siRNA blocking of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) attenuates pathology in annonacin-induced tauopathy in mice

Tauopathy is a pathological hallmark of many neurodegenerative diseases. It is characterized by abnormal aggregates of pathological phosphotau and somatodendritic redistribution. One suggested strategy for treating tauopathy is to stimulate autophagy, hence, getting rid of these pathological protein aggregates. One key controller of autophagy is mTOR. Since stimulation of mTOR leads to inhibition of autophagy, inhibitors of mTOR will cause stimulation of autophagy process. In this report, tauopathy was induced in mice using annonacin. Blocking of mTOR was achieved through stereotaxic injection of siRNA against mTOR. The behavioral and immunohistochemical evaluation revealed the development of tauopathy model as proven by deterioration of behavioral performance in open field test and significant tau aggregates in annonacin-treated mice. Blocking of mTOR revealed significant clearance of tau aggregates in the injected side; however, tau expression was not affected by mTOR blockage

A comparison of surgical outcomes of perineal urethrostomy plus penile resection and perineal urethrostomy in twelve calves with perineal or prescrotal urethral dilatation

Abstract The clinical diagnosis, ultrasonographic findings, surgical management, outcome, and survival rate of perineal or prescrotal urethral dilatation in 12 male calves are described. All calves were crossbred and intact males. The most noticeable clinical presentations were perineal (n= 10) or prescrotal (n= 2) swellings and micturition problems. The main ultrasonographic findings were oval shaped dilatation of the urethra in all animals with dimensions of 40-75 X 30-62 mm. The calves with perineal urethral dilatation were treated by perineal urethrostomy (n= 4) and partial penile transection including the dilated urethra and urethral fistulation (n= 6). Prescrotal urethral dilatations were treated by penile transection proximal to the dilatation site (n= 2). Cystitis and stricture of the urethra were recorded postoperatively for two of the calves that underwent perineal urethrostomy. Nine animals were slaughtered at normal body weight approximately 6-8 months after the surgical treatment. Three animals were slaughtered after approximately three to four months, two of them having gained insufficient body weight. Our study shows that ultrasonography is a useful tool for the diagnosis of urethral dilatation in bovine calves. Our study also shows that the partial penile transection may be a suitable and satisfactory choice of surgical treatment for correcting the urethral dilatation in bovine calves

Potential risk factors associated with ill-thrift in buffalo calves (Bubalus bubalis) raised at smallholder farms in Egypt

Failure to grow (ill-thrift) in calves has a negative effect on animal production and health. The present study was carried out from November, 2009 to May, 2013 to investigate the risk factors of ill-thrift in buffalo calves. A total of 344 calves at 78 smallholder farms were selected randomly. A questionnaire was designed to include managemental, nutritional and disease risk factors. Serum selenium, copper, zinc, iron, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium were measured. Data were subjected to logistic regression analysis and results were expressed as p value, odds ratio (OR) and confidence interval (CI). Fifty-five calves (15.9%) showed ill-thrift. On animal level, the final multivariate logistic regression model showed a significant association between ill-thrift and early weaning (p < 0.01; OR: 45.755; CI: 4.35–480.25), diarrhea (p < 0.05; OR: 41.315; CI: 1.710–998.0), indoor management (p < 0.05; OR: 63.56; CI: 2.701–14.96) and low serum phosphorus (p < 0.01; 292.0; CI: 5.256–16.23). On farm level, inadequate mineral supplementation (p < 0.001; OR: 18.62; CI: 3.89–88.9) and irregular use of anthelmintics (p < 0.05; OR: 7.95; CI: 1.53–41.23) were the potential factors. Clinically, ill-thrift calves were more likely to have alopecia (p < 0.01), recumbency (p < 0.01), emaciation (p < 0.001), hypothermia (p < 0.01), inappetance (p < 0.001), lacrimation (p < 0.001), hypomotile rumen (p < 0.001), and pale mucous membrane (p < 0.001). The results of the present study indicate that ill-thrift in buffalo calves could occur as a result of interaction between management errors and disease factors. Identification of the risk factors associated with ill-thrift may provide useful information, which assist to construct the suitable preventive measures

Dose-dependent effects of mosapride citrate on duodenal and cecal motility in donkeys (Equus asinus)

Prokinetic drugs are used for the management of gastrointestinal motility disorders in horses; however, little is known about their efficacy in donkeys. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of different doses of mosapride citrate on duodenal and cecal motility in normal donkeys. Six donkeys (n = 6) were used in a crossover study. Mosapride citrate was administered orally via a nasogastric tube at dose rate of 1, 2 and 3 mg kg−1. Duodenal and cecal motility were evaluated using ultrasonography before administration and at 15, 30, 60, 120 and 180 min post-administration. There was a significant increase of duodenal contractions (p < 0.05) after 30 min of mosapride citrate administration at 3 mg kg−1 with a prolonged (p < 0.05) prokinetic effect at 2 mg kg−1. Cecal contractions were significantly increased (p < 0.05) after 15 min at different doses of mosapride with a prolonged effect at 3 mg kg−1. The results of the present study indicate that mosapride citrate has a dose-dependent prokinetic effect on the duodenal and cecal contractions in healthy donkeys. Further studies need to determine whether mosapride citrate is effective in treatment of intestinal disorders in donkey

Quality of the Effect of Chelated Chromium on Selected Serum/Plasma Metabolites in Dairy Cattle

The impact of supplementing chelated chromium (Cr) in transition cows has increased recently. The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review of randomized controlled trials to evaluate the effectiveness of supplementation of chelated chromium (Cr) on plasma glucose, non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) and insulin during the transition period in dairy cows. A total of 322 transition dairy cows, belonged to seven studies from five papers, were used. The complete steps of meta-analysis were performed according to the standard pathway of PRISMA. For this reason, a comprehensive meta-analysis was used to accomplish this mission. The effect model and I2 statistic was used to estimate the degree of heterogeneity. Forest plot was used to present a graphic means and their confidence intervals, and a heterogeneous degree was explored with meta-regression, also Beggꞌs test was conducted to investigate the publication bias. Estimated the effect size of chelated Cr on glucose, NEFA, and insulin outcomes during the threetime points (i.e. before, at, after calving) was no significant (glucose ES=(0.049-0.078) 0.015, p-value=0.649; NEFA ES=(-0.719-0.45) -0.134, p-value=0.653; and insulin ES=(-0.090-0.154) 0.032, p-value=0.611. The heterogeneity was not significant for all variables (glucose I2=0, p-value=0.981; NEFA I2=0 p-value=1; and insulin I2=0, pvalue=0.980). Consequently, fixed-effects models were used for the analysis of such data. Furthermore, Beggꞌs test indicated no evidence of substantial publication bias for all parameters. The influence analysis showed that the removal of any study did not change the direction or significance of point estimates. The meta-analysis of our study indicated that chelated Cr supplementation of diets of dairy cows during the transition period provided a glucose tolerance effect by increasing the insulin response and decrease NEFA concentration, but not in a significant level

Current Profiling of Research on Donkeys and Its Implications in Global Studies Based on Bibliometric Analysis

Tremendous work has been conducted in equine medicine research, with special reference to donkeys. Our study surveyed applied studies on donkeys by 2023 in a quantitative manner. Data were retrieved from the Web of Science database. The points investigated addressed the general criteria of global donkey research. Statistical data were set for each studied item using VOSviewer software, with a focus on the top ten results for each item. A total of 2947 documents were extracted. results revealed that author Burden F.A. had the highest number of published papers (68, 2.30%), publications in 2020 (8.92%) were at the front. The Egyptian Knowledge Bank (EKB) had the highest number of papers (177, 6.01%), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nsfc) (91, 3.08%) was the top funding agency, USA was the top nation in publications (13.87 %), and the majority of publications were in English (2757, 93.55 %). The highest publications in WOS categories, were collected from Veterinary Sciences (1695, 57.51%). Research articles were the most abundant form (85.61 %). Dairy and Animal Sciences was at the top of citation topics (351, 11.91%). &nbsp;&nbsp;Elsevier had the highest publications (23.58%), Journal of Equine Veterinary Science was placed in the top journals (163, 5.53%). The data from the current study can be used to assess the situation of applied research on donkeys, helping to set possible future maps

Current Profiling of Research on Donkeys and Its Implications in Global Studies Based on Bibliometric Analysis

Tremendous work has been conducted in equine medicine research, with special reference to donkeys. Our study surveyed applied studies on donkeys by 2023 in a quantitative manner. Data were retrieved from the Web of Science database. The points investigated addressed the general criteria of global donkey research. Statistical data were set for each studied item using VOSviewer software, with a focus on the top ten results for each item. A total of 2947 documents were extracted. results revealed that author Burden F.A. had the highest number of published papers (68, 2.30%), publications in 2020 (8.92%) were at the front. The Egyptian Knowledge Bank (EKB) had the highest number of papers (177, 6.01%), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nsfc) (91, 3.08%) was the top funding agency, USA was the top nation in publications (13.87 %), and the majority of publications were in English (2757, 93.55 %). The highest publications in WOS categories, were collected from Veterinary Sciences (1695, 57.51%). Research articles were the most abundant form (85.61 %). Dairy and Animal Sciences was at the top of citation topics (351, 11.91%).   Elsevier had the highest publications (23.58%), Journal of Equine Veterinary Science was placed in the top journals (163, 5.53%). The data from the current study can be used to assess the situation of applied research on donkeys, helping to set possible future maps

The Prevalence and Molecular Biology of Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Healthy and Diseased Equine Eyes in Egypt

This work aimed to characterize S. aureus isolates from the eyes of healthy and clinically affected equines in the Kafrelsheikh Governorate, Egypt. A total of 110 animals were examined for the presence of S. aureus, which was isolated from 33 animals with ophthalmic lesions and 77 healthy animals. We also investigated the antimicrobial resistance profile, oxacillin resistance mechanism, and the major virulence factors implicated in many studies of the ocular pathology of pathogenic S. aureus. The association between S. aureus eye infections and potential risk factors was also investigated. The frequency of S. aureus isolates from clinically affected equine eyes was significantly higher than in clinically healthy equids. A significant association was found between the frequency of S. aureus isolation from clinically affected equine eyes and risk factors including age and season but not with sex or breed factors. Antimicrobial resistance to common antibiotics used to treat equine eyes was also tested. Overall, the isolates showed the highest sensitivity to sulfamethoxazole (100%) and the highest resistance to cephalosporin (90.67%) and oxacillin (90.48%). PCR was used to demonstrate that mecA was present in 100% of oxacillin- and &beta;-lactam-resistant S. aureus strains. The virulence factor genes Spa (x region), nuc, and hlg were identified in 62.5%, 100%, and 56%, of isolates, respectively, from clinically affected equines eyes. The severity of the eye lesions increased in the presence of &gamma;-toxin-positive S. aureus. The phylogenetic tree of the Spa (x region) gene indicated a relationship with human reference strains isolated from Egypt as well as isolates from equines in Iran and Japan. This study provides insight into the prevalence, potential risk factors, clinical pictures, zoonotic potential, antimicrobial resistance, and &beta;-lactam resistance mechanism of S. aureus strains that cause eye infection in equines from Egypt

Epidemiological and Molecular Investigation of Ocular Fungal Infection in Equine from Egypt

Diagnosis and treatment of ocular fungal infection in equine seems very challenging for owners and clinicians. The present study aimed to identify and characterize fungal species isolated from the eyes of clinically healthy and diseased equines (N = 100) from Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt. The work also involved morphological and molecular characterization of the major fungal species. In addition, correlations between the occurrence of isolated fungi and some of the potential risk factors were also investigated. Interestingly, the prevalence rate of ocular mycosis in all examined equines in the study was 28% and there were major clinical signs associated with ocular fungal infection. Moreover, the identified fungal species included Aspergillus flavus, A. fumigatus, A. niger, Penicillium spp., Mucor spp., and Alternari spp. with a corresponding prevalence rate of 63.9%, 27.8%, 15.3%, 18.1%, 13.9%, and 4.2%, respectively, in healthy equine eyes, while their prevalence in diseased equine eyes was 57.1%, 32.1%, 21.4%, 7.1%, 3.6%, and 0%. Furthermore, a statistical significant association (p &lt; 0.05) was found between the frequency of isolation of A. fumigatus and Penicillium and several risk factors (breed, sex, and ground type), while the remaining risk factors and occurrence of fungi were not statistically correlated. A subset of the Aspergillus species samples positive by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were sequenced and their phylogenetic analysis identified three species of Aspergillus. Taken together, our study provides novel data related to the occurrence of ocular mycosis in equine in Egypt. Given the zoonotic potential of some identified fungi, our data may be helpful for implementation of novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for combating this sight-threatening infection in equine