Effect of Dietary Fish Oil on Semen Quality and Reproductive Performance of Iranian Zandi Rams.

The current study was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary fish oil on the semen quality and fertility potential of Zandi rams. For this purpose, a total of 15 Iranian Zandi rams were randomly assigned into three equal groups. The first group was a negative control and were fed without oil supplement. The second group was a positive control, and their diet contained palm oil, and the last group had a diet containing fish oil. All the diets were isocaloric and isonitrogenous. The rams were fed for 70 days, and the semen smaples were collected every 10 days. In experiment I, the evaluated parameters included semen volume, sperm concentration, motility, membrane integrity, and viability. In experiment II, 210 Iranian Zandi rams received CIDR for 12 days and 400 IU of equine chorionic gonadotropin at the time of CIDR removal. Then, they were assigned into three equal groups and artificially inseminated with semen samples. According to the obtained results, the supplementation of ram diet with fish oil as a source of omega-3 fatty acids improved the semen volume, sperm concentration, total motility, progressive motility, viability, membrane integrity, pregnancy rate, parturition rate, and lambing rate of the rams (P≤0.05). In conclusion, fish oil as a dietary supplement for rams could be an effective strategy to improve the semen quality of rams for artificial insemination and other goals.

Effects of Flaxseed-rich Diet on Reproductive Performance in Estrous-synchronized Baluchi Ewes.

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of using different levels of flaxseed in diets on the reproductive performance of estrous-synchronized Baluchi ewes (para 3). Diets contained either basal diet (control) or different levels of extruded flaxseed (2%, 5%, 7%, 10%, and 12%) and were fed from lambing to 60 days after lambing. The ewe estrus cycles were synchronized using controlled internal drug release (CIDR) for 14 days starting from day 16 of fat supplementation. The rams were introduced 24 h after CIDR removal. The ewes fed control diets had the highest mean dry matter intake (1,800±35 g) which was declined with the increase of flaxseed levels. The experimental diets exerted no effects of urea concentration in blood plasma. However, plasma glucose concentration was lower (p <0.05) in the ewes fed the control diet and 2% flaxseed, compared to those in other groups. Nonetheless, there was no difference among the ewes fed 5%, 7%, 10%, and 12% flaxseed in terms of plasma glucose concentrations (p <0.05). The ewes fed 2% flaxseed had the highest level of plasma triglyceride concentration among other groups. In addition, the control group had the lowest level of plasma total cholesterol and low-density lipoproteins concentration in comparison to other groups (p <0.05). However, plasma nonesterified fatty acids and β-hydroxybutyrate concentrations were similar among the groups (P>0.05). The mean interval between CIDR removal and the exhibition of estrus ranged from 30 to 40 h with the shortest interval being recorded in the ewes fed 12% flaxseed (p <0.05). The control group had the lowest number of follicles on estrus day among other groups (p <0.05). Furthermore, the ewes fed 10% and 12% flaxseed had the highest ovulation, pregnancy, and lambing rates, compared to other groups (p <0.05). In conclusion, the findings revealed that feeding the ewes with 10% and 12% flaxseed resulted in the improvement of reproductive performance.

Supplementation of chilling storage medium with glutathione protects rooster sperm quality.

This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of addition of reduced glutathione (GSH) to the extender on the rooster's semen quality parameters and fertility potential. Semen samples were diluted with Lake extender contained 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4 and 8 mM GSH. Then, were chilled to 5 °C and stored for a period of 48 h. Sperm motion characteristics, viability, membrane integrity, lipid peroxidation, mitochondrial activity and fertility potential were evaluated. At the initiation of the experiment (0 h), GSH did not affect sperm parameters, while 2-4 mM GSH improved (P ≤ 0.05) quality indicators during storage periods. Moreover, the samples treated with 2-4 mM GSH have had a lower lipid peroxidation compared to other groups (P ≤ 0.05). Artificial insemination using the semen samples, which had been stored in groups treated with 2-4 mM GSH for a period of 24 h, led to greater (P ≤ 0.05) fertilizing potential compared to the control group.

Vasectomy in Mouse Model Using Electrosurgery Machine.

Vasectomy in laboratory animals is a crucial step in the production of surrogate female mice. The surrogate mothers play a key role in successful embryo transfer, most important steps for the production of transgenic animal models, investigation of the preimplantation embryo development, and revitalization of cryopreserved strains. Abdominal and scrotal surgeries are common surgical procedures used in routine veterinary practice to produce vasectomized males. Two different surgical practice, namely electrosurgery and cold surgical practice, have been used as common techniques in operating rooms. Based on current knowledge, there is no published “technical note” as a detailed and step by step guideline to describe vasectomy using an electrosurgery machine (i.e., Bovie machine) in laboratory animal research and breeding facilities.The common problem during the laboratory animal surgery would be animal mortalities as a consequence of profound bleeding. The use of Bovie machine leads to the prevention of profound bleeding during the surgical practice.

Characterization and Pattern of Culling in Goats.

In order to describe the proportion and pattern of culling in commercial goatherds, this survey was carried out in an industrialized goatherd in Torbat-e-Jam, Iran, over a period of 18 years from 1996 to 2013. In total, the data of 3945 goats were used in this study. Finally, out of all samples, 499 (12%) goats were culled. The involuntary culling was performed mainly due to shortage disorders (3.8%), viral disorders (3.3%), microbial diseases (2.8%), and other disorders (2.1%). Sheep pox was the most important reason (64%) for culling due to viral disorders. Tick paralysis was the most common parasitic disease that contributed to culling and responsible for 88% of parasitic disorders. On the other hand, enterotoxemia accounted for 55% of microbial disorders is considered the most common cause of culling. The high proportion of culling due to shortage disorders, especially nutritional deficiencies should be considered the most important cause of culling. It requires precautionary measures and planning in order to reduce the aforementioned rate.

Sequencing and In Silico Multi-aspect Analysis of S1 Glycoprotein in 793/B Serotype of Infectious Bronchitis Virus Isolated From Iran in 2003 and 2011.

Infectious bronchitis (IB) is an acute, highly contagious, and economically important viral disease of chickens. The S1 subunit from Spike (S) protein plays the major role in protective immunity and is involved in the host-virus interactions, as well as infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) serotyping. Aim of the present study was multi-aspect analysis of the molecular and immunological features of 5' part belonging to the S1 glycoprotein sequence of Iranian 793/B IBV strain isolates. This might ideally help in characterization, prevention, and vaccine development. The tissue samples were prepared, followed by virus isolation, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. In addition, sequencing and registration of the sequences in the National Center for Biotechnology Information were performed. Moreover, 12 sequences were retrieved from Fars province, Iran. The next steps included evaluation of conservation/variability along the sequences, phylogenetic analysis, estimation of the average evolutionary divergence over all the sequence pairs, predicting the phosphorylation/N-glycosylation/palmitoylation sites, and the final analysis of antigenicity. The findings of alignment, entropy plot, and pairwise similarity analysis revealed 17 hypervariable regions. The isolates belonging to Tehran were clustered in phylogenetic tree, and the most similar isolates to them were ADW11182 and ADW11183. Location of some of the N-glycosylation/phosphorylation/palmitoylation points indicated that these sites were conserved among the isolates. Furthermore, the frequency of epitopes and their scores reflect the high immunogenicity of S1 protein in 793/B serotype. Analysis of the primary and secondary structures demonstrated that their parameters had variable values and were different regarding the number and location of α-helix, β-strand, and coils. According to our findings, the Iranian isolates of 793/B serotype change their molecular characteristics during time and in different geographical regions. These alterations might account for failure in prevention programs and differences in virulence and pathogenicity.