Activity

Oxidative stress (OS) is one of the major disruptors of oocyte developmental competence, which appears due to the imbalance between the production and neutralization of reactive oxygen species (ROS).

In Experiment 1, buffalo oocytes were

matured, fertilized, and cultured at 38.5°C under 5% CO

+ 20% O

in standard CO

incubator (OS) or under 5% O

+ 5% CO

+ 90% N

(Multi-gas incubator, low O

). In Experiment 2, buffalo cumulus oocytes complexes (COCs) were matured in Basic maturation medium (BMM) composed of TCM199+ 10% FCS+ 10 µg/ml FSH+ 50 µg/ml gentamicin (control group) or in BMM supplemented with 50 μM ascorbic acid (ascorbic acid group) or 3.0 mM glutathione (glutathione group) or 10

M melatonin (melatonin group) and cultured at 38.5°C under 20% O

for 24 h. Matured buffalo oocytes in control, ascorbic acid, or melatonin groups were fertilized and zygotes were cultured for 8 days under the same conditions.

In both experiments, maturation, cleavage, and blastocyst rates were recorded. Results showed that culture of buffalo oocytes under low O

(5% O

) significantly increased maturation, cleavage, and blastocyst rates (p<0.05). Meanwhile, under 20% O

, addition of 10

M melatonin or 50 μM ascorbic acid to

maturation (IVM) medium significantly improved cumulus cell expansion, nuclear maturation rates of buffalo oocytes (p<0.05), and increased cleavage and blastocyst rates (p<0.05).

About 5% O

is the optimum condition for

production of buffalo embryos, and addition of 10

M melatonin to IVM medium for oocytes cultured under 20% O

could alleviate the adverse effect of high oxygen tension and increased embryo yield.

About 5% O2 is the optimum condition for in vitro production of buffalo embryos, and addition of 10-5 M melatonin to IVM medium for oocytes cultured under 20% O2 could alleviate the adverse effect of high oxygen tension and increased embryo yield.

Infectious bursal disease (IBD) or Gumboro disease is one of the most detrimental diseases in the poultry industry worldwide. RP-102124 ic50 Previous scientific studies have shown that live IBD vaccination might induce transient immunosuppression, leading to suboptimal vaccine responses, and therefore lack of protection against other infectious diseases; therefore, selecting an IBD vaccine in commercial farms is a concern. This study aims to compare two commercially attenuated IBD vaccines (intermediate and intermediate-plus strains) in terms of safety and antibody response to IBD and Newcastle disease viruses (NDV) in commercial broilers.

Overall, 216 Cobb broiler chickens were divided into three groups based on the IBD vaccine strain administered V217 strain (Group 1), M.B. strain (Group 2), and an unvaccinated group (Group 3). Groups 1 and 2 were orally vaccinated with Hitchner B1 NDV vaccine strain 7 days after IBD vaccination. Blood samples were collected at IBD vaccination day (15 days of age) and at 7, 14, 21, anand higher ND antibody response present in the V217 group indicate that the V217 strain induces lower immunosuppressive effects compared to the M.B. strain.

The results of this study indicate that IBD vaccine selection merits consideration, as avoiding the immunosuppressive effects induced by live IBD vaccination and the consequent impact on response to other vaccines is important.

The results of this study indicate that IBD vaccine selection merits consideration, as avoiding the immunosuppressive effects induced by live IBD vaccination and the consequent impact on response to other vaccines is important.

Nitrate (NO

) reduces enteric methane emissions and could be a source of non-protein nitrogen in ruminant feeds. Nonetheless, it has a potential toxic effect that could compromise animal health and production. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of progressive inclusion of NO

in the diet on the hematological, biochemical, and blood gases parameters, in turn, the effects on feed intake and live weight gain (LWG) in Holstein calves.

Eighteen Holstein heifers and steers (nine animals/treatment) were maintained in individual pens for 45 days. Animals were randomly allocated to either a control or nitrate diet (ND) (containing 15 g of NO

/kg of dry matter [DM]). The biochemical parameters and blood gases were analyzed only in the NO

group on days -1, 1, 7, 13, 19, and 25 corresponding to 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100% of the total inclusion of NO

in the diet, respectively. In addition, DM intake (DMI) and LWG were evaluated among dietary treatments.

Feeding the ND did not intudy confirmed that the progressive inclusion of 123 g of NO3-/animal/day in the diet could be safe without affecting DMI and LWG of Holstein calves. In turn, a dose-response effect of the MetHb, glucose, urea, AST, and retinol was observed, but these values did not exceed reference values. These results highlighted the importance of using a scheme of progressive inclusion of NO3- in the diet of calves to reduce the risks of NO3- toxicity.

Jacob sheep are a rare ancient breed of sheep believed to have originated from the Mediterranean area but which are now kept throughout the world. These sheep have recently attracted medical interest due to the observation of a genetic disorder in the breed that can be used as an animal model of Tay-Sachs disease (TSD). This study aims to detect mutations in the Hexosaminidase A gene in Jacob sheep based on sequence analysis of the 284-bp fragment situated between exon 11 and intron 11 of the gene, a target sequence for site-specific mutation. This is the first study that has investigated Jacob sheep in Bulgaria for gene-specific mutations.

A total of 20 blood samples were collected from Jacob sheep from the Rhodope Mountains. DNA was isolated from these samples, and a specific 284-bp fragment was amplified. The amplified products were purified using a polymerase chain reaction purification kit and sequenced in both directions.

Target sequences were successfully amplified from all 20 investigated sheep.uman classical late-infantile form of this disorder, indicating that the model can serve as a possible new research tool for further study of the pathogenesis and treatment of TSD.