Influence of the Oral Administration of Fish Oil on Hematological and Biochemical Performance in Local Male Rabbits.

In some developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, rapid population growth is a complicated problem, and thus, it is necessary to raise the efficiency of foodstuff production to preserve human life. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the effect of fish oil supplementation on male rabbits' productivity, as well as their biochemical and physiological characteristics. This experiment was conducted in the Animal House of the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Baghdad (Baghdad, Iraq) for eight weeks. Twenty-four local male rabbits were randomly divided into three groups (each containing eight rabbits) as follows: the control group that was fed with a basal diet only, the first treated group in which each animal received fish oil orally at a dose of 0.75 ml every day, and another treated group in which each animal received fish oil orally at a dose of 1.5 ml every day. Both treated groups received the treatment for 60 days. Blood samples were collected from cardiac veins by cardiac puncture at the beginning of the experiment (Zero time). On day 60 of the experiment, samples were collected again to analyze potential changes in blood characteristics, including white blood cells count, hemoglobin, and red blood cells count. These blood samples recorded a significant decrease in cholesterol in the two treatment groups, compared to the control. In conclusion, the current findings recommend daily oral administration of fish oil at a dose of 0.75 mg/ml or 1.5 mg/ml to rabbits for 60 days before conception to improve performance trials, as well as biochemical and hematological results. These alterations, however, have a small impact on these features, compared to higher doses administered to rabbits.

Antimicrobial in vitro activities of condensed tannin extracts on avian pathogenic Escherichia coli.

Condensed tannins (CTs), which extracted from yew leaves, tilia flower and black locust leaves, were examined for their antimicrobial in vitro activity against avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC). Past research demonstrated that CTs which contain procyanidins and prodelphinidins that could inhibit the growth of a wide range of bacteria. However, there is no information on how these affect pathogenic bacteria from chickens such as APEC. The high concentration of extracts, 10, 5, 2·5 mg ml-1 , affected the growth curves of APEC, which gave different inhibition values for the three CT extracts. Furthermore, these CTs had significant effects (P ≤ 0·05) on APEC biofilm and motility depending on each CT concentration and composition. However, at low concentration (0·6 mg ml-1 ), the tilia flowers, a high molar percentage of procyanidins, enhanced bacterial cell attachment and improved the swimming motility of APEC. In contrast, yew, an equal molar percentage of procyanidins/prodelphinidins, and black locust, a high molar percentage of prodelphinidins, interrupted and blocked swarming and swimming motility. The data suggested that the antimicrobial activity of the CT extracts was elicited by a positive relationship between anti-biofilm formation and anti-motility capacities. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This study showed that condensed tannins (CTs), which were a group of secondary metabolites of many plants and rich in prodelphinidins (PD), had greater antibacterial activity against avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) than CTs that were rich in procyanidins (PC). The mode of action of the CTs was to inhibit the swimming and swarming motility of APEC, and its ability to form biofilms. The significance of this finding is that the use of PD-rich CTs to control APEC should not encourage the development of antibiotic resistance by APEC because a different mechanism is used. If confirmed in vivo, this could provide the poultry industry with a valuable and novel means of controlling the antibiotic resistance.

Interactions Between Nutrition and Infections With Haemonchus contortus and Related Gastrointestinal Nematodes in Small Ruminants.

Interactions between host nutrition and feeding behaviour are central to understanding the pathophysiological consequences of infections of the digestive tract with parasitic nematodes. The manipulation of host nutrition provides useful options to control gastrointestinal nematodes as a component of an integrated strategy. Focussed mainly on the Haemonchus contortus infection model in small ruminants, this chapter (1) illustrates the relationship between quantitative (macro- and micro-nutrients) and qualitative (plant secondary metabolites) aspects of host nutrition and nematode infection, and (2) shows how basic studies aimed at addressing some generic questions can help to provide solutions, despite the considerable diversity of epidemiological situations and breeding systems.