Muhammad Latif

Detection of Babesia bovis in blood samples and its effect on the hematological and serum biochemical profile in large ruminants from Southern Punjab.

OBJECTIVEnTo determine the presence of Babesia bovis (B. bovis) in large ruminants in southern Punjab and its effect on hematological and serum biochemical profile of host animals.nnnMETHODSnBlood samples were collected from 144 large ruminants, including 105 cattle and 39 buffaloes, from six districts in southern Punjab including Multan, Layyah, Muzaffar Garh, Bhakar, Bahawalnagar and Vehari. Data on the characteristics of animals and herds were collected through questionnaires. Different blood (hemoglobin, glucose) and serum (ALT, AST, LDH, cholesterol) parameters of calves and cattle were measured and compared between parasite positive and negative samples to demonstrate the effect of B. bovis on the blood and serological profile of infected animals.nnnRESULTSn27 out of 144 animals, from 5 out of 6 sampling districts, produced the 541-bp fragment specific for B. bovis. Age of animals (P=0.02), presence of ticks on animals (P=0.04) and presence of ticks on dogs associated with herds (P=0.5) were among the major risk factors involved in the spread of bovine babesiosis in the study area. ALT concentrations were the only serum biochemical values that significantly varied between parasite positive and negative cattle.nnnCONCLUSIONSn: This study has reported for the first time the presence of B. bovis in large ruminant and the results can lead to the prevention of babesiosis in the region to increase the livestock output.

Biocompatibility of cobalt iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles in male rabbits

Present study was conducted to study the in vivo biocompatibility of cobalt iron oxide magnetic nano-particles (CoFe2O4 MNPs) in rabbits. CoFe2O4 MNPs were synthesized by the conventional micro emulsion technique in crystallite size range of 30 to 50 nm. The lattice constant (a) and cell volume were found to be 8.386 Å and 589.75 Å3, respectively, revealed by XRD. Subject animals were divided in three groups—low dose, high dose and control group without nanoparticles implantation for biocompatibility evaluation. CoFe2O4 was intraperitoneally implanted in rabbits: low dose (1mg CoFe2O4/Kg body weight) and high dose (10mg CoFe2O4/Kg body weight). Blood, serum and histological study of vital organs (liver, heart, kidney and spleen) were carried out in seven days of time protocol after sacrificing of animals. Results indicated that CoFe2O4 had drastically affected the blood chemistry in a dose-dependent manner as RDWa (P=0.01), Platelet (P<0.001) and Plateletcrit (P<0.001) concentrations reduced significantly in low dose and high dose CoFe2O4 treatments as compared to sham treated control group. Histological analysis revealed that CoFe2O4 exposure resulted in disordered and abnormal histology of liver, kidney and that of muscles at surgical site. It is concluded that CoFe2O4 has low biocompatibility and higher toxicity levels in living system at the applied doses.

Effect of cadmium chloride and ascorbic acid exposure on the vital organs of freshwater Cyprinid, Labeo rohita

The present study was carried out to evaluate the impact of sub lethal concentrations of heavy metal, cadmium chloride (CdCl 2 .H 2 O), ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and their combination on Labeo rohita . The effect was investigated on the basis of histopathological examinations of control and experimental groups exposed to heavy metal. The acute semi statistical toxicity test for L. rohita revealed 96 h LC 50 value 22.92 mg L -1 for cadmium chloride (CdCl 2 .H 2 O). 215 fingerlings of L. rohita were exposed to three different experimental conditions for 96 h: 11.46 mg L -1 CdCl 2 .H 2 O, or 450 mg Kg -1 ascorbic acid or combination of both these doses. No alterations were observed in gill sections upon comparison between treated and untreated groups. Congestion in sinusoids, fatty change, an increase in Kupffer cells and intrahepatic lymphocytes was observed in CdCl 2 .H 2 O treated group. In kidney sections of heavy metal treated group, degeneration of the glomerular tissue, occlusion in tubular lumen and necrosis were observed. Similar changes but in less severe form, as described above, were observed in the fish exposed to combination of CdCl 2 .H 2 O and ascorbic indicating that ascorbic acid do detoxify the effect of heavy metal to some extant. Our results indicate that cadmium chloride (CdCl 2 .H 2 O), if present in fresh water bodies, may act as strong toxic agent for L. rohita . Keywords: Labeo rohita , cadmium chloride (CdCl 2 .H 2 O), ascorbic acid, histopathology

Effect of various nutrient combinations on growth and body composition of rohu (Labeo rohita )

A total of 80 Labeo rohita fingerlings (mean body weight, 14.7 ± 0.08 g and length, 11.0 ± 0.16 cm) were randomly distributed into four treatments with 20 replicates each, for 60 days, to determine the effect of different feed compositions on the growth and body composition of L. rohita . Four isoenergetic (17.05 ± 0.24 kJ g -1 ) experimental diet viz., control (C), protein rich (PR), fat rich (FR) and carbohydrate rich (CR) were formulated. The proximate composition protein/fat/carbohydrate (P/F/C) of formulated feed were C: P35/F8/C2, PR: P40/F8/C2, FR: P35/F10/C2 and CR: P35/F8/C5. The daily ration size was 5% of fish body weight. The result reveals a highly significant (P≤0.001) difference in specific growth rate (SGR), weight gain (WG) and protein efficiency (PE) among four feeding groups, while differences were significant for feed conversion ratio (FCR). FR showed maximum growth together with high body fat, CR showed low body fat and high proteins. Results indicate that increasing fat up to 9% in diet showed better growth as compared to increasing dietary protein and carbohydrates Key words : Labeo rohita, diet composition, specific growth rate, protein efficiency, body composition.