Diseases associated with viruses also found in environmental samples cause major health problems in developing countries. Little is known about the frequency and pattern of viral contamination of drinking water sources in these resource-poor settings. We established a method to analyze 10 liters of water from drinking water sources in a rural area of Benin for the presence of adenoviruses and rotaviruses. Overall, 541 samples from 287 drinking water sources were tested. A total of 12.9% of the sources were positive for adenoviruses and 2.1% of the sources were positive for rotaviruses at least once. Due to the temporary nature of viral contamination in drinking water sources, the probability of virus detection increased with the number of samples taken at one test site over time. No seasonal pattern for viral contaminations was found after samples obtained during the dry and wet seasons were compared. Overall, 3 of 15 surface water samples (20%) and 35 of 247 wells (14.2%) but also 2 of 25 pumps (8%) tested positive for adenoviruses or rotaviruses. The presence of latrines within a radius of 50 m in the vicinity of pumps or wells was identified as being a risk factor for virus detection. In summary, viral contamination was correlated with the presence of latrines in the vicinity of drinking water sources, indicating the importance of appropriate decision support systems in these socioeconomic prospering regions.

There are several reports on unfavourable effects of metabolic cage housing on animal welfare mainly due to the characteristic structures of these cages such as single housing and grid flooring. This study was aimed to compare the effects of long-term metabolic cage housing and conventional housing (normal grouped housing in standard cages) on the anxiety/depression-like behaviours in male rats. Anxiety/depression-related behaviours were evaluated by use of forced swimming test and open field test. Swimming and climbing were significantly lower and immobility duration higher in the metabolic cage group. In the open field test, total distance, mean velocity, time spent in the central area, zone transition, grooming, and rearing scores were significantly lower in the metabolic cage. Moreover, serum corticosterone level was higher in the metabolic cage group. The results of the study indicate that long-term metabolic cage housing may cause an increase in the anxiety- and depression-related behaviours in male rats.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is accepted as a form of progressive and irreversible dementia. It is known that cholinergic systems are commonly affected in AD. Neurokinin 3 receptor (NK3R) is involved in learning and memory related processes. Activation of NK3R is known to facilitate the release of many neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine (Ach), dopamine (DA), noradrenaline (NA). Based on this information, hypothesis of the study that NK3R agonism can have positive effects on behavioral and learning parameters through cholinergic and catecholaminergic mechanisms. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of NK3R agonist senktide on cognitive and neurobehavioral mechanisms in model of AD.50 adult male Wistar albino rats were obtained; Control, AD, Control+NK3R agonist, AD+NK3R agonist, AD+NK3R agonist+antagonist groups. AD model was established by administering Aβ1-42 intracerebroventricularly. Following NK3R agonist+antagonist injections, open field (OF) and Morris water maze (MWM) were applied for behavioral and learning parameters. Hippocampus and cortex tissues were extracted. Analysis of cholinergic mechanisms from these tissues were performed by ELISA method.Group-time effect was significant in OF (p<0.05). Distance moved parameter was significant between groups in MWM (p<0.05). There was a significant difference between groups in AChE and ChAT levels (p<0.05). DA concentrations of brainstem samples were significant (p<0.05). There was no significant difference in NA concentration (p>0.05). NK3R agonists were found to be effective in improving cognitive functions in rats with AD pathology. It has been observed that positive effects on learning and memory performances can be mediated by cholinergic mechanisms.

Abstract. Alterations of essential elements in the brain are associated with the pathophysiology of many neuropsychiatric disorders. It is known that chronic/overwhelming stress may cause some anxiety and/or depression. We aimed to investigate the effects of two different chronic immobilization stress protocols on anxiety-related behaviors and brain minerals. Adult male Wistar rats were divided into 3 groups as follows ( n = 10/group): control, immobilization stress-1 (45 minutes daily for 7-day) and immobilization stress-2 (45 minutes twice a day for 7-day). Stress-related behaviors were evaluated by open field test and forced swimming test. In the immobilization stress-1 and immobilization stress-2 groups, percentage of time spent in the central area (6.38 ± 0.41% and 6.28 ± 1.03% respectively, p < 0.05) and rearing frequency (2.75 ± 0.41 and 3.85 ± 0.46, p < 0.01 and p < 0.05, respectively) were lower, latency to center area (49.11 ± 5.87 s and 44.92 ± 8.04 s, p < 0.01 and p < 0.01, respectively), were higher than the control group (8.65 ± 0.49%, 5.37 ± 0.44 and 15.3 ± 3.32 s, respectively). In the immobilization stress-1 group, zinc (12.65 ± 0.1 ppm, p < 0.001), magnesium (170.4 ± 1.7 ppm, p < 0.005) and phosphate (2.76 ± 0.1 ppm, p < 0.05) levels were lower than the control group (13.87 ± 0.16 ppm, 179.31 ± 1.87 ppm and 3.11 ± 0.06 ppm, respectively). In the immobilization stress-2 group, magnesium (171.56 ± 1.87 ppm, p < 0.05), phosphate (2.44 ± 0.07 ppm, p < 0.001) levels were lower, and manganese (373.68 ± 5.76 ppb, p < 0.001) and copper (2.79 ± 0.15 ppm, p < 0.05) levels were higher than the control group (179.31 ± 1.87 ppm, 3.11 ± 0.06 ppm, 327.25 ± 8.35 ppb and 2.45 ± 0.05 ppm, respectively). Our results indicated that 7-day chronic immobilization stress increased anxiety-related behaviors in both stress groups. Zinc, magnesium, phosphate, copper and manganese levels were affected in the brain.

Objective: The effect of acute and chronic stress models on depression and/or anxiety-like behavior in rodents has been widely studied, but with contradictory results. This may be due to differences in the sex and age of the animals studied or inherent differences in the stress models used. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of two immobilization stress protocols on depression/anxiety-like behaviors in adult male rats. Materials and Methods: Adult Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups (n=10) comprising: control, immobilization stress-1 (45 minutes daily for a period of ten days), and immobilization stress-2 (45 minutes twice a day for a period of ten days). Stress-related behavior was evaluated by means of the open field and forced swim tests. In addition, change in body weight, fasting blood glucose, and serum corticosterone were measured. Results: In the open field test, the percentage of time spent in the central area and mean velocity were significantly lower in the immobilization stress-1 and immobilization stress-2 groups as compared to the control group (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively). Movement ratios were lower in both immobilization stress groups than in the control group (p < 0.001 and p < 0.01, respectively). In the forced swim test, the duration of swimming, climbing and immobility behavior in both immobilization stress protocols did not differ from the control group. Serum corticosterone levels were higher in the immobilization stress-1 and immobilization stress-2 groups than in the control group (p <0.05), but no overt differences were determined in the percentage change in body weight or the fasting blood glucose level between the stress protocol groups and the control group (p > 0.05). Conclusion: We may conclude that immobilization stress-1 and immobilization stress-2 protocols do not cause depression-like behavior in adult male rats. However, anxiety-like behaviors predominated in both stress protocol groups.