Effects of Artemisia annua and Foeniculum vulgare on chickens highly infected with Eimeria tenella (Phylum Apicomplexa)

Background

Intensive poultry production systems depend on chemoprophylaxis with anticoccidial drugs to combat infection. A floor-pen study was conducted to evaluate the anticoccidial effect of Artemisia annua and Foeniculum vulgare on Eimeria tenella infection. Five experimental groups were established: negative control (untreated, unchallenged); positive control (untreated, challenged); a group medicated with 125 ppm lasalocid and challenged; a group medicated with A. annua leaf powder at 1.5% in feed and challenged; and a group treated with the mixed oils of A. annua and Foeniculum vulgare in equal parts, 7.5% in water and challenged. The effects of A. annua and oil extract of A. annua + F. vulgare on E. tenella infection were assessed by clinical signs, mortality, fecal oocyst output, faeces, lesion score, weight gain, and feed conversion.

Results

Clinical signs were noticed only in three chickens from the lasalocid group, six from the A. annua group, and nine from the A. annua + F. vulgare group, but were present in 19 infected chickens from the positive control group. Bloody diarrhea was registered in only two chickens from A. annua group, but in 17 chickens from the positive control group. Mortality also occurred in the positive control group (7/20). Chickens treated with A. annua had a significant reduction in faecal oocysts (95.6%; P = 0.027) and in lesion score (56.3%; P = 0.005) when compared to the positive control. At the end of experiment, chickens treated with A. annua leaf powder had the highest body weight gain (68.2 g/day), after the negative control group, and the best feed conversion (1.85) among all experimental groups.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that A. annua leaf powder (Aa-p), at 1.5% of the daily diet post-infection, can be a valuable alternative for synthetic coccidiostats, such as lasalocid.     

Temporal associations between low body condition,lameness and milk yield in a UK dairy herd

Previous work has hypothesised that cows in low body condition become lame. We tested this in a prospective longitudinal study. Body condition score (BCS), causes of lameness and milk yield were collected from a 600-cow herd over 44-months. Mixed effect binomial models and a continuous outcome model were used to investigate the associations between lameness, BCS and milk yield. In total, 14,320 risk periods were obtained from 1137 cows. There were 1510 lameness treatments: the most common causes of lameness were sole ulcer (SU) (39%), sole haemorrhage (SH) (13%), digital dermatitis (DD) (10%) and white line disease (WLD) (8%). These varied by year and year quarter. Body condition was scored at 60-day intervals. BCS ranged from 1 to 5 with a mean of 2.5, scores were higher in very early lactation but varied widely throughout lactation; approximately 45% of scores were <2.5. The key finding was that BCS < 2.5 was associated with an increased risk of treatment for lameness in the following 0–2 months and >2–4 months for all causes of lameness and also specifically for SU/WLD lameness. BCS < 2.5 was associated with an increased risk of treatment for SH in the following 0–2 months but not >2–4 months. There was no such association with DD. All lameness, SU/WLD, SH and DD were significantly more likely to occur in cows that had been lame previously, but the effect of BCS was present even when all repeat cases of lameness were excluded from the analysis. Milk yield was significantly higher and fell in the month before treatment in cows lame with SU/WLD but it was not significantly higher for cows that were treated for DD compared with non-lame cows. These findings support the hypothesis that low BCS contributes to the development of horn related claw lameness but not infectious claw diseases in dairy cows. One link between low BCS and lameness is a thin digital cushion which has been proposed as a trigger for claw horn disease. Cows with BCS 2 produced more milk than cows with BCS 2.5, however, this was only approximately 100 kg difference in yield over a 305-day lactation. Given the increased risk of lameness in cows with BCS 2, the direct costs of lameness and the small variability in milk yield by BCS, preventing cows from falling to BCS < 2.5 would improve cow welfare and be economically beneficial.     

桑1-脱氧野尻霉素降血糖作用的研究进展

1-脱氧野尻霉素是桑树中的一种生物碱,是哺乳动物α-葡萄糖苷酶的有效抑制剂,具有降糖、降脂、抗病毒、抗肿瘤等药理作用。本文针对已报道的1-脱氧野尻霉素功能,综述了近年来1-脱氧野尻霉素降糖作用研究的最新进展,为更好利用和开发桑叶1-脱氧野尻霉素提供参考。     

苦瓜提取物对四种兽医临床常见菌的抑菌活性研究

采用打孔法和二倍稀释法研究不同质量浓度的苦瓜提取物对4种临床常见菌的抑制作用,并测定苦瓜提取物对4种菌株生长曲线的影响。结果显示,10 mg/mL的苦瓜提取物对大肠杆菌和沙门氏菌的抑制作用最强,而对链球菌和金黄色葡萄球菌的抑制作用不显著;苦瓜提取物对4种菌株的最小抑菌浓度（MIC）分别为2.5 mg/mL、2.5 mg/mL、5 mg/mL和10 mg/mL。结果提示,苦瓜提取物具有较强的抑菌活性。     

山区羊舍“圈中圈”设计及应用效果

为探索山区羔羊保育技术,提高羔羊成活率和增重效果,笔者通过改进圈舍设计,加强饲养管理,开展了"圈中圈"羔羊保育应用效果观察试验。结果表明,试验组羔羊的断奶(120d)成活率为97.78%,比对照组的断奶成活率(68.89%)提高了41.94%;试验组羔羊的日增重为96.2 g,比对照组(71g)提高了35.49%,效果显著。     

兽用“复方草连”纳米注射液的制备及其退热作用初探

为了研发新型兽用纳米注射液,发挥中药独特优势,采用双提法提取中草药得到挥发油与水溶性药液,将挥发油以纳米胶束的形式增溶于水溶性药液中,再经精制、灌装、灭菌等步骤制备成“复方草连”纳米注射液。挥发油纳米胶束的外观为圆球形,粒径为100＋12nm,表面Zet。电位为～83．2±0．8mV;样品于40±2℃条件下放置,其第6个月与0个月的气相色谱图基本一致,表明纳米胶束对于挥发油具有良好的稳定作用。初步结果表明“复方草连”纳米注射液与安乃近注射液均能降低患猪的体温,二者之间无显著性差异（P〉0．05）,但“复方草连”纳米注射液组患猪的外周血液T细胞亚群CD3＋、CD4＋含量（28．59±5．53％）高于安乃近组（18．43±4．18％）．二者之间有显著差异（P〈0．05）。     

黄连解毒散固体分散制剂的药效学研究

为了对黄连解毒散固体分散制剂进行药效学研究,采用致病性大肠杆菌和金黄色葡萄球菌为试验菌株考察黄连解毒散固体分散制剂的体外抑菌效果,以仔猪为实验动物考察其临床药效。结果显示：黄连解毒散固体分散制剂的体外抑菌效果是普通散剂的2倍,临床治疗效果比普通散剂提高了30％。黄连解毒散固体分散制剂显著提高了黄连解毒散对猪大肠杆菌病的疗效。     

30味中药提取物与环丙沙星联用对猪源链球菌体外抑菌作用研究

为筛选与环丙沙星联用对猪源链球菌具有协同抑菌作用的中药提取物,采用试管二倍稀释法测定30味中药醇提物、水提物的最低抑菌浓度（MIC）,采用棋盘稀释法测定30味中药醇提物、水提物与环丙沙星联用对猪源链球菌的部分抑菌浓度（FIC）,采用有机溶剂萃取法初步追踪与环丙沙星联用具有协同抑菌作用的中药萃取物的体外抑菌效果。结果显示,所选30味中药的水提物、醇提物对猪源链球菌均具有一定的抑菌作用,佩兰、黄连、枳壳、郁金等中药醇提物、水提物对猪源链球菌（pf—ce）抑菌活性较强,苍术水提物等对猪源链球菌的抑菌作用较弱;佩兰醇提物与环丙沙星联用对猪源链球菌的协同抑菌作用最强;佩兰醇提物的乙酸乙酯萃取物、氯仿萃取物与环丙沙星联用对猪源链球菌分别具有协同、相加抑菌作用。     

浅谈电气照明设计中应注意的几个问题

电气照明设计在建筑工程设计中起着重要作用,如何利用高科技、现代化灯光特技功能效果优势,使电气照明达到最佳效果,是从事电气设计工作者值得探讨的课题。笔者依据电气照明设计实际,探讨设计中应注意的几个问题,可供同行参考。     

低温等离子体诱变华山松种子效果研究

[目的]探讨低温等离子体对华山松种子的诱变效果,为利用等离子体诱变进行植物遗传改良提供理论依据和实践指导.[方法]用150、180、210、240、270及300W6种功率等离子体对华山松种子进行诱变处理,以不进行诱变处理作对照,测定诱变后种子的发芽率和发芽势;幼苗生长180 d后,观察幼苗苗高、地径和幼苗生长变异系数,分析等离子体对华山松幼苗生长的影响.[结果]180、210、240W低温等离子体处理的华山松种子发芽率分别达70.67％、74.67％和72.00％,与对照（57.33％）的差异显著（P＜0.05,下同）;幼苗苗高分别为8.90、8.32和8.20 cm,与对照（7.83 cm）的差异显著;幼苗地径以210W处理最粗（1.88 mm）,与对照（1.62 mm）、300W处理（1.50 mm）差异显著.270、300 W低温等离子体处理的华山松种子发芽率分别为47.33％和28.67％,分别比对照低10.00和28.66个的百分点;幼苗苗高分别为7.11和7.14 cm,明显低于对照;300W处理的幼苗地径粗低于对照,且差异显著.300 W处理幼苗苗高和地径粗的诱变系数最高,分别为28.43％和24.67％.[结论]270 W以下等离子体能促进华山松种子发芽和幼苗生长;利用300 W低温等离子体诱使华山松幼苗苗高和径粗发生变异的系数较高,便于进行华山松的良种选育.