Pathogen monitoring in indoor systems of tilapia aquaculture in Bafq, Iran

In recent years, aquatic diseases have damaged aquaculture industry in different areas of the world. Although tilapias are known as resistant fish against different pathogens, but there are some reports about infectious diseases of tilapia. Tilapia aquaculture in Iran is in the beginning stage. So, planning for hygiene observations and preventing of disease prevalence must be considered. Tilapia hatchery and indoor systems of National Research Center of Saline water Aquatics were monitored for infectious disease from October 2012 to February 2014. Unusual locomotion/feeding or uncommon signs in the shape or body surface of cultured tilapias, fries and eggs or exceed mortalities were mentioned for bacterial, fungal, parasitic or viral pathogens. Infectious agents in this study were bacteria Streptococcus and Edwardsiella, the fungi Penicillium and Aspergillus and parasitic monogeneans Gyrodactylus and Dactylogyrus. No viral agent was diagnosed. Although recorded pathogens were rarely observed during the study but much attention must be paid for hygiene monitoring and instruction performance

Preventive effects of garlic (Allium sativum) on oxidative stress and histopathology of cardiac tissue in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

Since some complications of diabetes mellitus may be caused or exacerbated by an oxidative stress, the protective effects of garlic (Allium sativum) were investigated in the blood and heart of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Twenty-eight male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups: control, garlic, diabetic, and diabetic+garlic. Diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of streptozotocin (50 mg/kg) in male rats. Rats were fed with raw fresh garlic homogenate (250 mg/kg) six days a week by gavage for a period of 6 weeks. At the end of the 6th week blood samples and heart tissues were collected and used for determination of glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), malondialdehyde (MDA) and histological evaluation. Induction of diabetes increased MDA levels in blood and homogenates of heart. In diabetic rats treated with garlic, MDA levels decreased in blood and heart homogenates. Treatment of diabetic rats with garlic increased SOD, GPX and CAT in blood and heart homogenates. Histopathological finding of the myocardial tissue confirmed a protective role for garlic in diabetic rats. Thus, the present study reveals that garlic may effectively modulate antioxidants status in the blood and heart of streptozotocin induced-diabetic rats