ABSTRACT
@#Coccidiosis is the most important protozoan disease in broilers all over the world. Controlling of broilers coccidiosis via vaccination rather than chemicals is a new trend with promising results. Thus, the present work describes an evaluation of Eimeria tenella Lab-made vaccine of local Egyptian strain and its comparative efficacy with a commercial live vaccine “Fortegra®”. Eighty broiler chickens one day old were used; they were divided in to 4 equal groups; 20 chicks each. Group 1 (G1) kept as control negative, G2 administrated orally with lab-made sporulated oocysts vaccine at 5 days old, the birds of G3 vaccinated orally with Fortegra® at day 6 of age, and G4 served as control positive. All birds were challenge by 50,000 sporulated oocysts of E. tenella at day 21. For testing the efficacy and comparison; OPG (oocyst per gram), serum Interleukin4 (IL4) levels, Immunoglobulin A (IgA) levels in both serum and ceca, cecal lesion score, as well as histopathological changes in ceca of tested groups were evaluated. The results demonstrated significantly elevated IL4 level in serum and IgA level in serum and cecum of G2 than G3. IgA in cecum significantly elevated in G2 than G3. OPG significantly decreased in both vaccinated groups (G2 and G3), and have lower lesion score than nonimmunized group. Cecal tissues of vaccinated groups had mild pathological changes. Conclusively, good immunization by the currently tested vaccine, against experimental E. tenella infection was observed.
ABSTRACT
Objective: to assess the efficacy of adding Slow-Release Theophylline to the regular treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease [COPD] patients. The safety of Theophylline was also assessed as a secondary endpoint
Methods: prospective observational study of one hundred and nine patients, with moderate to very severe COPD, and treated in the pulmonology clinic at King Hussein Medical Center, between August 2014 and March 2015. Exclusion criteria included: acute exacerbation of COPD within the last 3 months; use of oral corticosteroids within the last 4 weeks; upper or lower respiratory tract infection within the last 4 weeks; recent unstable angina or arrhythmias; epilepsy; concurrent use of medications that might interact with Theophylline and excessive alcohol consumption. After enrolment, Forced Expiratory Volume in the first second [FEV 1] and Forced Vital Capacity [FVC], oxygenation at rest using 2 different pulse oximeters and level of disability assessed by the Medical Research Council dyspnoea scale were evaluated. A fixed dose of oral Theophylline was added to their regular treatment, as Theophylline [Quibron-T SR] 300 mg slow-release capsules once daily. The patients were followed up after 4 weeks, when the measurements were repeated. The patients were also evaluated for any side effects related to Theophylline. The pre and post-Theophylline data were compared. The safety profile of Theophylline was assessed by recording side effects related to the drug, any serious side effects, or Theophylline withdrawal
Results: out of the 109 patients in our study, 96[88%] were males, and 13[12%] were females. Their mean [ +/- SD] age was 69.0 +/- 7.8 years [range 46-83 years]. After 4 weeks of added Theophylline, there was a statistically significant improvement in FEVl from 53 .3 +/- 10.4 to 56.4 +/- 10.1 [% predicted mean +/- SD] [p= 0.03] and FVC from 70.4 +/- 10.0 to 73.1 +/- 9.8% [p= 0.05]. 61 % of the patients showed improvement in dyspnoea, with a significant improvement in the MRC score from 3.8 +/- 0.8 to 3.2 +/- 0.8 [p<0.0001]. The patients also showed an increase in saturation from 93.6% +/- 2.3 to 93.8% +/- 2.0, though this was not statistically significant [p= 0.490]. 5 patients [5%] had side effects related to Theophylline,though none were serious. The most common side effect was nausea [60%]. None of the patients who developed side effects stopped using Theophylline during the study
Conclusion: theophylline produced a significant increase in the lung function of patients with moderate, severe and very severe COPD and significantly improved their disability caused by dyspnoea, without any serious side effects. Use of Theophylline in stable COPD patients should be weighed however against the risk of possible non-serious side effects, mainly nausea
ABSTRACT
Passalurus ambiguus (Rudolphi, 1819) is one of the most common oxyurid nematodes to be found in domestic and wild rabbits worldwide. In order to identify and determine the morphological characteristics of this pinworm, the current research was conducted as a microscopic study, using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Adult P. ambiguus were collected from naturally infected domestic rabbits in Egypt. Identification was made primarily by ordinary microscope, and subsequently, the morphological features were evaluated by SEM. Results indicate that SEM is a powerful tool to identify in detail the morphological characteristics such as the head, male cloacal area, female tail and the female copulatory plugs. All these features confirm the species is P. ambiguus and show the effectiveness of the SEM to differentiate P. ambiguus from related oxyurid species.