Lala Lajpat Rai University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences

The present study evaluates the effect of replacing the dietary crude protein (CP) of vegetable source with that of maize gluten meal (MGM) on the performance, gut health and carcass composition of vencobb broilers. Two hundred day-old Vencobb chicks were randomly distributed into five treatments having four replicates of ten birds each. Treatments included CON: basal diet without MGM; MGM25: Replacement of 25% CP of vegetable source with MGM; MGM50: Replacement of 50% CP of vegetable source with MGM; MGM75: Replacement of 75% CP of vegetable source with MGM and; MGM100: Replacement of 100% CP of vegetable source with MGM. MGM25 birds had significantly (p<0.05) higher body weight gain (BWG) with the best FCR (1.69) among all the groups. Replacement of dietary vegetable protein with MGM above 50% led to significant (p<0.05) drop in BWG in comparison to CON. Ileal microbial plate count for E. coli and Lactobacillus were not affected (p>0.05) by the dietary inclusion of MGM. However, villus height, (VH, µ), villus height: villus width (VH: VW) and villus height: crypt depth (VH:CD) were improved in MGM25 and MGM50 groups compared to other groups. SOD and catalase activity was significantly higher (p<0.05) in MGM25. Eviscerated (dressed weight after removal of viscera) and drawn (eviscerated weight with giblets) percentage was severely affected above 50% replacement of vegetable source protein with MGM origin protein. Replacement of dietary vegetable protein with MGM protein at 25 % level yielded best results in terms of broilers’ performance with maximum economic returns.

Abstract Background The current study was undertaken to elucidate the histomorphochemical alterations, enzyme histochemistry, and electron imaging of the Indian sheep thymus at various phases of postnatal development, taking into account the scarcity of literature on the subject. The study looked at the thymus glands of 25 sheep ranging in age from a day-old lamb to 36 months, regardless of sex. Results The thymus of young sheep has an outer dark basophilic layer, the cortex, and an interior lighter zone, the medulla. The staining discrepancies indicate that the cortex has a substantially higher number of tiny lymphocytes than the medulla. The cortex is made up of a large number of densely packed tiny lymphocytes with darkly pigmented nuclei that are surrounded by macrophages and plasma cells. Flat reticuloepithelial cells were also shown to have acidophilic cytoplasm and vesicular nuclei. The reticuloepithelial cells were fewer and smaller in size than those in the medulla. Macrophages were regularly found in tiny quantities and distributed throughout the cortex. The lightly stained thymic medulla had fewer and larger lymphocytes, as well as a high concentration of large reticuloepithelial cells. The medulla had two types of Hassall’s corpuscles: small concentric and giant cystic. Adult sheep thymus involution was characterized by decreased lobule size and irregularity, fewer cortical lymphocytes, extension of the medullary area, and a rise in the size and number of Hassall’s corpuscles. Hassall’s corpuscles and reticuloepithelial cells exhibited weak to moderate Periodic Acid Schiff-alcian blue combinations, and moderate alcian blue responses. The dehydrogenase enzyme group exhibited a weak to moderate reactivity in the cortex, whereas high to intense activity was found in the medullary region. Both cortical and medullary thymocytes showed uniformly modest glucose-6-phosphatase activity. The enzyme histochemistry revealed that the peripheral zone of Hassall’s corpuscles has moderate to strong activity than in the central part. Hassall’s corpuscles are sites of intense cellular activity, often involving the terminal differentiation and apoptosis of thymic epithelial cells (TECs) and thymocytes. An outer zone has active cellular metabolism or secretory activity (e.g., production of cytokines) however, the cells in the center are more keratinized, degenerative, or necrotic, and thus have lower metabolic/enzyme activity. Ultrastructural examinations revealed that the bulk of the parenchyma was composed of large and small lymphocytes, reticuloepithelial cells, plasma cells, and macrophages. Electron imaging revealed the thymus’ supporting structure of epithelial-reticular cells with long branching cytoplasmic processes joined by desmosomes. Macrophages, plasma cells, and lymphocytes were discovered in the gaps between the epithelial and reticular cell processes. Conclusion Involutory alterations include the loss of a clear boundary between cortex and medulla, the partial loss of interlobular septa, the accumulation of adipose tissue in connective tissue septa, and a significant rise in the number of Hassall’s corpuscles in the medulla. The aged thymus, replaced by adipose tissue and fibrosis, becomes a primary driver of the increased vulnerability to infection, cancer, and autoimmune disorders observed in the aged sheep.

<title>Abstract</title> The full text of this preprint has been withdrawn by the authors due to author disagreement with the posting of the preprint. Therefore, the authors do not wish this work to be cited as a reference. Questions should be directed to the corresponding author.

The present study aimed to genetically characterize Hepatozoon canis, identify associated risk factors, and evaluate the haematological and biochemical profiles of affected dogs to improve its management. One hundred twenty dogs were screened by PCR for various haemoprotozoan disease, of which 24 dogs confirmed positive for H. canis and negative for Ehrlichia canis, Babesia vogeli, and B. gibsoni were included in this study. Phylogenetic analysis of the 18S rRNA region from four isolates revealed genetic relatedness to H. canis strains reported from Iran, Malaysia, Canada, Israel, Turkey, Iraq, China, and India. Common clinical signs included pyrexia (83.33%), inappetence to anorexia (75.00%), pale (58.33%) to congested (41.66%) mucous membranes, lethargy (37.50%), and weight loss (25.00%). Hematological analysis revealed microcytic hypochromic anemia, normal to elevated leucocyte count with normal to elevated lymphocyte count and thrombocytopenia. The serum biochemical profile revealed normal to decreased total protein, hypoalbuminemia, decreased Albumin-to-Globulin (A: G) ratio, elevated gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) and normal to elevated creatinine level in affected dogs. Age (0-6 months) (p = 0.05) and the summer season (p = 0.03) were identified as significant risk factors for infection. These findings provide valuable diagnostic and epidemiological insights to aid in presumptive diagnosis, preventive measures, and therapeutic management of H. canis infection in dogs.