Immunological and histopathological evaluation of Eimeria tenella oocysts Egyptian local isolate vaccine and its comparative efficacy with a commercial live vaccine.

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.

Anticoccidial effect of Origanum majoranum aqueous extract on Eimeria tenella-infected chicken.

Avian coccidiosis, an important protozoal disease of chicken triggered by coccidian protozoa of genus Eimeria, causes considerable economic losses to broiler producers. The study was designed to assess the efficiency of Origanum majoranum aqueous extract (OMAE) on E. tenella-infected broiler chicken. Birds were divided into four groups including: positive control (PC, challenged with 5×104 sporulated oocysts of E. tenella at the 12th day of age), PC+OMAE (challenged with E. tenella oocysts at the 12th day of age and received OMAE (125 mg/kg BW) orally, started at the 7th day of age, and continued for 14 consecutive days), OMAE (received OMAE (125 mg/kg BW) orally, at the 7th day of age, for 14 consecutive days), and negative control (received basal diet only). Anticoccidial efficacy of OMAE was evaluated by complete blood picture, serum chemistry, serum protein electrophoresis, antioxidants markers, cecal oocysts count, and cecal lesions score. Briefly, collected data indicated that supplementation of OMAE could increase antioxidants concentrations and improve changes in hematobiochemical parameters and serum protein fractions, as well as decrease cecal oocysts count and reduce cecal lesion scores in E. tenella-infected birds. In conclusion, OMAE restores oxidant-antioxidant balance, and its supplementation in broiler chicken can alleviate E. tenella-infection and reduce its severity.

Anticoccidial and hepatoprotective effects of artemisinin liquid extract, cinnamon essential oil and clove essential oil against Eimeria stiedae infection in rabbits.

Coccidiosis is one of the most dangerous diseases that affect poultry, resulting in worldwide economic losses. Plant extracts and essential oils have been used as potential alternatives for chemotherapeutics, because they don't have the negative consequence of creating tissue residue and drug resistance. Therefore, this study had been conducted to determine the efficacy of artemisinin liquid extract, cinnamon essential oil and clove essential oil against Eimeria stiedae in rabbits. Sixty New Zealand white rabbits were divided into six equal groups, where group 1 and group 2 represented the negative and the positive controls, respectively, and groups 3-6 were infected with Eimeria stiedae and received 15 ppm toltrazuril, 200 ppm artemisinin, 100 mg/kg cinnamon oil, and 100 mg/kg clove oil, respectively. The results showed that artemisinin had a significant beneficial role in protection against hepatic coccidiosis: it mitigated the clinical symptoms, reduced the mortality rates, improved body weight and feed conversion, decreased the oocyst output, prevented oxidative stress, improved biochemical parameters, and decreased the lesion formation. Moreover, it has been found that cinnamon and clove essential oils induced partial protection against hepatic coccidiosis. Our findings suggested that artemisinin liquid extract and cinnamon and clove essential oils could be used for protection against hepatic coccidiosis. However, further investigations are needed in order to elucidate the active components, optimal doses, and mode of action of these extracts and essential oils before their clinical applications.

A trial of doramectin injection and ivermectin spot-on for treatment of rabbits artificially infested with the ear mite "Psoroptes cuniculi".

The ear mite "Psoroptes cuniculi" is the main cause of ear mange, a highly contagious parasitic skin disease in rabbits all over the world. In the current work, a preliminary therapeutic trial to study the effect of the broad use acaricides doramectin and ivermectin on P. cuniculi was performed on artificially infested rabbits. Twenty five adult New Zealand white rabbits were used in this study. The rabbits were assigned randomly into five groups/ 5 rabbits in each group. Each rabbit was experimentally infested with 100 mites/ ear. The first group was designated the positive control group and was not treated. The second and third groups were treated with doramectin 200 and 400 µg/kg bw, respectively. Groups 4 and 5 were treated by dressing with ivermectin in one dose and 2 doses with a 1 week interval. After the therapy, all rabbits were examined microscopically on the 7th, 14th, and 28th day post treatment and the number of live mites (larvae, nymphs, and adults) on each rabbit was counted at the end of the experiment (28th day). The results showed that the rabbits treated subcutaneously with doramectin at a single dose of 200 µg /kg bw showed a very low effect, although there was significant improvement when the dose was doubled to 400 µg /kg bw, with the number of mites counted decreasing significantly. Rabbits treated topically with ivermectin spot-on, a single dose or 2 doses, showed great improvement of the lesion: the number of mites was reduced to zero. In conclusion, this work showed that ivermectin spot-on applied locally on infested ears proves to be more effective against P. cuniculi than doramectin injected subcutaneously. Further trials on ear mange therapeutics in rabbits are to be encouraged.

Observations of the rabbit pinworm Passalurus ambiguus (Rudolphi, 1819) in domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in Egypt using a scanning electron microscope.

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.

Mutations in transglutaminase 1 gene in autosomal recessive congenital ichthyosis in Egyptian families.

Autosomal recessive congenital ichthyosis (ARCI) is a rare heterogeneous keratinization disorder of the skin. It is clinically divided into 2 subtypes, lamellar ichthyosis (LI) and congenital ichthyosiformis erythroderma (CIE). We investigated forty-three ARCI Egyptian individuals in 16 severe LI, and 10 CIE families. We identified 5 alleles in two Egyptian families as having intron-5/exon-6 splice acceptor mutation recognized by the MspI restriction endonuclease. This promoted to a frequency of 9.6% for this mutation (5 splice-mutation alleles/52 alleles tested). We extended our previous dataset to update the detection of R142H mutation in 4 CIE Egyptian families and one LI phenotype (frequency of 28.8%; 15/52), whereas we still had no R141H among our Egyptian population. There was no correlation between phenotype and genotype in our study. Surprisingly, the mutant alleles detected in intron-5 acceptor splice-site were associated with the other extreme of CIE phenotypes rather than the severe LI form. We clearly demonstrated that the ARCI Egyptian families in Upper Egypt was ethnically pure and had a tendency not to be a hybrid with other populations in Lower Egypt, Delta zone and Cairo city.