesthetics and 2) evaluate the effects of age, sex, and body weight on echocardiographic parameters in clinically healthy New Zealand rabbits.Materials, Methods & Results: In this study we used 49 New Zealand white rabbits (25 male, 24 female) all reared under the same conditions. A general physical and clinical examination including complete blood count was performed for each animal. Body surface area was calculated as BSA= 0.00718 × Height 0.725 × Weight 0.425. Rabbits were sedated with midazolam before echocardiographic examination was performed. Echocardiographic examination was performed using a DC 6-Vet® (Mindray, PRC) ultrasonographic device equipped with a micro-convex 8 MHz probe. Right parasternal short-axis view, B-mode and two-dimensional guided M-mode parameters were measured. Echocardiographic measurements were performed using leading-edge-to-leading-edge conventions outlined by the American Society of Echocardiography. Statistical analyses were employed using the SPSS 19.0 program. Sex had no significant effect on the measured echocardiographic parameters except in the case of interventricular septum thickness in diastole values of the three-month-old rabbits. The increase in the left ventricular systolic and diastolic diameters, E- point to septal separation, diastolic aortic root parameters for the three, six, and nine-month-old groups indicated persistent anatomic heart enlargement. However, it was also discovered that the fractional shortening percentage of the left ventricle and diastolic diameters of left atrium:aortic root  were unrelated to age and weight.Discussion: New Zealand rabbits are an important model for cardiovascular research, mainly as they are small and relatively inexpensive however large enough to allow anatomical and physiological experiments. Different ages and sizes of New Zealand rabbits showed no significant difference in fractional shortening despite heart enlargement. The ejection fraciton, which can be calculated from the left ventricular dimensions via M-mode echocardiography, is another parameter of cardiac function. Our echocardiograph calculated the ejection fraction automatically using the Teicholz formula. It was further observed that three-month-old rabbits ejection fraction of the left ventricle was higher than that of the six and nine-month-old rabbits. This might indicate the necessity of periodical analysis of echocardiographic parameters. Transthoracic echocardiography can be considered an applicable method for cardiovascular research using a growing rabbit animal model after appropriate adjustments for age, sex and body size. These findings give a better understanding of the functional changes investigated by echocardiography in rabbits and will be helpful when evaluating echocardiographic data in small experimental animals

Kyphosis in Barbus pergamonensis (Cyprinidae-Actinopterygii) from Dalaman Stream Flowing to the Mediterranean Sea

WOS: 000475489500001Skeletal deformities are relatively well described in both cultured and wild fish. These diseases are observed in many fish species and occur due to environmental and genetic factors. It negatively affects the biological performance and commercial value of fish. For this reason, this study attempts to quantify and identify kyphosis in the natural populations of Barbus pergamonensis Karaman, 1971 collected from Dalaman Stream (Golhisar/Burdur) and tends to find a possible relationship between these anomalies and several types of pollutants present in the environment. The current study found that the environmental pollutants may represent a potential risk to induce kyphosis in the natural populations of B. pergamonensis

Proximal and distal alignment of normal canine femurs: A morphometric analysis

Many researchers are interested in femoral conformation because most orthopaedic problems of the long bones occur in the femur and its joints. The neck-shaft (NSA) and the anteversion (AVA) angles are good predictors for understanding the orientation of the proximal end of the femur. The varus (aLDFA) and procurvatum (CDFA) angles have also been used to understand the orientation of the distal end of the femur. The purposes of this study were to investigate the relationship between the proximal and distal angles of the femur and to compare the distal femoral angles in male and female dogs in order to investigate the sexual dimorphism. The measurements of normal CDFAs, which have not been previously reported, may also provide a database of canine distal femoral morphology

The mixture of liquid foam soap, ethanol and citric acid as a new fixative-preservative solution in veterinary anatomy

KARA, Mehmet Erkut/0000-0002-5056-1688WOS: 000389730400002PubMed: 27743852The present study investigates the efficiency of liquid foam soap, ethanol, citric acid and benzalkonium chloride as a fixative-preservative solution (a soap-and ethanol-based fixing solution, or SEFS). In this study, ethanol serves as the fixative and preservative, liquid foam soap as the modifying agent, citric acid as the antioxidant and benzalkonium chloride as the disinfectant. The goat cadavers perfused with SEFS (n = 8) were evaluated over a period of one year with respect to hardness, colour and odour using objective methods. Colour and hardness were compared between one fresh cadaver and the SEFS-embalmed cadavers. Histological and Microbiological examinations were also performed in tissue samples. Additionally, the cadavers were subjectively evaluated after dissection and palpation. The SEFS provided the effectiveness expected over a 1-year embalming period for the animal cadavers. No bacteria or fungi were isolated except for some non-pathogenic Bacillus species. Visible mould was not present on either cadavers or in the surrounding environment. The cadavers maintained an appearance close to their original anatomical appearance, with muscles having good hardness and elasticity for dissection. (C) 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.Scientific and Technological Research Council of TurkeyTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [TUBITAK 114O704]; Scientific and Technological Research Council of TurkeyTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK)This study is the research numbered TUBITAK 114O704 that was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey. We are grateful for the support of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey

Pulmonary and systemic vasoreactivity to leptin in spontaneously hypertensive rats

info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublishe

Pulmonary and systemic vasoreactivity to leptin in spontaneously hypertensive rat

info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublishe

Concentration-response curves to leptin in endothelium-denuded rings from spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR).

<p>Endothelium-denuded thoracic aorta and pulmonary artery rings were treated with a cumulative addition of leptin (1 pmol/L to 100 nmol/L) after preincubation with or without a MAPKK inhibitor PD98059 (PD; 50 μmol/L) (<b>A</b> and <b>B</b>) or a PI3K inhibitor wortmaninn (wort; 10 μmol/L) (<b>C</b> and <b>D</b>).Vasoactive responses were expressed as the percentages of the maximal tension response obtained with 80 mmol/L KCl. Thoracic aortic and pulmonary artery segments were collected in spontaneously hypertensive rats (n = 6 rings). Results are expressed as means ± SEM. * 0.01</p

Expression of transient receptor potential cation channels subfamily C (Trpc) members.

<p>Relative gene expressions of (<b>A</b>) <i>Trpc1</i>, (<b>B</b>) <i>Trpc3</i>, (<b>C</b>) <i>Trpc4</i> and (<b>D</b>) <i>Trpc6</i> in pulmonary artery and thoracic aorta from control Wistar (CTRL; n TA = 14 rings; n PA = 14 rings; white bars) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR; n TA = 12 rings; n PA = 16 rings; black bars). Results are expressed as means ± SEM. * 0.01</p

Expression of calcium channels and related molecules.

<p>Relative gene expressions of (<b>A</b>) the calcium voltage-gated channel auxiliary subunit alpha2/delta1 (<i>Cacna2d1</i>); (<b>B</b>) the ryanodine receptor 2 (<i>Ryr2</i>); (<b>C</b>) the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor type 1 (<i>Itrp1</i>); (<b>D</b>) the calcium release-activated calcium modulator-1 (Orai-1) and (<b>E</b>) the stromal interaction molecule 1 (<i>Stim1</i>) in pulmonary artery and thoracic aorta from control Wistar (CTRL; n TA = 14 rings; n PA = 14 rings; white bars) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR; n TA = 12 rings; n PA = 16 rings; black bars). Results are expressed as means ± SEM. * 0.01</p