Transportation is often considered as one of the main causes of stress raising considerable interest, both in economic and animal welfare terms. The objective of the current study was to determine physiological response of dromedary camels to road transportation in relation to circulating levels of cortisol, thyroid hormones and some serum biochemical factors during summer conditions. Ten Iranian dromedary camels, five males and five females, were selected for the study. The study was conducted on three consecutive days in August 2008. At first day, blood samples were collected at 08:30 A.M., 09:30 A.M. and 01:30 P.M. to determine any possible variation in individual measurements due to diurnal changes or as a result of food and water deprivation for 5 h. Travel commenced on day 2 at 08:30 A.M. for 5 h, with a total of about 300 km traveled. At second day, blood samples were collected immediately before loading, at 08:30 a.m., after 1 h transport, at 09:30 A.M., and on the end of transportation, after unloading, at 01:30 P.M. Final blood sample was taken 24 h after arrival. In the current study no significant difference was observed in any parameter between sexes at each sampling time. The data related to day before transport had no significant differences between different times except for values obtained for cortisol that at 01:30 P.M. showed a significant decrease in comparison with data at 08:30 and 09:30. Circulating cortisol, T(4), T(3) and fT(4) levels was significantly higher after transportation compared with pre-transport values and returned to basal values within 24 h after transport. Transportation had effects on metabolism as demonstrated by increase in serum concentrations of glucose, NEFA, and urea nitrogen. Serum concentrations of glucose, NEFA, and urea nitrogen returned to basal values in final bleeding at 24 h after transport termination. In the current study transportation had no significant effects on serum concentrations of fT(3), triglycerides, cholesterol, beta-hydroxybutyrate, albumin and total protein. Taken together, the results obtained for short road transportation of dromedary camels showed a strong physiological response and provide some biomarkers for stress detection in this species. Further research to validate these potential biomarkers is necessary.

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The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of allicin, the main biologically active component of garlic clove extracts, on lead levels in different common carp tissues including liver, kidney, brain, bone, and blood following experimental lead poisoning. Fish were divided randomly into five groups depending on the combination of lead acetate and allicin treatments. Lead acetate exposure (7.0 mgL(-1), 10 days) caused a significant increase in mean Pb concentrations in all examined tissues in comparison to control unexposed fish (p < 0. 001). The results showed that allicin supplementation is effective in decreasing lead accumulation in all examined tissues of common carp. The promising ameliorative effects of allicin on tissue lead levels of common carp make it a good candidate for therapeutic intervention of lead poisoning. However, more studies are required to elucidate the pharmacokinetic effects of allicin and also molecular basis of the ameliorative properties of allicin in lead poisoning.

Background: This study was conducted to investigate whether vitamin C can protect against plasma biochemical changes induced by lead poisoning in Cyprinus carpio. Methods: Three groups of common carp (n=30/group) were used in this study. Group 1 served as control, Group 2 was exposed to lead acetate (5 mg/L) for 15 days, and Group 3 received vitamin C (500 mg/kg) during the same duration of lead exposure. Results: The blood lead concentrations in Groups 2 and 3 showed a significant rise as compared to that in the control group (p<0.05). Also, the plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration increased considerably following in groups exposed to lead acetate, compared to that in controls. Vitamin C supplementation decreased the rise in plasma MDA insignificantly, compared that in Group 2. The plasma values of creatinine and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) increased in Group 2 compared to that in controls. Also, vitamin C treatment significantly decreased plasma ALT and creatinine concentrations, compared to those in Group 2. Values of other plasma parameters including aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase, gammaglutamyl transferase, albumin, glucose, total protein, cholesterol, urea, uric acid and triglyceride showed no significant alterations among the treatment groups. Conclusion: The results suggest that vitamin C have some beneficial effects against lead toxicity in common carp. However, elucidation of the precise mechanism of the protective effects of vitamin C against lead toxicity warrants further investigations

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Investigation on the characteristic pattern of enzymes in various organisms may be of particular importance, as this type of information can help to understand certain physiological and biochemical processes in living organisms. Thiosulfate: cyanide sulfurtransferase (rhodanese) is a ubiquitous multifunctional enzyme, which its major function is generally believed to be in cyanide detoxification. The present study was conducted to determine the activity of this enzyme in some parasitic helminths including, cestodes (Moniezia benedeni, Helicometra giardi), trematodes (Fasciola hepatica, Fasciola gigantica, Dicrocoelium dendriticum) and nematodes (Haemonchus longistipes, Marshalagia marshalli). The data resultant from this study indicates that at least some rhodanese activity was present in all the seven investigated parasites, although its activity was much lower in comparison with previously reported values for some tissues of their vertebrate hosts. With respect to some degrees of cyanide insensitivity in parasitic helminths, it may be suggested that cyanide detoxification may not be a primary benefit of rhodanese in parasitic helminths and the true physiological and biochemical functions of the enzyme remains to be further defined in such organisms.