Fasciola hepatica and rumen flukes - in vitro evaluation of main commercial anthelmintics

Background: Trematode infections are of great importance as they affect the health of many species of mammals as cattle, sheep and goat. Fasciola hepatica represents the main trematode zoonosis and risks to human and cattle and paramphistomosis is one emerging parasitic diseases of ruminants widely distributed in the world. The economic expenses are incurred by the use of ineffective anthelmintics for trematode control. Besides to faecal egg count reduction test (FECRT) to determine the anthelmintic efficacy, can be used in vitro assays, by this the aim of the study was to determine the lethal doses (LD) with hatching egg test (EHT) of the main commercial anthelmintics used for the control of trematodes in cattle. Materials, Methods & Results: Liver and rumen were examined from cattle slaughtered in Tabasco, Chiapas and Campeche states from Mexico. F. hepatica eggs were recovered from gallbladder and rumen fluke eggs collected from adult parasites in saline solution. Subsequently, the hatching egg assays were performed placing 100 trematode eggs in distilled water in each one of 96 wells of polystyrene plates. After making the appropriate dilutions, several concentrations of commercial anthelmintics were evaluated, ranging from 0.04 to 80.63 mM for triclabendazole + 0.046 to 96.87 mM febendazole (TC+FBZ), from 0.04 to 91 mM for rafoxanide (RAFOX), from 0.02 to 43.74 mM for closantel (CLOS), from 0.036 to 76.18 mM for clorsulon + 0.002 to 3.31 mM ivermectin (CLORS+ IVM) and from 0.163 to 334.47 mM for nitroxynil (NITROX). A control group (water) was included in each plate. Lethal doses were obtained using the Probit procedure and analysis of the means with a one-way statistical design. Most drugs used against rumen fluke eggs presented a high LD50 and therefore were ineffective to cause egg mortality, such was the case of RAFOX that presented LD50 from 4,580 to 10,790 µg/mL (7 to 17 mM). CLOS presented the lowest LD50 (80 µg/mL or 0.12 mM) on rumen fluke eggs. TC+FBZ was found to be effective drug against the development of F. hepatica eggs in many samples. In the same way NITROX showed a low LD50 (37 to 63 µg/mL or 0.13 to 0.22 mM), but RAFOX presented a highest LD50 (1,450 µg/mL or 2.32 mM). Discussion: The present study focused on screen the ovicidal activity and determining in vitro lethal doses 50 of main commercial anthelmintics used to control F. hepatica and rumen fluke as rapid tests in a tropical region from Mexico. The FECRT is the main method to detect effectiveness of anthelmintic and other method is the coproantigen reduction test (CRT) by ELISA. Both tests require many infected animals depending the number of treatments and by this the egg hatch assay (EHA) represent a complementary diagnosis of effectiveness of anthelmintic products to compare between regions and even between farms, because few animals are required from the farm to collect trematode eggs, and it is possible to know the effectiveness against various anthelmintics at the same time. Efficacy studies on trematodes using egg hatching tests are scarce, although they have the advantage that they can be applied to both F. hepatica and rumen fluke. TC+FBZ was one of the most effective products in inhibiting the development of F. hepatica eggs. However, RAFOX showed low effectiveness against trematode eggs, with very high lethal doses. These results agree with a study that show low efficacy against the development of Paramphistomum cervi eggs and with the FECRT test reductions of 75% and 80.58% were obtained, in times from 7 to 84 days after treatment with RAFOX. NITROX and CLORS were drugs that had good efficacy on the development of F. hepatica eggs. A differential response between liver and rumen fluke was observed. The anthelmintics used against rumen fluke eggs show low ovicidal activity and in Fasciola hepatica TC+FBZ show the best activity

Performance and carcass characteristics of lambs fed diets supplemented with different levels of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The objective of this study was to evaluate the productive performance, apparent digestibility, and carcass and longissimus dorsi muscle characteristics of lambs fed diets supplemented with four levels of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Thirty-two male Hampshire lambs (25.82±1.95 kg body weight) were distributed in four treatments: basal diet (20:80, forage:concentrate), and the inclusion of 0, 3, 5, and 10 g animal−1 d−1 Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The variables evaluated were dry matter intake, daily weight gain, feed conversion, apparent digestibility, dorsal fat thickness, longissimus dorsi muscle area, and physicochemical characteristics of carcass and muscle. We used a completely randomized design and orthogonal polynomials to test the linear and quadratic effects of the inclusion levels of the yeast. Saccharomyces cerevisiae showed a quadratic effect on lamb performance. Dry matter intake decreased with yeast in response to a better feed conversion and body weight gain; however, at the highest Saccharomyces cerevisiae dose, daily weight gain and final weight were lower than with the basal diet treatment. Saccharomyces cerevisiae did not affect apparent digestibility or carcass and muscle physicochemical characteristics. Supplementation with 3 and 5 g d−1 Saccharomyces cerevisiae improves productive performance of lambs fed high concentrate diets without affecting the physicochemical characteristics of the carcass or muscle.(AU)

Relationship between glycerol administration to livestock 24 h before sacrifice and indicators of physiological and oxidative stress

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of oral administration of glycerol, as a source of energy, to steers 24 h before slaughter on biochemical indicators of physiological and oxidative stress. Fifty Zebu x Swiss-or Simental-cross steers were selected at random at the finalizing stage impending slaughter. Blood samples were collected from the jugular vein before administering the treatments and 24 h afterward. After sacrifice, samples of the Longissimus dorsi muscle were collected. Biochemical indicators evaluated in bovine serum were hematocrit (VGA), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), lactate (LAC), cortisol (COR), glucose (GLU), β-hydroxybutyrate (BHT), creatine kinase enzyme (CK), free non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), antioxidant activity (FRAP), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and glutathione peroxidase reaction (GSH-Px). The variables evaluated in meat were TBARS, FRAP, pH, texture and shelf life. Analysis of the stress biomarkers evaluated in bovine serum did not reveal differences (P>0.05) between treatments T0 and T1 for the variables COR, VGA, GLU, NEFA, BHT or CK. There were, however, differences between sampling times for the variables FRAP (P = 0.021) and GSH (P = 0.006). The indicators FRAP and TBARS in the sampled meat were not different (P>0.05) between treatments. Meat pH changed over time (P=0.0002), but not its texture (P>0.05). It is concluded that the administration of glycerol as an energy supplement 24 h before sacrifice did not modify the balance of physiological constants of the evaluated steers, nor did it produce significant changes in shelf life of meat.(AU)

Relationship between glycerol administration to livestock 24 h before sacrifice and indicators of physiological and oxidative stress

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of oral administration of glycerol, as a source of energy, to steers 24 h before slaughter on biochemical indicators of physiological and oxidative stress. Fifty Zebu x Swiss-or Simental-cross steers were selected at random at the finalizing stage impending slaughter. Blood samples were collected from the jugular vein before administering the treatments and 24 h afterward. After sacrifice, samples of the Longissimus dorsi muscle were collected. Biochemical indicators evaluated in bovine serum were hematocrit (VGA), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), lactate (LAC), cortisol (COR), glucose (GLU), β-hydroxybutyrate (BHT), creatine kinase enzyme (CK), free non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), antioxidant activity (FRAP), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and glutathione peroxidase reaction (GSH-Px). The variables evaluated in meat were TBARS, FRAP, pH, texture and shelf life. Analysis of the stress biomarkers evaluated in bovine serum did not reveal differences (P>0.05) between treatments T0 and T1 for the variables COR, VGA, GLU, NEFA, BHT or CK. There were, however, differences between sampling times for the variables FRAP (P = 0.021) and GSH (P = 0.006). The indicators FRAP and TBARS in the sampled meat were not different (P>0.05) between treatments. Meat pH changed over time (P=0.0002), but not its texture (P>0.05). It is concluded that the administration of glycerol as an energy supplement 24 h before sacrifice did not modify the balance of physiological constants of the evaluated steers, nor did it produce significant changes in shelf life of meat.