Physiological and behavioural responses of livestock to road transportation stress: A review

Physiological and behavioural responses of livestock to road transportation stress are reviewed. Livestock transported by road in most part of the world are predisposed to many stressors which affect the haematological, hormonal function as well as the behavioural activities of the livestock thereby disrupting body homeostasis.Key words: Road transportation, livestock, physiological parameters, behavioural activities

Physiological responses of food animals to road transportation stress

The increasing demand in proteins to feed the ever-growing world population has necessitated the industrialization and transportation of livestock using different means of transportation across several ecological zones with different climatic conditions. The stress factors acting on animals during road transportation are numerous and the responses of the animal to them are complex, non-specific and often detrimental to their health and productivity. In spite of the numerous recommendations and guidelines by many countries on the welfare of animal transport order and their streaked compliance by transporters, several studies still report severe welfare problems during road transportation of food animals. This review, in a new approach examines the effects of individual or the combination of road transport stress factors, such as: handling, loading, unloading, vehicle type and design, type of road and driving methods, vehicle noise and vibration, stocking rate/density, journey duration, climatic conditions and the general animal welfare implication on different physiological parameters of transported food animals. The review provides an insight on the physiological responses of animals to transport stress and possible areas of intervention and adoption of improved and innovative management strategies toward improving the welfare of the transported animals.Key words: Animal welfare, food animal, stress, road transportation

The effects of ascorbic acid and á-tocopherole on leukocyte count of sodium nitrate-treated Wistar rats

The experiments were performed with the aim of investigating the possible ameliorative effects of ascorbic acid and á-tocopherole supplements administered to sodium nitrate-treated rats on total and differential leukocyte counts. Seventy (70) adult Wistar rats, divided into seven groups of 10 rats each were used for the study. They were administered drugs or distilled water orally using a metallic canula between 8.00 to 10.00 am daily for 60 days as follows: Group I (control) received distilled water; Group II received 30 mg/kg NaNO3; Group III received 30 mg/kg NaNO3 + 500 mg/kg AA; Group IV received 30 mg/kg NaNO3 + 750 mg/kg AA; Group V received 30 mg/kg NaNO3 + 300 mg/kg vitamin E; Group VI received 400 mg/kg NaNO3 + 300 mg/kg vitamin E and Group VII received 30 mg/kg NaNO3 + 500 mg/kg AA + 300 mg/kg vitamin E. At the end of the experiment, the rats were sacrificed and blood was collected for the determination of total and differential leukocyte count. The results showed that sodium nitrate administration induced leukocytosis, which was enhanced by AA administration at both the higher and lower doses as evidenced by increased neutrophil and lymphocyte counts as well as increased monocyte count at the lower dose. Similarly, α-tocopherole at both doses enhanced NaNO3 toxicity by increasing lymphocyte and total leukocyte counts. In conclusion, co-administration of the two antioxidant vitamins showed negative synergistic effect.Key words: Ascorbic acid, α-tocopherole, sodium nitrate, leukocytes, rats

Modulatory Role of Antioxidant Vitamins C and E on Erythrocyte Osmotic Fragility Induced By Chronic Sodium Nitrate Administration in Rats

Vitamin C and E supplements were administered to sodium nitrate-treated rats in order to examine the possible ameliorative effects of these antioxidants on erythrocyte osmotic fragility. Seventy adult Wistar rats were randomly divided into seven groups (n=10) and administered drugs or distilled water orally using a metallic canular for 60 days. Group I (control) received distilled water; Group II - 30 mg/kg NaNO3; Group III – 30 mg/kg NaNO3 + 500 mg/kg vitamin C; Group IV – 30 mg/kg NaNO3 + 750 mg/kg vitamin C; Group V – 30 mg/kg NaNO3 + 300 mg/kg vitamin E; Group VI – 30 mg/kg NaNO3 + 400 mg/kg vitamin E; Group VII - 30 mg/kg NaNO3 + 500 mg/kg vitamin C + 300 mg/kg vitamin E. Blood was collected from each animal at the end of the experiment to determine erythrocyte osmotic fragility. The results showed that, sodium nitrate caused significant decrease in erythrocyte osmotic fragility. Each of the vitamin administered separately increased erythrocyte osmotic fragility back to normal values. However, co-administration of the two vitamins very significantly increased erythrocyte osmotic fragility to above normal values. It was concluded that, vitamin C and E administered separately ameliorated sodium nitrate toxicity in a dose dependant manner. Co-administration of the two vitamins showed synergistic effect which was detrimental to the rats due to the risk of anaemia. Keywords: antioxidants, vitamin C, vitamin E, sodium nitrate, erythrocytes, osmotic fragility, rats

Physico-chemical characterization and cytotoxicity studies of seed extracts of Khaya senegalensis (Desr.) A. Juss.

The seeds of Khaya senegalensis were extracted using petroleum ether and methanol with the aim of determining the physico-chemical properties of the seed oil and the cytotoxicity of the two extracts. Therefractive index of the oil was found to be 1.458, while the relative density was 0.953. The iodine and saponification values were 88.40 and 195.58, respectively. The peroxide and acid values were 4.6 and2.69, respectively. Brine shrimp lethality bioassay of petroleum ether and methanol extracts of the seeds showed that the extracts were moderately cytotoxic at high concentration. The LC50 values usingProbit analysis method for petroleum ether and methanol extracts were 827.39 and 51.79 ìg/ml, respectively. Therefore, the seed oil of K. senegalensis was found to be non-drying oil and the extractsfrom the seeds may contain bioactive compounds of potential therapeutic and prophylactic significance

Ameliorative effects of ascorbic acid on rectal temperature, excitability score and liveweight of rabbits transported by road

This experiment was performed with the aim of investigating the effects of ascorbic acid (AA) on stress due to road transportation of rabbits. Nine rabbits administered AA served as the treated animals, while seven others given sterile water were used as the controls. All the rabbits were transported by road for 2 h under standard conditions, and their rectal temperature (RT), excitability score and liveweight values were recorded before, during and after the transportation. The results showed that road transportation was stressful to all the rabbits, as evidenced by an increase in RT values of both the treated and control animals after the transportation. Post-transportation RT value in the control rabbits (39.67 ± 0.41°C) was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that of the treated rabbits (39.0 ± 0.16°C). The excitability scores of the rabbits decreased considerably following road transportation, especially in the control rabbits that were not administered AA. The liveweights of both the treated and control rabbits decreased on arrival. On day 1 post-transportation, the control rabbits lost 2.70% of the pretransportation liveweight, while the treated rabbits gained 2.37% of the pre-transportation liveweight. In conclusion, the administration of AA to rabbits prior to the commencement of the journey ameliorated the adverse effects of stress due to road transportation.Key words: Road transportation, rectal temperature, liveweight, excitability score, ascorbic acid, rabbits

Cytotoxicity of chlopyrifos and cypermethrin: The ameliorative effects of antioxidants

The present paper reviews the mechanism underlying chlorpyrifos and cypermethrin poisoning. It explains the mechanism of action of chlopyrifos and cypermethrin and the role of oxidative stress. It sheds light on the interaction between chlopyrifos and cypermethrin as observed in many cocktails of pesticide combinations today. It also explains the adverse health effects of pesticides and some antioxidants which may ameliorate their effects. Further research aimed at identifying more agents that may ameliorate chlorpyrifos and cypermethrin-induced toxicity should be carried out.Key words: Pesticides, chlorpyrifos, cypermethrin oxidative stress, antioxidant

Cytotoxicity and antimicrobial studies of 1,6,8- trihydroxy-3-methyl-anthraquinone (emodin) isolated from the leaves of Cassia nigricans Vahl

Emodin was isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of the leaves of Cassia nigricans Vahl. The structure of the emodin was established by chemical spectroscopy. The LC50 (lower – upper limits) of the emodinwas 42.77 (11.80 – 72.94) ìg/ml. Emodin was found to be highly cytotoxic. It showed significant antimicrobial activity on some common pathogens. The isolation of this active principle emodin, from the leaves of Cassia nigricans for the first time and the antimicrobial activity of the compound are reported in the present study. The isolation of the active principle justifies the use of the leaves of C. nigricans in herbal medicine for the treatment of skin diseases and gastro-intestinal disorders

Physiological responses of donkeys (Equus asinus, Perissodactyla) to work stress and potential ameliorative role of ascorbic acid

The review examines donkey as a draught animal, used mainly for carrying load from one place to another in Africa. Although, motorized transport has been thriving rapidly in the twentieth century, the use of donkeys for transport has not experienced a proportionate decline. Donkeys are often overused, neglected and exposed to various stressors, which eventually lead to their poor performance. This review also examines the effect of packing on the physiological parameters of donkeys and the ameliorative role of ascorbic acid in donkeys subjected to work stress. In conclusion, a better understanding of the pathophysiologic mechanism of stress in donkeys may enhance their work output under the unfavourable environmental conditions of the tropics.Keywords: Donkeys, ascorbic acid, packing, stress, physiological parametersAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(14), pp. 1585-159

Design Of A Web-Based Paper Submission And Reviewing System (PSRS)

Conference planning, organization and administration are very tedious tasks. In most cases the conference programme committee has to convene several meetings where submitted papers (via emails in most cases) are downloaded, discussed and accepted or rejected for presentation at the conference. This paper presents the design of a web-based conference paper management system which facilitates easy and efficient review of technical submissions to conferences. Our proposed system stores authors\' information, abstracts, papers and reviewers\' comments. The process of assignment of papers to reviewers is done using a set of objective parameters to determine the most suitable reviewers for each article. The system also collates camera ready accepted papers to generate conference proceeding for the conference. This work will reduce the amount of paperwork and the need for several meetings by the programme committee thus making conference organization a pleasure. Also the effectiveness of conference organization and management will be substantially improved. Keywords: Conference management, paper submission, paper assignment, web-based development, reviewers\' ranking, ACM Classification: H.3.5 (Web-based services)Global Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences Vol. 14 (3) 2008: pp. 357-36