Castration of dromedary camel through prescrotal midline incision.

A total of 165 camels of different ages were castrated through a small, prescrotal midline incision between January, 2010 and December, 2011. The incision was closed with one interrupted, horizontal mattress suture using USP-2 chromic catgut. In 14/165 animals (8.5%) postoperative infection (sepsis) developed, which healed in two to three weeks after open wound management. The remaining 151 animals had an uneventful recovery, but a slight edematous swelling of the scrotum was observed in 8 of the 151 animals (5.3%), which was self-limiting and of no significance. No primary or secondary postoperative bleeding was noticed in any of the animals. It was concluded that this technique was less time consuming with negligible postoperative care and complications when performed under standard surgical principles.

Comparison of plasma uric acid levels in five varieties of the domestic turkey, Meleagris gallopavo.

Plasma uric acid (PUA) is a consensus physiological biomarker for many phenotypes in vertebrates because it is a reliable indicator for processes such as oxidative stress and tubular function. In birds, it is considered a major antioxidant and is also the primary endproduct of nitrogen metabolism. Despite this importance, knowledge of baseline levels of PUA in physiologically normal birds, including the turkey, Meleagris gallopavo, is limited. Here, we compared PUA levels in a total of 106 apparently normal male and female birds at 8 and 32 wk of age from 5 strains of the domestic turkey, including Bourbon Red, Narragansett, Blue Slate, Royal Palm, and Spanish Black. Though differences in PUA were not significant at 8 and 32 wk of age, BW, variety, and sex effects were highly significant. When adjusted for BW, female birds had, on average, a higher PUA per kilogram of BW than male birds. When adjusted for both sex and BW, Royal Palm birds had the lowest average PUA, and Blue Slate had the highest PUA. Results of these investigations represent the first comparative analysis of PUA in physiologically normal turkey varieties. They suggest that differences in basal plasma levels of uric acid in physiologically normal turkeys are influenced by sex, weight, and genetic background but may be independent of age.

Profile of portal hypertension in hepatosplenic schistosomiasis.

Intrasplenic pressure changes versus ova count in stool of schistosomal portal hypertension in cases of bilharzial hepatic fibrosis were studied before and after 40 mg/kg body weight praziquantel therapy. Praziquantel acts on the vascular level in which it decreases the portal hypertension caused by bilharziasis as detected by decreased size of portal and splenic veins diameter as well as a significant decrease of portal pressure by the decrease of intrasplenic pressure (P less than 0.05). On the other hand, praziquantel decrease bilharzial stool egg count after 3 months of therapy (P less than 0.05).

Some immuno-pathological aspects in bilharzial and amoebic dysentery.

Serum immunoglobulin, secretory IgA in stools and leucocyte migration inhibition test were done for 75 patients suffering from bilharzial and amoebic dysentery as well as 20 normal controls. Sigmoidoscopic examination with immunofluorescent staining of colonic biopsy was done in patients with bilharzial dysentery. Humoral immune response increased significantly as detected by significant increase in serum IgG and IgM. Secretory IgA decreased significantly in bilharzial cases leucocyte migration inhibition test decreased significantly as well as plasma cells secreting IgA. This change in systemic and local immune response may predispose to infection or occur secondary to the disease.

Alpha-1 antitrypsin and electrolytes in some cases of diarrhoea.

Fifty patients suffering from diarrhea were subjected together with a control group of 20 normal subjects to full clinical examination, stool analysis for parasites and bacteriological examination to identify pathogenic bacteria. Fecal alpha-1-antitrypsin, fecal Na+ and K+ and serum albumin were also estimated. The results showed a significant increase in the fecal alpha-1-antitrypsin and fecal electrolytes in all cases of diarrhea except the simple intestinal bilharzial cases, in which the fecal alpha 1-antitrypsin showed an inverse proportionality with fecal electrolytes. The serum albumin showed a negative correlation with fecal alpha-1 antitrypsin, however, serum albumin cannot be taken as a parameter for protein loosing enteropathy.

Individual microdetermination of chlorine, bromine and iodine in halogenated organic compounds by the oxygen-flask method.

A simple and accurate micro-method for the individual determination of Cl, Br and I in halogenated organic compounds by the oxygen-flask method is described. Addition of potassium bromate to oxidize bromide, and of hydrogen peroxide to oxidize iodide, followed by boiling, is used to eliminate these two halides in mixtures with chloride or each other.