154 research outputs found
OCHRATOXIN A AND CITRININ INDUCED PATHOMORPHOLOGICAL CHANGES IN BROILER CHICKEN
ABSTRACT The study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of feeding ochratoxin A and citrinin either alone or in combination in broiler chicken. Two hundred broiler chicks were divided into four groups of 50 chicks each with the following treatment viz. Control diet, (group I), OA 1 ppm, (group II), CTN 12.5 ppm (group III) and combination 1 ppm OA plus 12.5 ppm CTN (group IV) up to 35 days of the trial. The experimental and the control birds were sequentially sacrificed and examined at 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35 th day of the experiment. On post-mortem examination grossly, the toxin fed birds showed congestion, enlargement, pallor or yellowish discoloration of liver with distended gall bladder, swollen and congested kidneys. In addition, congestion of heart with prominent vasculature, pale, dehydrated and shrunken skeletal muscles, presence of small quantity of semisolid ingesta with slight mucous in crop and proventriculous, dry and shrunken gizzard, congested appearance of intestine with small quantity of mucous and congested pancreas was observed in all the toxin fed groups throughout the period of experimentation. Microscopically degenerative changes in hepatocytes, periportal fibrosis, periductular mononuclear cell infiltration, fatty degeneration, focal necrosis in the liver, degeneration and necrotic changes in the tubular epithelial cells in kidneys, myocardial degeneration, hyaline degeneration of muscle, mucosal hyperplasia of crop, proventriculitis, ventriculitis, catarrhal enteritis, pancreatitis, lymphoid depletion in the spleen, bursa of Fabricius and thymus were the prominent lesions observed when both the toxins were fed to birds from second to fifth week of age. Severity of these lesions was found to be enhanced and suggested the additive or synergistic effect of these toxins in the broiler chicken
Development of biofilm of Vibrio alginolyticus for oral immunostimulation of shrimp
Biofilm (BF) of Vibrio alginolyticus was developed on chitin flakes. BF formation
was studied at various nutrient concentrations and incubation time. Highest colonyforming
units of BF cells were obtained with 0.15% trypticase soya broth and at 3 days of
incubation. The BF cells could be completely inactivated at 80C in 10 min and with 10%
formalin in 24 h. SDS–PAGE profile of BF cells revealed repression of four proteins and
expression of three new proteins compared to free cells (FC). The preliminary immune
response studies showed that BF cells were superior to FC in stimulating the non-specific
immune response of Penaeus monodo
Antidiabetic and renoprotective effects of the chloroform extract of Terminalia chebula Retz. seeds in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats
BACKGROUND: Terminalia chebula (Combretaceae) has been widely used in Ayurveda for the treatment of diabetes. In the present investigation, the chloroform extract of T. chebula seed powder was investigated for its antidiabetic activity in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats using short term and long term study protocols. The efficacy of the extract was also evaluated for protection of renal functions in diabetic rats. METHODS: The blood glucose lowering activity of the chloroform extract was determined in streptozotocin-induced (75 mg/kg, i.p.; dissolved in 0.1 M acetate buffer; pH 4.5) diabetic rats, after oral administration at the doses of 100, 200 and 300 mg/kg in short term study. Blood samples were collected from the eye retro-orbital plexus of rats before and also at 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12 h after drug administration and the samples were analyzed for blood glucose by using glucose-oxidase/peroxidase method using a visible spectrophotometer. In long term study, the extract (300 mg/kg) was administered to streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats, daily for 8 weeks. Blood glucose was measured at weekly intervals for 4 weeks. Urine samples were collected before the induction of diabetes and at the end of 8 weeks of treatments and analyzed for urinary protein, albumin and creatinine levels. The data was compared statistically using one-way ANOVA with post-hoc Dunnet's t-test. RESULTS: The chloroform extract of T. chebula seeds produced dose-dependent reduction in blood glucose of diabetic rats and comparable with that of standard drug, glibenclamide in short term study. It also produced significant reduction in blood glucose in long term study. Significant renoprotective activity is observed in T. chebula treated rats. The results indicate a prolonged action in reduction of blood glucose by T. chebula and is probably mediated through enhanced secretion of insulin from the β-cells of Langerhans or through extra pancreatic mechanism. The probable mechanism of potent renoprotective actions of T. chebula has to be evaluated. CONCLUSION: The present studies clearly indicated a significant antidiabetic and renoprotective effects with the chloroform extract of T. chebula and lend support for its traditional usage. Further investigations on identification of the active principles and their mode of action are needed to unravel the molecular mechanisms involved in the observed effects
Poly-β-hydroxybutyrate administration during early life: effects on performance, immunity and microbial community of European sea bass yolk-sac larvae
The reliable production of marine fish larvae is one of the major bottlenecks in aquaculture due to high mortalities mainly caused by infectious diseases. To evaluate if the compound poly-β-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) might be a suitable immunoprophylactic measure in fish larviculture, its capacity to improve immunity and performance in European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) yolk-sac larvae was explored. PHB was applied from mouth opening onwards to stimulate the developing larval immune system at the earliest possible point in time. Larval survival, growth, microbiota composition, gene expression profiles and disease resistance were assessed. PHB administration improved larval survival and, furthermore, altered the larva-associated microbiota composition. The bacterial challenge test using pathogenic Vibrio anguillarum revealed that the larval disease resistance was not influenced by PHB. The expression profiles of 26 genes involved e.g. in the immune response showed that PHB affected the expression of the antimicrobial peptides ferritin (fer) and dicentracin (dic), however, the response to PHB was inconsistent and weaker than previously demonstrated for sea bass post-larvae. Hence, the present study highlights the need for more research focusing on the immunostimulation of different early developmental stages for gaining a more comprehensive picture and advancing a sustainable production of high quality fry
Alternative patterns of sex chromosome differentiation in Aedes aegypti (L).
BACKGROUND: Some populations of West African Aedes aegypti, the dengue and zika vector, are reproductively incompatible; our earlier study showed that divergence and rearrangements of genes on chromosome 1, which bears the sex locus (M), may be involved. We also previously described a proposed cryptic subspecies SenAae (PK10, Senegal) that had many more high inter-sex FST genes on chromosome 1 than did Ae.aegypti aegypti (Aaa, Pai Lom, Thailand). The current work more thoroughly explores the significance of those findings. RESULTS: Intersex standardized variance (FST) of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was characterized from genomic exome capture libraries of both sexes in representative natural populations of Aaa and SenAae. Our goal was to identify SNPs that varied in frequency between males and females, and most were expected to occur on chromosome 1. Use of the assembled AaegL4 reference alleviated the previous problem of unmapped genes. Because the M locus gene nix was not captured and not present in AaegL4, the male-determining locus, per se, was not explored. Sex-associated genes were those with FST values ≥ 0.100 and/or with increased expected heterozygosity (H exp , one-sided T-test, p < 0.05) in males. There were 85 genes common to both collections with high inter-sex FST values; all genes but one were located on chromosome 1. Aaa showed the expected cluster of high inter-sex FST genes proximal to the M locus, whereas SenAae had inter-sex FST genes along the length of chromosome 1. In addition, the Aaa M-locus proximal region showed increased H exp levels in males, whereas SenAae did not. In SenAae, chromosomal rearrangements and subsequent suppressed recombination may have accelerated X-Y differentiation. CONCLUSIONS: The evidence presented here is consistent with differential evolution of proto-Y chromosomes in Aaa and SenAae
Molecular characterization and identification of members of the Anopheles subpictus complex in Sri Lanka
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