The heart and its valves in Caspian miniature horse: a topographic study

The Caspian miniature horse is one of the rare small breeds in the north of Iran. In the present study, the position of the heart and its valves were determined topographically in 4 miniature horses. We found that Caspian miniature horses have general similarities, with certain topographical variability, with other horses

Macroscopic study of testicular descent in caprine fetus

In this study, fetus samples were collected randomly from 200 pregnant goats which were slaughtered at Tabriz  abattoir during autumn. The age of collected fetuses was calculated by the formula X=2.74 Y+30.15 proposed by Gull et al. After opening the abdominal cavity of the fetuses at different ages, the location of the testicles in the abdominal cavity and the time of their descent into the scrotum were investigated. Macroscopic studies indicated that the first testicular migration coincides with mesonephrous degeneration in 45 days old fetuses. At the age of 59 days, the mesonephrous is completely diminished and the remains of the mesonephric duct changed to epididymis. At this age, the gubernacular tissue is inflated and expanded. In days 89, testis is seen in the middle of the inguinal canal and until day 106 of pregnancy it descents from final  of the inguinal canal into the opening of the scrotum. At the age of 153 days (birth time) complete descent of the testis into the scrotum takes place. On the basis of the results of the present study it can be concluded that the location of testis in the goat is similar to cattle, sheep, horse and humans at birth and its descent into scrotum follows retraction and degeneration of the gubernacular tissue

Central Opioidergic System Interplay with Histamine on Food Intake in Neonatal Chicks: Role of µ-Opioid and H1/H3 Receptors

ABSTRACT The present study was designed to examine the role of Opioidergic and Histaminergic systems on feeding behavior in 3-hour food deprived neonatal meat- type chicks. In experiment 1, chicks received intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of (A) control solution, (B) α-FMH (alpha fluoromethyl histidine; 250 nmol), (C) DAMGO (µ-opioid receptor agonist, 125 pmol) and (D) α-FMH + DAMGO. Experiments 2-4 were similar to experiment 1, except chicken ICV injected with Chlorpheniramine (histamine H1 receptors antagonist; 300 nmol), famotidine (histamine H2 receptors antagonist; 82 nmol) and Thioperamide (histamine H3 receptors antagonist; 300 nmol) instead of the α-FMH. In experiments 5-8, birds ICV injected with the same procedure as experiments 1-4, except they were injected with DPDPE (δ-opioid receptor agonist, 40 nmol) instead of DAMGO. Experiments 9-12 were similar to the experiments 1-4, except neonatal broilers ICV were injected with U-50488H (κ-opioid receptor agonist, 30 nmol) instead of DAMGO. Then the cumulative food intake was measured until 120 min post injection. According to the results, ICV injection of DAMGO, significantly decreased food intake (p0.05). Also, the hyperphagic effect of DPDPE and U-50488 had no affect by α-FMH, Chlorpheniramine, famotidine and Thioperamide (p>0.05). These results suggested that an interconnection between central opioidergic and histaminergic systems on feeding behavior is mediated via µ-opioid and H1/H3 receptors in neonatal broilers