Histopathologic and histomorphometric evaluation of Dipetalonema evansi infection in camel testicular tissue.

Camels are important sources of milk, meat, wool and leather, and are widely used in transportation in arid and semi-arid areas. But their illnesses, especially parasitic diseases, have not been taken into consideration. The Dipetalonema evansi microfilariae are in the blood. Adult nematode is only dedicated to camels and disrupts spermatic arteries, lung arteries, right atrium, and testicles. This study was carried out on testicular samples of camels infected with D. evansi referred from slaughterhouse. In each of the control and contaminated groups, 5 samples were examined. In this study, in addition to the qualitative description of parasite histopathologic lesions, the spermatogenesis process was evaluated quantitatively including spermatogenesis process, diameter of the seminiferous tubules and Johnsen ranking and compared with the control group. Histopathological examination of infected testis with D. evansi showed lumen obstruction of testicular blood vessels by parasites, hypertrophy of blood vessels, degenerative and necrosis changes in the tubules, decreased spermatogenetic activity, increased interstitial space tubules, destruction of the spermatogenic cells. Also, there was a significant difference in the control and contaminated groups in the parameters of spermatogenesis, diameter of the seminiferous tubules and Johnsen score.

Histopathological Findings of Testicular Tissue Following Cadmium Toxicity in Rats.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Reproductive toxicity of cadmium (Cd) as an environmental toxicant has been proved in animals and humans. Exposure to Cd impairs testes organs and can reduce male fertility. The present study was designed to investigate the spectrum of histopathological changes in testicular tissue focusing on Sertoli cells in rats following Cd intoxication. METHODS: In the present experiment, acute testicular toxicity was induced by an intraperitoneal injection of 1.2 mg/kg CdCl2 to the animals in the test group, while the control group received normal saline. After 52 days, the animals were euthanized, and testicular tissue was stained by Hematoxylin and Eosin. In addition, immunohistochemical staining was performed on Sertoli cells for Wilms' Tumor, Melan-A, and CD99 to evaluate histopathological changes. RESULTS: Cd caused significant alterations in seminiferous tubules with varying effects on the patterns of spermatozoa production. These histopathological changes were significantly higher in the Cd group, compared to the control group. CONCLUSION: The Cd-induced stepwise spectrum changes included sloughing, disorganization, hypospermatogenesis, spermatic cell arrest, germ cell hypoplasia, Sertoli cell-only pattern, fibro-hyalinized seminiferous tubules, and calcification. Sertoli cells accumulated and created multinucleated giant cells in the seminiferous tubules during the atrophic process, which could be dependent upon Sertoli cells viability and function.

Serologic and molecular survey of horses to Coxiella burnetii in East of Iran a highly endemic area.

There are few reports about Q fever in horse populations worldwide. This study aimed to detect the C. burnetii infection by serologic and molecular confirmation using commercial ELISA kit and real-time PCR in the East of Iran a region highly endemic. A total of 177 blood samples and 115 vaginal swabs were randomly collected from horses in East of Iran. The sera samples were analyzed for anti C.burnetii Ig G antibodies by a commercial ELISA kit and nucleic acid extraxted from vaginal samples were used to determine the C. burnetii DNA by real-time PCR assay. Antibodies were detected in 5.64 % (10/177) of sera samples and C. burnetii DNA was detected in 7.82 % (9/115) of horse vaginal samples. There was no significant difference in seroprevalence in different sex, age and breed groups. Our study showed that horses could be considered as a mild potential reservoir of C. burnetii which may be effective on horse health status. However, additional studies are needed to assess whether the horse could be considered as a relevant transmission risk indicator for Q fever.

The effect of methenamine on vascular development: Experimental investigation using in vivo and insilico methods.

BACKGROUND: Methenamine is a worldwide antibacterial agent for urinary system infections in human and animals. The effect of methenamine consumption during early phase of pregnancy is not fully clarified in previous studies. Vascular development is the essential part of the early embryonic growth. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we used chicken chorioallantoic membrane to evaluate the effects of methenamine administration on angiogenesis process as a model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this experimental study, 20 Ross 308 eggs (mean weight 55 ± 4) were incubated. The eggs were divided into two equal groups (n = 10/each). In the first group, methenamine (150 mg/kg egg weight) was injected on the shell membrane, and in the second group (control group) phosphate-buffered salineas injected. Methenamine was inoculated at 96 and 120 hrafter incubation; 24 hrafter the last inoculation, the eggs were removed and the egg's shell was incised. Then, the development of vascular network and vascular endothelial growth factor Aexpression was evaluated. RESULTS: Angiogenesis was significantly decreased after methenamine treatment. The indexes such as areas containing vessels, the vessels' length, the percentage of angiogenesis developing areas, and vascular complexity in the treatment group receiving methenamine were significantly reduced compared to the control group. Vascular endothelial growth factor Aexpression was suppressed in the methenamine treated group. CONCLUSION: According to the achieved results, it was defined that methenamine could have an inhibitory effect on the growth and development procedures of extraembryonic vasculature.

The diagnostic performance of human urinary dipsticks to estimate urine pH, specific gravity (SpG), and protein in horses: are they reliable?

BACKGROUND: Urinalysis is a critical diagnostic test which is performed in routine veterinary medicine practice. In this diagnostic test, semiquantitative measurement of urine biochemical substances is carried out using urinary dipstick. In the current study, we evaluated the diagnostic performance of human urinary dipsticks to estimate pH, specific gravity (SpG), and protein in 80 urine specimens collected from horses. These parameters were measured using two commercial human dipsticks (KP and MN in abbreviation) and quantitative reference methods. The reference methods for pH, SpG, and protein were pH meter, handheld refractometer, and pyrogallol red method, respectively. The correlation between the semiquantitative dipstick analysis and quantitative reference methods was determined using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. RESULTS: In general, our results revealed that the both human urinary dipsticks are unreliable tests for urinary pH, SpG, and protein content in horses. The analysis indicated that there was a poor correlation between the urine dipsticks and reference method (KP: rS = 0.534 and MN: rs = 0.485, Ps < 0.001) for protein. Additionally, there was a weak correlation between the results of pH measured using the urine dipsticks and reference method (KP: rS = 0.445 and MN: rs = 0.370, Ps < 0.001). Similar findings were obtained for SpG (KP: rS = 0.285, MN: rs = 0.338, Ps < 0.001). The estimation of proteinuria using the human dipsticks in horses lacked specificity, as many false positive protein results were obtained. CONCLUSION: We observed that the human commercial urinary dipsticks used in this study were not reliable to correctly estimate urine protein, SpG, and pH in horses.