hypoglycemic effect of volatile oil of some Egyptian plants

LD50 of some volatile oil of Anethum graveolens [common dill], Foeniculum vulgare [fennel], Artemisia herba-alba [wormseed plants] and Salvia officinalis [sage] were 1350, 1075, 937.5 and 1950 mg/kg b. wt., respectively, in mice following subcutaneous injection. The volatile oil extract of dill and fennel decreased the blood glucose level of normal rats at one hour. The volatile oil extract of dill and fennel decreased the blood glucose level of normal rats at one hour. While, that of sage and wormseed plants produced a significant hypoglycemia in rats at one and three hours. The higher blood glucose level of alloxan diabetic rats were significantly decreased at one and three hours after injection of the oily extract of dill, fennel, wormseed plants and sage. It is concluded that the volatile oil of common dill, fennel, wormseed plants and sage have an antidiabetic effect

Influence of the administration of dried calf thymus or calf thymus extract on performance and immunity of broilers

The effect of administration of dried calf thymus [DCT] or calf thymus extract [CTE] with protein concentration 6 mg/ml was studied using 4 groups of one-day old Cobb chicks. The first group was fed on a diet contained 1% [DCT], the second group received orally 1.5 ml/bird [CTE], the birds in the third group received 0.3 ml/bird [CTE] by i.p. injection, while the fourth group was the control one. The treatments were administered daily for 20 days starting from the second day of the study. Production performance and immune parameters used were body weight, body gain feed consumption, feed efficiency, total and differential leukocytic count, total serum proteins, albumin, globulins, relative weights of thymus, bursa and spleen,% of active phagocytes in the peripheral blood, phagocytic index, HI antibody titer against NDV as well as wattle dermal testing using oil adjuvant killed NDV vaccine. Results showed that treated groups had significantly higher body weights and gain as well as better feed efficiency. The injected group had higher total leukocytic count, serum globulins and% of active phagocytes. The relative weights of bursa and thymus were significantly higher in the [DCT] group only. The obtained results augment the supposition of presence of growth factor[s] in calf thymus extract and its [their] possible involvement in modulating immunity in broilers

Changes in plasminogen activity and progesterone content of follicular fluid and plasma of Egyptian buffaloes

The plasminogen activity and progesterone concentration were determined in follicular fluid and blood plasma of buffalos. The plasminogen activity in follicular fluid decreased with follicular maturation. Progesterone content in follicular fluid was higher in small sized follicles than in either medium or large sized ones. The plasma progesterone concentration was higher in the luteal than in the follicular phase. There is no relationship between plasminogen activity and progesterone concentration in follicular fluid. Thus, it could be concluded that follicular fluid plasminogen activity decreased on approaching the time of ovulation. This may be due to increased conversion of plasminogen into plasmin necessary for ovulation dynamics

Influence of lambda [synthetic pyrethroids] on fertility and blood parameters in male rats

Oral administration of lambda in doses of 1.6 and 4 mg/kg b. wt. daily for 65 successive days significantly decreased the weight of sexual organs, sperm cell concentration, sperm motility and the percentage of seminiferous tubules containing spermatozoa, while the sperm abnormalities increased. Moreover, the red blood cells, packed cell volume and hemoglobin concentrations decreased, while the white blood cells increased due to the neutrophilia and lymphopenia. The level of testosterone did not change. The residual pattern of lambda in liver and muscle was also detected

Effect of iodine-treated water on the performance and some behavioral patterns of meat-strain chicks

Some behavioral patterns [ingestive, body care and comfort] as well as the performance of meat-strain chicks which received iodine treated water for 49 days were investigated. A total of 150 one-day old Arbor Acres chicks, which were divided into 3 equal groups [1, 2 and 3] each of 50 chicks were used. Chicks of group 1 which received water treated with 10 ppm active iodine showed good ingestive behavior represented by high feeding [42.4%], drinking [38.8%]. The length of feeding time elapsed [82.8 seconds/bird], and consequently the high body weight gain was 1634 g and feed efficiency was 0.443. At the same time, a marked increase in comfort, resting, sleeping and body preening behaviors were observed in comparison with chicks in group 2 that received water treated with 25 ppm active iodine which showed the least marked increase in body weight gain [141 g] and feed efficiency [0.387], while birds in control group [group 3] which received non- iodine treated water showed a high feeding [40.8%], ground pecking [18.2%], sleeping [22.1%] and body preening [32.5%] with consequently moderate feeding efficiency utilization [0.418]. Iodine treated water increased the concentration of hemoglobin and erythrocytic count, without a significant difference observed between the three groups. In conclusion, the addition of iodine in drinking water [10 ppm] can significantly affect and improve the behavior of maintenance, and act as a good growth promoting factor represented by increase in both body weight gain and feed efficiency

Liver and kidney functions in cattle vaccinated with tissue culture rinderpest vaccine

This study was conducted to determine the effect of rinderpest tissue culture vaccine on the hepatorenal functions of cross-breed Friesian calves. 8 calves [8 - 14 months of age and weighing 150 - 180 kg] were vaccinated with tissue culture rinderpest vaccine [10 4-B TCID 50/ml/calf] and blood samples were collected before vaccination and at 3, 7, 14 and 21 days post-vaccination. The results revealed that the calves became immunized against rinderpest disease where the neutralizing antibodies reached its peak [2.52 +/- 0.02 log 10/ml] by 21 days. The calves showed increase in total protein at 21 days and globulin at 14 and 21 days, while albumin was decreased at 14 and 21 days. SGOT, SGPT, bilirubin, creatinine and blood-urea-nitrogen did not change. It is concluded that the tissue culture rinderpest vaccine has no effect on liver and kidney functions and it produces a good level of immunity