Administration of Vaccine Preservative Thimerosal Produces Impairment in Rat Liver

Abstract The present research was planned to analyze the toxic effects of thimerosal on rat liver. Mercury and mercury compounds are universally known toxicants for animals and humans. Thimerosal is widely used in the vaccines as a preservative which contains 49.6% mercury. Twenty-four adult male albino rats were distributed into four groups (n=6). The first group was considered as a control group. While, second, third and fourth groups were intoxicated with 0.5, 10 and 50 µg/kg thimerosal (i.m.) respectively. After 30 days, rats were slaughtered to analyze the liver tissues. The results of the experiment exposed that thimerosal instigated significant (p<0.05) increase in alanine transaminase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and aminotransferase (AST) levels. Catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) activities and Glutathione (GSH) and protein levels were significantly (p<0.05) reduced. Furthermore, significant increases in Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) level and DNA damage was observed. Histopathological study revealed severe damages, e.g. fatty alterations, deterioration of lobular structure and degeneration of nuclei in hepatic tissues of thimerosal treated rats. Results of present investigation revealed that thimerosal induces hepatotoxicity at different levels.

Epidemiological estimates of Respiratory diseases in the hospital population, Faisalabad, Pakistan

ABSTRACT A cross sectional study was conducted in two types of respiratory patients in hospital population. It was found that tuberculosis (T.B) was the most common type (29.66%) followed by the asthma (28.08%) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (11.31%). Average age of diagnosis was 42.15 ± 0.65 years and average age at present 47.99 ± 0.70 years. Age group 51-60 years was more prone to this disease (21.13%). Most of the patients were married (80.06%). The highest representation of patients with respiratory diseases was observed in 1st birth order (30.36%) followed by 2nd (26.49%) and 3rd (18.45%), while the lowest was in 10th birth order (0.40%). Tuberculosis, asthma and COPD are the most prevalent types of respiratory diseases. Respiratory diseases were more common in males, in first birth order and in people of age group 51-60 years. This disease was more common in married, unemployed, less educated, and lower socioeconomic status people. Socioeconomic status and urban and rural living had a profound effect on the onset of disease.

Effects of Replacement of Fishmeal with other Alternative Plant Sources in the Feed on Proximate Composition of Muscle, Liver and Ovary in Tilapia (Oreochromis nioloticus)

ABSTRACT The major objective of this experiment was to assess the effect of alternate plant protein sources as a replacement for fish meal in feed on the proximate composition of muscle, liver and tissue in Oreochromis niloticus. O. niloticus of average size (average Weight 45.00±1.25 g, total length 13.28±1.42 cm) were stocked in 100 L glass aquarium. Fish were fed with three experimental feeds (A, B and C) and reference commercial feed (D) for 16 weeks. Feed A, B and C was prepared from four different plant sources and fish meal (40 % crude protein). Fish were fed at the rate 3 % of body weight daily. It has been observed that tilapia fed with feed B in which 20 % fish meal was replaced compared to feed C with other plant sources of protein, had shown significantly higher total protein in their muscle compared to diet other experimental and commercial feeds. In O. niloticus minimum lipid content was recorded in fish fed with diet B compared to A, C and commercial feed. It has been concluded that 20-40% level of fish meal can be replaced in the diet of fish without having any impact on growth and chemical composition of muscle.

Isolation, Identification and Molecular Characterization of Highly Pathogenic Newcastle Disease Virus From Field Outbreaks

ABSTRACT Newcastle disease (ND) is a major infectious disease of the poultry caused by a virulent strain of Avian Paramyxovirus - 1, that is a single strand non-segmented negative sense RNA virus. ND virus is major threat to the poultry industry in many countries of the world. The study was aimed to isolate and identify Newcastle disease virus (NDV) by using a haemagglutination inhibition (HI) test and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay. A total 100 samples of infected and dead birds were collected from different poultry farms. The weight of the birds was ranged 1000-1200g. The birds were divided into 3 groups. Haemagglutination assay (HA) was performed to detect the presence of NDV in suspension of infected homogenized tissues and it was found that HA is not the best method to detect the virus when it is in trace amounts. RT-PCR using NDV specific primers analyzed different clinical and postmortem samples. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and specific primers was used for determining the presence of viruses. It was found that the virus was present in most of the infected samples except the serum of infected birds. During multiple sequence alignment (MSA) it was found that, our isolates have high homology (98%) with other reported NDV isolates. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that our isolate was closely related with viscerotropic velogenic types of NDV, which are highly pathogenic Newcastle disease virus.

Heavy Metals in Garra gotyla , Cyprinus carpio and Cyprinion watsoni from the River Panjkora, District, Lower Dir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

ABSTRACT This study was conducted in the River Panjkora, Pakistan, in order to assess the level of heavy metals accumulated in the liver, kidneys, gills and muscle tissues of three highly consumed fish species by the local community, Garra gotyla, Cyprinus carpio and Cyprinion watsoni. The heavy metals including manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), chromium (Cr), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and nickel (Ni) were determined in the collected fish specimens through an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Level of heavy metals significantly varied depending upon tissues type and fish species. Cyprinus carpio accumulated highest concentration of heavy metals, followed by Garra gotyla while Cyprinion watsoni accumulated least concentration of heavy metals. All the three species displayed significant differences in level of accumulated heavy metals. The order of accumulation in tissues was gills<muscles<kidney<liver. Cd and Ni were not detected in all collected specimens while Mn was not detected in the tissues of Cyprinion watsoni collected from the reference site.

Effects of sub-lethal exposure of lead acetate on histopathology of gills, liver, kidney and muscle and its accumulation in these organs of Clarias gariepinus

The aim of this work was to study the effects of sub-lethal exposure of lead acetate on the histopathology of the gills, liver, kidney and muscle and its accumulation in these organs of Clarias gariepinus. Results showed that lead accumulation in the tissues of C. gariepinus was dependent on the exposure period and lead concentration. Gills and liver were the predominant storage tissue and the order of accumulation in tissues was gill > liver > kidney > muscle. Some structural changes were observed in different organs, especially in the gills of the fishes exposed to lead acetate. Epithelial hypertrophy and epithelial lifting were apparent in the gills of exposed fishes. The degeneration of cytoplasm and secondary lamellae was also observed. Necrosis of hepatocytes was apparent. Glomerular expansion and gaps between the muscular bundles were found in the fishes exposed to lead acetate.