Effect of a single injection of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) on testicular blood flow measured by color doppler ultrasonography in male Shiba goats

Although color Doppler ultrasonography has been used to evaluate testicular blood flow in many species, very little has been done in goat. Eight male Shiba goats were exposed to a single intramuscular injection of either gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH group; 1 µg/kg BW) or human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG group; 25 IU/kg BW). Plasma testosterone (T), estradiol (E2) and inhibin (INH) were measured just before (0 hr) and at different intervals post injection by radioimmunoassay. Testis volume (TV) and Doppler indices, such as resistive index (RI) and pulsatility index (PI) of the supratesticular artery, were measured by B-mode and color Doppler ultrasonography, respectively. The results indicated an increase in testicular blood flow in both groups, as RI and PI decreased significantly (P<0.05), but this increase was significant higher and earlier in hCG group (1 hr) than in the GnRH group (2 hr). A high correlation was found for RI and PI with both T (RI, r= −0.862; PI, r= −0.707) and INH in the GnRH group (RI, r=0.661; PI, r=0.701). However, a significant (P<0.05) correlation was found between E2 and both RI (r= −0.610) and PI (r= −0.763) in hCG group. In addition, TV significantly increased and was highly correlated with RI in both groups (GnRH, r= −0.718; hCG, r= −0.779). In conclusion, hCG and GnRH may improve testicular blood flow and TV in Shiba goats.     

Effects of food enriched with egg yolk hydrolysate (bone peptide) on bone metabolism in orchidectomized dogs

We examined the effects of chicken egg hydrolysate (also known as “bone peptide” or BP) on bone metabolism in 5- to 8-month-old orchidectomized dogs. The bone formation marker serum bone alkaline phosphatase (BAP) and the bone resorption marker urine deoxypyridinoline (DPD) were used as indicators to measure changes in bone metabolism. The following results were observed that Serum BAP was higher in dogs fed BP-enriched food throughout the clinical investigation. Serum BAP was statistically significantly higher in dogs fed BP-enriched food than in dogs fed non-BP-enriched food at 2 months after orchidectomy. This suggests that BP promoted bone formation immediately after orchidectomy.     

Tooth brushing inhibits oral bacteria in dogs

In this study, scaling, polishing and daily tooth brushing were performed in 20 beagle dogs, and the number of oral bacteria was determined using a bacterial counter. The dogs were randomized into the scaling (S), scaling + polishing (SP), scaling + tooth daily brushing (SB) and scaling + polishing + tooth daily brushing (SPB) groups. Samples were collected from the buccal surface of the maxillary fourth premolars of the dogs immediately after scaling and every week thereafter from weeks 1 to 8. Throughout the study, the number of bacteria was significantly lower in the SB and SPB groups compared with the S group. The findings suggest that daily tooth brushing inhibited oral bacterial growth in the dogs.     

Strategies for further development of aquatic feeds

ABSTRACT: To date, aquatic feeds have depended heavily on fishmeal and fish oil as their source of protein and lipid. However, the feed industry is encountering shortfalls in the availability of these ingredients because of a decline in the number of fish captured in the wild and the increased human demand for some of the species currently being used for fishmeal and oil production. Therefore, efforts are now being directed in different parts of the world to finding alternative quality ingredients, which ideally are less expensive and readily available for use in practical diets. The data accrued have shown that a large proportion of both fishmeal and fish oil can be replaced by other protein and lipid sources. However, it is emphasized that an optimal essential amino acid balance be maintained and that the n-3 highly unsaturated fatty acid requirement be satisfied when combining economical protein and lipid ingredients. Newly developed feeds should aim at being nutrient-dense in order to reduce the output of solid, P and N waste. This can be done through improving nutrient availability, optimizing the digestible protein to energy balance of the diet, and replacing dietary fishmeal with alternate ingredients. These diets should also be effective for maintaining good health and improving disease resistance in fish through enhancement of immune responses. A wholesome approach to culturing fish would be to use appropriate feeding standards that are aimed not only at improving economic returns but also at developing a lasting cohabitation of sustainable aquaculture and a cleaner environment. Furthermore, in the 2lst century aquaculture would still retain its place as a prominent source of food protein, signifying that fish feed research remains a forceful area in discovering better feeds for the industry.     

Growth,Reproductive Performance,Carcass Characteristics and Meat Quality in F1 and F2 Progenies of Somatic Cell-Cloned Pigs

The objective of this study was to examine the health and meat production of cloned sows and their progenies in order to demonstrate the application of somatic cell cloning to the pig industry. This study compared the growth, reproductive performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality of Landrace cloned sows, F1 progenies and F2 progenies. We measured their body weight, growth rate and feed conversion and performed a pathological analysis of their anatomy to detect abnormalities. Three of the five cloned pigs were used for a growth test. Cloned pigs grew normally and had characteristics similar to those of the control purebred Landrace pigs. Two cloned gilts were bred with a Landrace boar and used for a progeny test. F1 progenies had characteristics similar to those of the controls. Two of the F1 progeny gilts were bred with a Duroc or Large White boar and used for the progeny test. F2 progenies grew normally. There were no biological differences in growth, carcass characteristics and amino acid composition among cloned sows, F1 progenies, F2 progenies and conventional pigs. The cloned sows and F1 progenies showed normal reproductive performance. No specific abnormalities were observed by pathological analysis, with the exception of periarteritis in the F1 progenies. All pigs had a normal karyotype. These results demonstrate that cloned female pigs and their progenies have similar growth, reproductive performance and carcass quality characteristics and that somatic cell cloning could be a useful technique for conserving superior pig breeds in conventional meat production.     

Presence of infectious salmon anaemia virus (ISAV) in tissues of Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., collected during three separate outbreaks of the disease

Abstract. Infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) is a viral disease of farmed Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., in Norway. The enveloped virus particles (100nm) believed to be the causative agent of the disease have been observed budding from endothelial cells in heart blood vessels. However, it is not known if the virus propagates in endothelial cells in all tissues/organs, if other target cells exist or if material collected from different salmon farms with natural outbreaks of ISA contain the same virus particles. Salmon smolts from three hatcheries with no history of disease were taken into the laboratory and experimentally challenged with ISA collected from Atlantic salmon during natural outbreaks of the disease in three different fish farms outside Bergen. Norway. Tissues for TEM studies were Collected from: (1) organs that showed clinical signs of ISA (i.e. used in the diagnosis of the disease); (2) tissues believed to be important in transmission of the virus (integument, kidney, urinary bladder, gut and somatic muscle); and (3) hormone-producing tissues (pituitary gland, saccus vasculosus, thymus, thyroid, ultimobranehial gland, gonad, head kidney, heart and ventral aorta). The same virus as that believed to be the causative agent of ISA was found in all tissues examined from the challenged fish, i.e. a multiorgan infection with the same virus present in salmon from all three fish farms. The virus particles are about 100 nm in diameter, consisting of a slightly pleomorphic unit membrane envelope within which are a number of granules about 10–12nm in diameter. The granules seemed to be arranged in two concentric circles (spheres). The virus was seen budding from the surface of endothelial cells in blood vessels/sinus only. However, the virus was found intracellularly in both endothelial cells and in leucocytes.