Four groups, 0, 5, 10 and 20%, of Single Comb White Leghorn chickens (30 males plus 30 females each) were fed a diet which contained either 0, 5, 10 or 20% ethyl mercury chloride dressed wheat for a period of 88 days. The wheat was dressed with the organic mercury compound at the rate of 500 gm. ethyl mercury chloride per metric ton of wheat. Therfore, the diets contained respectively 0, 25, 50 and 100 mg. organic mercury compound/kg. With average daily feed consumption of 101, 102, 101 and 98 gm. by the individual birds of the respective groups, the birds did not show any symptoms of disease during the course of the study. Egg production, egg quality and mortality of the treatment groups were comparable with those of the control group. The amount of residual mercury in egg white and yolk was determined at intervals. The residual mercury of egg white of the treatment groups was about three times as much as that of egg yolk, and made its significant appearance in the 20% group on the third day of the trial. The concentration was increasing with time in both white and yolk and was parallel to the concentration of the organic mercury in the diet. The liver followed by the kidney of both sexes accumulated the highest amounts of mercury. Tissues of female birds accumulated less mercury than tissues of male birds did probably due to the passage of some of the ingested mercury with the egg white and yolk. The results were discussed on the basis that the kind of mercury compound, daily intake and duration of treatment play major roles in the determination of induced effects.
The effect of feeding adult Swiss albino mice of both sexes a diet supplemented with 0, 125, 250 and 500 parts/106 of fluoride for four and eight week periods on haemoglobin concentration (Hb), packed cell volume (PCV) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) was investigated. Values of the three parameters were significantly lowered at both periods in the treated groups as compared with the controls. The extent of reduction in these values was, in general, dependent on the dose of supplemented dietary fluoride. Clinical symptoms were not observed before the end of the sixth week. However, appearance of the symptoms did not change the trend of variations in Hb, PCV and MCHC values. The reduced values could be the result of lowered haemoglobin synthesis and erythropoiesis. It was suggested that these haematological indices could serve to detect preclinical effects of high fluoride intake with an added dose of as low as 125 parts/106, or even less, for a period of four weeks or probably earlier.There have been many studies of the adverse effects of high fluoride intake on bones and teeth of man and animals [Velu, 1932;MacIntire, Winterberg, Clements and Dunham, 1947; Neeley and Harbaugh, 1954;Merriman, Moorman and Hobbs, 1956;Brown, Christofferson, Massler and Weiss, 1960;Johnson, 1965;Shupe, 1969;Bhussry, 1970;McClure, 1970;Jones, 1972;Rosenquist and Lemperg, 1974;Yamamoto, Wergedal and Baylink, 1974;Gileva, Plotko and Gatiyatullina, 1975;Lough, Noonan, Gagnon and Kayne, 1975]. Other tissues, however, as possible affected sites have received less attention. Research reports describing the effects of high levels of fluoride on the blood picture and haematopoietic system are not so frequently encountered.Hoogstratten, Leone, Shupe, Greenwood and Liberman [1965] reported an increase in blood and bone marrow eosinophils and a decrease in serum folic acid activity of cattle received a fluoride-supplemented ration for a period of seven and a half years. The daily ingested level of fluoride was 93 parts/106.Decreased blood levels of copper and calcium, as well as lowered values of packed cell volume (PCV), were observed in sheep grazing, for not less than two years, on pasture contaminated with rock phosphate dust containing 2-1-3-3 % of fluoride emitted from a fertilizer factory [Zumpt, 1975]. The concentration of fluoride in the grazed forage, on a dry matter basis, was 232 parts/106. The effect of a high level of fluoride on some haematological aspects of the rat was investigated by Kahl, Wojcik and Ewy [1973]. Sodium fluoride at a concentration of 150 parts/106 in drinking water lowered, after 75 days, the erythrocyte count and haemoglobin concentration (Hb) down to 20-2 % and 4.5 % of those of the controls, respectively. Decreased incorporation of 59Fe into red blood cells and spleen was also observed along with increased 59Fe incorporation into liver and bone marrow.
Different breeds of chickens namely Single Comb White Leghorn (S.C.W.L.), New Hamsphire (N.H.), Iraqi (IRQ) and a cross (CRS.) S.C.W.L. X N.H. X IRQ. were housed in small pens (20 females and 2 males each) and given, in the diet, 40% wheat treatmed with ethyl mercury chloride, for 88 days. Throughout the whole experiment all birds remained active and showed no symptoms of toxicity. The Iraqi breed was significantly higher than the other breeds with respect to egg production. The results also indicated that mercury in egg white is almost three times as much as that in the yolk, although there was no significant difference between the breeds. The liver and kidney of the four breeds tended to accumulate the highest amount of mercury. Significant differences appeared between sexes according to liver and kidney. White Leghorn and local breeds behaved the same, but N.H. had the highest concentration of mercury in most tissues.
Total serum protein and serum protein fractions of three local turkey strains (White, Red, and Black) were measured under different seasonal conditions. Total serum protein was influenced (P less than .05) by strain (6.00, 6.15, and 6.28 g/100 ml for White, Red, and Black, respectively) and sex (6.02 and 6.26 g/100 ml for males and females, respectively). Highest levels were recorded under moderate seasonal conditions and lowest under high temperature and low humidity. The interactions of strain X sex and sex X season were not significant (P greater than .05), whereas strain X season was significant (P less than .05). Highest levels of albumin were encountered in Black and Red strains. Sex and season did not exert significant effects (P greater than .05); only the interaction of strain X season was significant (P less than .05). Strain had a significant effect on alpha-1 but not on alpha-2, beta-, and gamma-globulins, whereas sex was a source of variation in all globulins (P less than .05). Season induced significant (P less than .05) variation in globulins. Maximal levels were observed under moderate temperature and relative humidity. Strain X season and strain X sex interactions were not significant with regard to alpha-1 values. Similar trends were observed in beta-globulins for strain X sex and season X sex interactions (P greater than .05).
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