Studies on the Effectiveness of Ozone Therapy on the Treatment of Experimentally Induced Keratitis with Candida albicans in Rabbits.

PURPOSE: In the present study, antifungal activity of ozonated olive oil (OZO) and ozonated distilled water (ODW) in the treatment of experimentally induced keratitis with C. albicans in rabbits were investigated. METHODS: The Groups were composed of as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 (n = 5 rabbits, 10 eyes/in each group) and Group 6 (n = 10 rabbits, 20 eyes/in the group). Fourty-eight hours after C. albicans inoculation; Group 1 received fluconazle (FLU)+OZO drops, Group 2 received FLU drop, Group 3 received OZO drop, Group 4 received FLU+ODW drops, Group 5 received ODW drop, Group 6 (infected control group) and Group 7 received PBS drop (negative control group). Treatment continued in all groups for 22 days for every 8 hours. RESULTS: Cornea cultures made 24 days post inoculation revealed statistically significant differences (p < 0,05) with concern to C. albicans amounts between Group 6 and Group 1-5. Statistical comparison of corneal opacity and corneal ulcer and conjunctivitis values among the Group 6 and Group 1-5 were also different significantly (p < 0,05) on days 20 and 24 post inoculation. CONCLUSION: OZO and ODW were found to be effective in treating C. albicans keratitis in the present study. It has also been proven by this study that ODW contain 26 µg/ml was the most effective in the treatment of C. albicans keratitis.

Seasonal and Age-Associated Pathogen Distribution in Newborn Calves with Diarrhea Admitted to ICU.

Calf mortality constitutes a substantial loss for agriculture economy-based countries and is also a significant herd problem in developed countries. However, the occurrence and frequency of responsible gastro-intestinal (GI) pathogens in severe newborn diarrhea is still not well known. We aimed to determine the seasonal and age-associated pathogen distribution of severe diarrhea in newborn calves admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of Erciyes University animal hospital over a year. Fecal samples were collected during the ICU admissions, and specimens were subjected to a diarrheal pathogen screening panel that included bovine coronavirus (BCoV), Cryptosporidium spp., ETEC K99+, and bovine rotavirus, using RT-PCR and conventional PCR methods. Further isolation experiments were performed with permissive cell cultures and bacterial enrichment methods to identify the clinical importance of infectious pathogen shedding in the ICU. Among the hospitalized calves aged less than 45 days old, the majority of calves originated from small farms (85.9%). The pathogen that most frequently occurred was Cryptosporidium spp. (61.5%) followed by rotavirus (56.4%). The frequency of animal admission to ICU and GI pathogen identification was higher during the winter season (44.9%) when compared to other seasons. Most calves included in the study were 1-6 days old (44.9%). Lastly, co-infection with rotavirus and Cryptosporidium spp. occurred more frequently than other dual or multi-infection events. This study was the first to define severe diarrhea-causing GI pathogens from ICU admitted newborn calves in Turkey.

Comparison of Systemic Effects of Midazolam, Ketamine, and Isoflurane Anaesthesia in Rabbits.

INTRODUCTION: Clinical doses of anaesthetic agents were administered to rabbits and effects on the brain, heart, and liver were investigated biochemically and histopathologically. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The rabbits were randomly divided into three main groups (16 rabbits each) and each group into study (n = 8) and control (n = 8) groups. All study group rabbits received 3 mg/kg of midazolam (M) intramuscularly. Group 1.1 (M) received nothing further, group 2.1 (MK) also received 25 mg/kg of ketamine, and group 3.1 (MKI) besides ketamine was also given 2% isoflurane to induce anaesthesia for 30 min. NaCl solution in the same volume as midazolam and ketamine was injected into the controls. RESULTS: In clinical evaluation significant differences were detected in respiratory and heart rates. In blood gas analysis the PO2 and PCO2 values showed statistical differences in anaesthesia intervals. Significant biochemical value changes were recorded in creatine kinase-Mb, glucose, and total protein. Histopathological liver examinations revealed higher total apoptotic and normal cell numbers in the MK than in the M and MKI groups. Apoptotic cell numbers were statistically significant in M and MK groups. CONCLUSION: Anaesthetic agents may increase programmed apoptosis. The MKI anaesthetics combination was found to cause less cell destruction in general than the other study groups. It was indicated that MKI was the safer anaesthetic combination in rabbits.

A serological investigation of pestiviruses in sheep in eastern border of Turkey.

All pestiviruses are important veterinary pathogens causing economic losses in cattle, sheep, and pigs. In this study, blood samples randomly collected from 465 sheep were analysed for the presence of antibodies to pestiviruses (bovine viral diarrhea virus, border disease virus) using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in the province of Van and their towns. The seroprevalance were estimated as 75.9% and 60.0-82.5% in the sampled animals and sampled towns, respectively. The results revealed that pestiviruses are important abort pathogens in the province of Van and their towns.

Determination of adenosine deaminase activity in cattle naturally infected with Theileria annulata.

The purpose of this study was to determine serum ADA activity in cattle naturally infected with Theileria annulata. In this study, a total of 37 cross-bred cattle which 27 of it showing clinical signs of theileriosis constituted infected group and 10 healthy cattle as control group were used as animal materials. Infected group divided into three groups according to their PCV values. Cattle with PCV > or = 25 were put on group I (n = 9), those with PCV 13-24 were put on group II (n = 11) and those with PCV < or = 12 were put on group III (n = 7). Microscopical diagnosis of the disease was also made. Hematological parameters, serum enzyme activities (ADA, AST, ALT and ALP) were determined in all cattle. Hematological results revealed that significant progressive decreases in HGB, PLT, PBML counts and ratios from group I onwards to group III, whereas the WBC, PBPL counts and ratios showed an increase from group I onwards to group III. The serum ADA, AST, ALT and ALP activity increased significantly in all infected groups compared to control group. However, these parameters were also observed to decrease progressively from group I to group III. Furthermore, the highest increase in enzyme activities observed in the infected group I. But, these enzyme's activities started to decrease in infected group II and III in parallel with PBML and PLT counts. Eventhough, this decrease did not reach to the values obtained from control group. On the contrary, PBPL counts and ratios increased in infected group II and III in contrast to decrease in PCV. As a result, increased serum ADA activity in tropical theileriosis may reflect the involvement of the cellular immune responses.

Comparison of the effects of local and uncontrolled levamisole preparations on mice naturally infected with Aspiculuris tetraptera.

This study was performed to compare effectiveness of two levamisole preparations prepared in two different countries (Iran and Turkey) in mice naturally infected with Aspiculuris tetraptera. For this purpose, natural infection was diagnosed using the cellophane tape method on the perianal region and centrifugal flotation technique on the feces of mice obtained from the experimental Animal Unit of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Yüzüncü Yil, Van. Mice naturally infected with A. tetraptera were then divided in three groups. Animals in Group 1 (8 animals) received levamisole prepared in Iran, animals in Group 2 (8 animals) received levamisole prepared in Turkey and animals in Group 3 (6 animals) were used as untreated controls. Both levamisole preparations were used in a 10 mg/kg dose. After drug administrations, stool samples of the animals in all groups were examined for seven days. On the eighth day, the animals were humanely destroyed using inhalation anesthesia. After euthanasia, parasites in the intestine were also counted. As a result; levamisole coming through uncontrolled border trade from Iran was 69.3% effective against A. tetraptera and the levamisole prepared in Turkey was 91.7% effective in naturally infected mice. Results obtained from this study compared statistically and the differences were found to be significant (p < 0.001).