Morphological aspects of the capybara stomach (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris): gross and microscopic structure

The digestive system of the capybara has been investigated because of its coprofagia habits, important for their absorptive activity. These species present differences in terms of gastrointestinal morphological characters when compared with other rodents. Macroscopiclly, the stomach of the capybara is constituted of the following parts: cardiac, pyloric, body, fundic and gastric diverticulum. It presents two curvatures, one big and another small. Externally, the presence of gastric bands (tenias) is observed. With regards to the volumetric view, the gastric capacity varies from 850 to 2010 ml, with an average of 1498.57 ml. So, the stomach of this animal can be classified as a simple stomach, in the format of a curved sack and similar to an inverted letter 'J'. The gastric mucous membrane presents a surface filled by numerous tortuous gastric folds and longitudinally distributed along all its extension. The mucous tunic also possesses recesses located among the successive gastric folds, which were denoted as gastric parts with numerous openings described as gastric pits. In the cardiac part, a glandular epithelium with cardiac glands is noticed containing a lot of parietal and mucous neck cells. The fundic part, body and gastric diverticulum contain proper gastric glands with main, parietal and mucous neck cells. Finally, the pyloric part has pyloric glands with two cellular types, mucous neck and parietal cells.     

Seroepidemiology of beef and dairy herds and fetal study of Neospora caninum in Argentina

The purpose of the present work was to study the epidemiology of Neospora caninum in beef and dairy herds in the Humid Pampas of Argentina. The seroprevalence of N. caninum was evaluated in 2414 serum samples of cows from beef and dairy farms. An indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) was used to determine specific antibodies. The sera was screened at a dilution >or=1:200 and >or=1:600 in cows with reproductive disease antecedents and without them, respectively. Cows without history of reproductive diseases from nine beef and fifteen dairy farms were grouped according to the percentage (> or or 相似文献   

Morphological features of Prosorhynchus crucibulum and P. aculeatus (Digenea: Bucephalidae), intestinal parasites of Conger conger (Pisces: Congridae), elucidated by scanning electron microscopy

The external morphology of two bucephalid digenean parasites of Conger conger (Linnaeus) (Congridae, Anguilliformes) caught northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, Prosorhynchus crucibulum (Rudolphi, 1819) Odhner, 1905 and P. aculeatus Odhner, 1905, were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). SEM techniques elucidated new external morphological details, mainly relating to the tegument and protruding organs, such as, in P. crucibulum, a papilla-like structure associated with the pharynx and, in P. aculeatus, the cirrus. The tegument bears scale-like spines, which in both species are arranged quincuncially. The spines of P. crucibulum are wider than long and cover the major part of the body and rhynchus. However, no spines were found in either the central apical depression of the rhynchus or in the middle of the ventral indentation. Also, spines were rarely seen on the tegument around mouth, around the genital aperture or close to the excretory pore. P. aculeatus has spines of a different shape, as wide as they are long and with a rounded margin. They cover the whole body and almost the entire rhynchus, but none were found in the middle of the rhynchus or on its neck region.     

The blastocyst production rate and incidence of chromosomal abnormalities by developmental stage in in vitro produced porcine embryos

The present study was conducted to determine the relationship between embryonic development speed at different stages (the cleaved stage at 52 h and the blastocyst stage at 6 days post insemination) and incidences of chromosome abnormalities in in vitro produced porcine embryos. Porcine oocytes were collected from 3-6-mm ovarian follicles obtained at a slaughterhouse and matured in modified NCSU-37 medium for 44-46 h. Following in vitro fertilization with a final concentration of 1 x 10(5) sperm/ml for 3 h, all oocytes were cultured in vitro for 52 h. Day-2 (52 h after insemination) embryos were classified according to their cleaved stages into 2-cell, 3- to 4-cell, 5- to 8-cell, and >8-cell stages; these were cultured separately for additional 4 days (Day 6). The resultant Day-6 blastocysts were classified according to the morphological diameter into 3 grades: Grade A, expanded blastocysts; Grade B, expanding blastocysts; and Grade C, early blastocysts. They were then analyzed chromosomally. The 3- to 4-cell and 5- to 8-cell embryos had significantly high blastocyst development rates (46.1 and 36.9%, respectively), and these blastocysts contained significantly more cells (40.2 and 42.4 cells, respectively) than those derived from 2-cell embryos and >8-cell embryos (28.6 and 26.5 cells, respectively). The incidence of chromosomal abnormalities was significantly higher in the blastocysts derived from 2-cell and >8-cell stage embryos than in the blastocysts derived from the other stage embryos. Furthermore, the grade A blastocysts had the lowest incidence of chromosomal abnormalities (35.3%) and contained the most cells (48.7 cells). Porcine in vitro production (IVP) yielded a high blastocyst rate and an excellent embryo quality when 3- to 4-cell and 5- to 8-cell stage embryos were selected on Day 2 after insemination. The same criteria yielded a higher quality of expanded blastocysts based on the stage of embryo development and morphology.     

Long Chain Fatty Acids of Diet as Factors Influencing Reproduction in Cattle

Cattle are fed moderate amounts of long chain fatty acids (FA) with the objective to enhance lactation and growth; however, recent interest on lipid feeding to cows has focused on reproduction, immunity and health. Increasing the caloric density of the ration by fat feeding has generally improved measures of cow reproduction, but when milk yield and body weight losses were increased by fat supplementation, positive effects on reproduction were not always observed. Feeding fat has influenced reproduction by altering the size of the dominant follicle, hastening the interval to first postpartum ovulation in beef cows, increasing progesterone concentrations during the luteal phase of the oestrous cycle, modulating uterine prostaglandin (PG) synthesis, and improving oocyte and embryo quality and developmental competence. Some of these effects were altered by the type of FA fed. The polyunsaturated FA of the n-6 and n-3 families seem to have the most remarkable effects on reproductive responses of cattle, but it is not completely clear whether these effects are mediated only by them or by other potential intermediates produced during rumen biohydrogenation. Generally, feeding fat sources rich in n-6 FA during late gestation and early lactation enhanced follicle growth, uterine PG secretion, embryo quality and pregnancy in cows. Similarly, feeding n-3 FA during lactation suppressed uterine PG release, and improved embryo quality and maintenance of pregnancy. Future research ought to focus on methods to improve the delivery of specific FA and adequately powered studies should be designed to critically evaluate their effects on establishment and maintenance of pregnancy in cattle.     

Effect of retinyl palmitate supplementation on egg yolk retinol and cholesterol concentrations in quail

1. The purpose of this study was to assess the incorporation of retinol into quail egg yolk and cholesterol concentration in response to supplementation with different quantities of retinyl palmitate (600, 1200, 2400 and 4800 microg). 2. Supplementations were performed weekly for 4 weeks and the yolk retinol was measured using high performance liquid chromatography. 3. The results showed a progressive increase in the incorporation of retinol into the egg yolk in response to supplementation, reaching values 384% higher than control values. 4. At the end of supplementation we observed a significant decrease in egg yolk retinol concentrations with supplementations of 2400 and 4800 microg, the most enduring showing high retinol contents even after 3 weeks. 5. Supplementation increased egg weight but neither egg production nor cholesterol levels were significantly altered.     

Comparative study of the microbial profile from bilateral canine otitis externa

Fifty dogs with bilateral otitis externa were studied over a 10-month period. The exudates of both external ears were obtained, using sterile swabs, and microorganisms were isolated according to standard microbiological techniques. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Staphylococcus intermedius was done by the agar diffusion method. There was bacterial and/or fungal growth in all of the samples. These were all polymicrobial infections. Anaerobic bacteria were not isolated in any sample. The most common pathogens isolated were S. intermedius and Malassezia pachydermatis. A statistically significant difference (P < 0.05) was observed in the isolation pattern between the right and left ears in 34 of the 50 animals (68%). High resistance rates of S. intermedius strains to penicillin, ampicillin, erythromycin, tetracycline, and clindamycin were found. The results suggest that in bilateral canine otitis externa, each ear should be cultured separately and considered as separate units.     

Pharmacokinetics of tramadol and o-desmethyltramadol in goats after intravenous and oral administration

The aim of this trial was to implement a method to obtain a tool for analyses of tramadol and the main metabolite, o-desmethyltramadol (M1), in goat's plasma, and to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of these substances following intravenous (i.v.) and oral (p.o.) administration in female goats. The pharmacokinetics of tramadol and M1 were examined following i.v. or p.o. tramadol administration to six female goats (2 mg/kg). Average retention time was 5.13 min for tramadol and 2.42 min for M1. The calculated parameters for half-life, volume of distribution and total body clearance were 0.94+/-0.34 h, 2.48+/-0.58 L/kg and 2.18+/-0.23 L/kg/h following 2 mg/kg tramadol HCl administered intravenously. The systemic availability was 36.9+/-9.1% and half-life 2.67+/-0.54 h following tramadol 2 mg/kg p.o. M1 had a half-life of 2.89+/-0.43 h following i.v. administration of tramadol. Following p.o., M1 was not detectable.     

Cytoskeletal changes in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Eimeria bovis</Emphasis>-infected host endothelial cells during first merogony

The first merogony of Eimeria bovis takes place in lymphatic endothelial cells of the ileum, resulting in the formation of macromeronts up to 250 mum. In this study, we investigated the host cell cytoskeleton (actin filaments, microtubules, spectrin, vimentin intermediate filaments) associated with parasitic development in vitro by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) using primary bovine umbilical vein endothelial cells (BUVEC) and bovine spleen lymphatic endothelial cells (BSLEC) as host cells. No prominent changes in the host cell cytoskeleton were detected 1-3 days after E. bovis sporozoite invasion. With ongoing meront maturation a significant increase in microtubules and actin filaments close to the parasitophorous vacuole (PV) was found. Mature macromeronts within the PV were completely enclosed by these cytoskeletal elements. Our findings suggest, that in order to guarantee the survival of the host cell on the enlargement of macromeronts, E. bovis needs not only to augment but also to rearrange its cytoskeletal system.