SEROPREVALENCE OF BRUCELLOSIS IN HORSES IN AND AROUND FAISALABAD

Rose Bengal Plate test (RBPT) and Serum Agglutination test (SAT) were used to monitor the seroprevalence of brucellosis in horses in and around Faisalabad, Pakistan. Sera were screened by RBPT and positive or doubtful sera were further processed by SAT for confirmation. The overall seroprevalence of brucellosis in horses was 20.7 and 17.7% by RBPT and SAT, respectively. Source wise seroprevalence of brucellosis was 19.8, 25.5, 2.9 and 0% in horses of Remount Area Faisalabad, Remount Area Toba Tek Singh, private and Livestock Management Department University of Agriculture Faisalabad, respectively. Sex wise seroprevalence in horses was 9.67 and 17.7% in male and female, respectively. In relation to age, seroprevalence was 12.9, 16.5, 14.8 and 20.6%, in horses of 1-5, 6-10, 11-15 and above 15 years of age, respectively. Highest seroprevalence was recorded in horses of above 15 years of age. Depending upon the body condition, the seroprevalence was 9.7, 13, and 20% in poor fair, and good body conditioned horses, respectively. Seroprevalence of brucellosis on the basis of parity was 19.2, 20.9, 18.7, 16.6, and 21.1% in 0, 1, 2, 3 and above 3 foaling females, respectively. Prevalence of brucellosis in different breeds of horses was 22.4, 17.1, 25.7 and 0.0% in Desi, Thoroughbred, Crossbred and Arabian horses, respectively. However, statistically, in relation to various factors like source, sex, body condition, parity and breed of horses, a non significant difference was observed among various groups. Statistically a significant difference (P<0.001) in seroprevalence was observed with respect to age, only

AMPA receptor GluA2 subunit defects are a cause of neurodevelopmental disorders.

AMPA receptors (AMPARs) are tetrameric ligand-gated channels made up of combinations of GluA1-4 subunits encoded by GRIA1-4 genes. GluA2 has an especially important role because, following post-transcriptional editing at the Q607 site, it renders heteromultimeric AMPARs Ca2+-impermeable, with a linear relationship between current and trans-membrane voltage. Here, we report heterozygous de novo GRIA2 mutations in 28 unrelated patients with intellectual disability (ID) and neurodevelopmental abnormalities including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Rett syndrome-like features, and seizures or developmental epileptic encephalopathy (DEE). In functional expression studies, mutations lead to a decrease in agonist-evoked current mediated by mutant subunits compared to wild-type channels. When GluA2 subunits are co-expressed with GluA1, most GRIA2 mutations cause a decreased current amplitude and some also affect voltage rectification. Our results show that de-novo variants in GRIA2 can cause neurodevelopmental disorders, complementing evidence that other genetic causes of ID, ASD and DEE also disrupt glutamatergic synaptic transmission

In Situ Assessment of Ruminal Dry Matter Degradation Kinetics and Effective Rumen Degradability of Feedstuffs Originated from Agro-Industrial By-Products

In the tropical Asian countries, information on nutrients availability from various by-products of agro-food industries remains scarce and even less is known about their application in the feed evaluation systems. The objective of this study was to generate renewed data on in situ rumen dry matter (DM) degradability of by-products from oilseeds, cereal grains, and animal origin, commonly fed to animals in tropical Asian countries. The data were used to derive regression equations to understand the relationships between effective rumen degradability of DM (EDDM) and the rumen degradation characteristics of the by-products. Sixty four samples of five oilseed by-products, seven cereal grain by-products and four animal by-products were used. From each feed, 4 samples (~1 kg each) were collected from dairy farms (n=1), local markets (n=1) and different agro-industries (n=2). The feeds were incubated in the rumen for 2, 4, 8, 12, 24 and 48 h, using nylon bag technique. There was a significant (P<0.01) variation in the rumen degradation kinetics and EDDM within by-products of oilseeds, cereal grains and animal origin. Regression analysis showed strong relationships (R2 values above 0.90) between the EDDM (g/kg DM) calculated using three rumen passage rates (0.04, 0.06 and 0.08 h-1) and the washout (W) and rumen undegradable (U) contents (g/kg DM) of oilseed and cereal grain by-products. The renewed database is more reliable because all the by-product feeds were evaluated under uniform experimental conditions and the variation among sources of these feeds were also covered

Distribution of Lymphocytes in the Mucosa Associated Lymphoid Tissues (MALT) of Naturally Occurring Infectious Bursal Disease (IBD) in Chicken

This study was aimed to investigate changes in the number and distribution of lymphocytes in the mucosa associated lymphoid tissues (MALT) of digestive tract (proventriculus, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, cecum and cecal tonsils) and respiratory system (lungs) of chicken infected by Infectious Bursal Disease Virus (IBDV). Samples were divided into two groups; IBDV infected group (21, 24 and 30 days old) and control group (non infected birds; 21 days old). Haematoxylin and eosin stained slides were prepared for microscopic studies to observe the distribution and the number of lymphocytes in the mucosa of the digestive tract and respiratory system. Lymphocytes were significantly (P<0.05) lower in proventriculus, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, cecum, cecal tonsils and lungs of IBDV infected chickens than the control. Moreover, the reduction in lymphocytes number was maximum in duodenum and cecal tonsils, while minimal in lungs. Depletion of lymphocyte was mainly in the lamina propria and the core of the villi and depletion increased with the advance of age of IBDV infected chicken. These results demonstrate that IBDV destroys the lymphocytes of the MALT and suppresses the immunity