Genotoxic effects of some antituberculosis drugs and mixtures in rats.

In this study*, it was aimed to observe, genotoxic effects of antituberculosis drugs and combinations on rats. Animals were treated with 31.5 mg/kg isoniazid (INH), 54 mg/kg rifampicin (RIF), 189 mg/kg pyrazinamide (PYR), 100 mg/kg etham-butol(ETA), INH+RIF+PYR (MIX1) and INH+RIF+PYR+ETA (MIX2) mixtures applied via gavage for 90 days. At the end of the study, blood, liver and kidney samples were taken and evaluated by Comet and Micronucleus techniques. Compared to control group, head intensity decreased, tail intensity and tail migration increased on experiment groups in blood samples. Head intensity of PYR and mixture groups decreased, tail intensity of PYR and mixture groups increased and tail migration of PYR, ETA and mixture groups increased in liver samples. Head intensity decreased and tail intensity increased of INH, RIF, ETA and MIX1 group; tail migration increased of MIX1 group in kidney samples. Compared to control group, micronucleus rate of ETA, RIF and MIX 2 groups increased in experiment groups. In conclusion antituberculosis drugs and their mixtures applied for 90 days causes to double strand break of DNA damage at different degrees in blood, kidney and liver cells in rats.

Effect of alfalfa meal in diets of laying quails on performance, egg quality and some serum parameters.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of increasing levels of alfalfa meal in the diet of laying quails on egg production, feed consumption, feed efficiency, egg quality, egg yolk cholesterol and selected serum parameters. In this study, 192, 10-week old quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) were evenly distributed to four groups with four replicates of 12 quails each. The control group was fed a basal diet containing 0% alfalfa meal and the remaining groups received 3, 6 or 9% alfalfa meal for 12 weeks. Live weight, feed consumption, and egg production were recorded and feed efficiency were calculated. Eggs were examined for interior and exterior quality and egg yolk cholesterol content. At the end of the experiment, blood samples were collected and sera were analysed for serum Ca, inorganic P (P(i)), Mg, triglycerides and total cholesterol. Any level of alfalfa meal had no effect on live weight, egg production, feed consumption, feed efficiency, egg weight, and egg yolk index. Six percent and 9% alfalfa meal increased specific gravity of whole egg and eggshell thickness as well as serum P(i) levels. Nine percent alfalfa meal reduced serum triglycerides, total cholesterol levels and egg yolk cholesterol content. The results of this experiment indicated that addition of 9% alfalfa meal into the laying quail diet may improve eggshell quality and reduced serum triglycerides and serum and egg yolk cholesterol without any adverse effect on performance.