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PloS One 2018Since the late 1990s, high mortality and declining populations have been reported among sea birds including Herring gulls (Larus argentatus) from the Baltic Sea area in...
Since the late 1990s, high mortality and declining populations have been reported among sea birds including Herring gulls (Larus argentatus) from the Baltic Sea area in Northern Europe. Repeated BoNT type C/D botulism outbreaks have occurred, but it remains unclear whether this is the sole and primary cause of mortality. Thiamine deficiency has also been suggested as a causal or contributing factor. With this study, we aimed to investigate gross and microscopic pathology in Herring gulls from affected breeding sites in Sweden in search of contributing diseases. Herring gulls from Iceland served as controls. Necropsies and histopathology were performed on 75 birds, of which 12 showed signs of disease at the time of necropsy. Parasites of various classes and tissues were commonly observed independent of host age, e.g. oesophageal capillariosis and nematode infection in the proventriculus and gizzard with severe inflammation, air sac larid pentastomes and bursal trematodiasis in pre-fledglings. Gross and microscopic findings are described. Notably, amyloidosis was diagnosed in 93 and 33% of the adult birds from Sweden and Iceland, respectively (p<0.001), with more pronounced deposits in Swedish birds (p<0.001). Gastrointestinal deposits were observed in the walls of arteries or arterioles, and occasionally in villi near the mucosal surface. Amyloid was identified within the intestinal lumen in one severely affected gull suggesting the possibility of oral seeding and the existence of a primed state as previously described in some mammals and chickens. This could speculatively explain the high occurrence and previously reported rapid onset of amyloidosis upon inflammation or captivity in Herring gulls. Amyloid-induced malabsorbtion is also a possibility. The Herring gull SAA/AA protein sequence was shown to be highly conserved but differed at the N-terminus from other avian species.
Topics: Amino Acid Sequence; Amyloidosis; Animals; Avian Proteins; Bird Diseases; Bursa of Fabricius; Charadriiformes; Disease Outbreaks; Female; Gastrointestinal Tract; Male; Sequence Alignment; Sweden
PubMed: 29494674
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0193265 -
Archives of Razi Institute Aug 2023Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is a serious threat to the international poultry industry. Therefore, to determine the role of pet birds (Psittaciformes and Passeriformes)...
Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is a serious threat to the international poultry industry. Therefore, to determine the role of pet birds (Psittaciformes and Passeriformes) in its spread and epidemiology, the presence of this virus in these birds was investigated. In this study, fecal and cloaca swabs from 63 Psittaciformes and 37 Passeriformes, along with tissue samples of dead birds, including proventriculus, trachea, lungs, and intestine, were collected from breeding and sales markets as well as the birds referred to Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran. Isolation of the virus was performed by injecting the suspension of the samples into the allantoic fluid of fertilized eggs, and NDV was detected in the achieved allantoic fluids by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The NDV was detected in 13 allantoic samples. The partial F gene sequences of 10 positive samples were investigated, and their genetic relationship with each other as well as with other isolates in the gene bank was marked. Consequently, subgenotype VII.1.1 (VIId) was in the locus of all 10 viruses. By the amino acid cleavage site sequences of F protein, 10 isolates were determined as velogenic NDV. Moreover, all sequences were similar to each other and other Iranian isolates. Furthermore, the 112RRQKR/F117 pattern was the main amino acid (aa) sequence in the F-protein Cleavage site for VIId genotype isolates.
Topics: Animals; Newcastle disease virus; Iran; Newcastle Disease; Birds; Amino Acids
PubMed: 38226374
DOI: 10.32592/ARI.2023.78.4.1259 -
Journal of the Science of Food and... Mar 2015This review focuses on phytase functionality in the digestive tract of farmed non-ruminant animals and the factors influencing in vivo phytase enzyme activity. In pigs,... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study Review
This review focuses on phytase functionality in the digestive tract of farmed non-ruminant animals and the factors influencing in vivo phytase enzyme activity. In pigs, feed phytase is mainly active in the stomach and upper part of the small intestine, and added phytase activity is not recovered in the ileum. In poultry, feed phytase activities are mainly found in the upper part of the digestive tract, including the crop, proventriculus and gizzard. For fish with a stomach, phytase activities are mainly in the stomach. Many factors can influence the efficiency of feed phytase in the gastrointestinal tract, and they can be divided into three main groups: (i) phytase related; (ii) dietary related and (iii) animal related. Phytase-related factors include type of phytase (e.g. 3- or 6-phytase; bacterial or fungal phytase origin), the pH optimum and the resistance of phytase to endogenous protease. Dietary-related factors are mainly associated with dietary phytate content, feed ingredient composition and feed processing, and total P, Ca and Na content. Animal-related factors include species, gender and age of animals. To eliminate the antinutritional effects of phytate (IP6), it needs to be hydrolyzed as quickly as possible by phytase in the upper part of the digestive tract. A phytase that works over a wide range of pH values and is active in the stomach and upper intestine (along with several other characteristics and in addition to being refractory to endogenous enzymes) would be ideal.
Topics: 6-Phytase; Age Factors; Animal Feed; Animals; Animals, Domestic; Bacterial Proteins; Diet; Digestion; Enzyme Stability; Female; Food Additives; Fungal Proteins; Gastrointestinal Contents; Gastrointestinal Tract; Hydrolysis; Male; Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases; Phytic Acid; Sex Characteristics; Species Specificity
PubMed: 25382707
DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.6998 -
Poultry Science Oct 2019In a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design, the effects of dietary non-phytate phosphorus (NPP) levels, 0.17% (low) and 0.33% (moderate), diet moisture (dry and wet), and diet...
The effects of coarse and wet feeding on performance parameters, gastrointestinal tract and tibia traits, and digesta phytase activity in egg-type pullets, either fed a low or moderate phosphorus diet.
In a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design, the effects of dietary non-phytate phosphorus (NPP) levels, 0.17% (low) and 0.33% (moderate), diet moisture (dry and wet), and diet particle size (coarse and fine), were studied on egg production, characteristics of gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and tibia, digesta pH, and phytase activity in layer pullets (16 to 28 wk of age). The low NPP diet increased average daily water intake (ADWI) to ADFI ratio (4.2%) from 16 to 17 wk, but decreased this ratio (2.8%) from 23 to 27 wk. It decreased ADFI (1.5%) and egg mass production (3.8%) from 19 to 22 wk. It decreased egg weight (0.29 g) and ADWI (2.1%) from 23 to 27 wk. At 22 wk, the GIT relative empty organ weights were (g/kg BW) higher for proventriculus + gizzard (0.96), duodeneum (0.94), and jejunum + ileum (1.95) with the low vs. moderate NPP diet. The low NPP diet decreased digesta phytase activity in crop and proventriculus+gizzard at 28 wk. The wet diet increased ADFI, ADWI, and ADWI/ADFI ratio from 16 to 27 wk, egg mass production (3.0%) from 19 to 22 wk, and egg weight (0.45 g) from 23 to 27 wk. The wet diet also increased digesta phytase activity in proventriculus+gizzard. The coarse diet decreased ADFI from 19 to 22 wk (1.7%) and 23 to 27 wk (1.2%). The coarse diet caused reduced egg mass production (2.6%) from 23 to 27 wk. Egg shell breaking strength was increased on the coarse diet (0.9 Newton). The coarse diet increased ADWI/ADFI ratio from 16 to 27 wk, and increased relative gizzard weight by 1.95 and 0.81 g/kg BW at 22 and 28 wk, respectively. The coarse diet increased jejunal/ileal pH with 0.16 units at 28 wk. None of the tested parameters affected tibia characteristics. It was concluded that a low NPP diet did not clearly affect the studied parameters. The wet diet increased ADFI, ADWI, and egg production. The coarse diet increased ADWI, egg shell breaking strength, relative gizzard weight, and reduced ADFI and egg production.
Topics: 6-Phytase; Animal Feed; Animals; Chickens; Diet; Feces; Female; Gastrointestinal Tract; Phosphorus; Phosphorus, Dietary; Tibia
PubMed: 31329980
DOI: 10.3382/ps/pez187 -
Journal of the American Veterinary... Dec 2021An 8-year-old sexually intact female eclectus parrot (Eclectus roratus) with a 4-day history of hyporexia and lethargy and a 1-day history of tenesmus was examined.
CASE DESCRIPTION
An 8-year-old sexually intact female eclectus parrot (Eclectus roratus) with a 4-day history of hyporexia and lethargy and a 1-day history of tenesmus was examined.
CLINICAL FINDINGS
Severe leukocytosis characterized by severe heterophilia and moderate monocytosis was present. Marked dilation of the proventriculus and ventriculus and ascites were identified by means of radiography, coelomic ultrasonography, and contrast-enhanced CT, with no clinically relevant motility noted on ultrasonography. Results of coelomic fluid analysis were consistent with pyogranulomatous effusion. Endoscopy of the upper gastrointestinal tract following proventricular and ventricular lavage showed a thick caseous plaque occupying 30% of the caudal proventricular mucosa. Abundant yeast organisms were evident during cytologic examination of a proventricular and ventricular wash sample, and fecal culture yielded Candida glabrata.
TREATMENT AND OUTCOME
The bird was treated with SC fluids, assisted feedings, nystatin, fluconazole, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, enrofloxacin, gastroprotectants, maropitant, and analgesics and slowly improved during hospitalization. A marked decrease in proventricular dilation was evident on serial radiographs obtained over a 12-month period. One year after diagnosis, the bird was presented with a 1-week history of hyporexia and lethargy, and fecal culture grew C glabrata. Antifungal treatment was resumed for 3 months. The bird had no clinical signs of infection 16 months after this recurrence, and subsequent fecal cultures were negative for fungal growth.
CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Findings illustrate the importance of upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in diagnosing proventricular and ventricular dilation in birds and emphasize the need for long-term antifungal treatment and monitoring in birds with fungal infections.
Topics: Animals; Bird Diseases; Candida glabrata; Female; Parrots; Stomach Diseases
PubMed: 34968183
DOI: 10.2460/javma.20.12.0670 -
Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal... Jun 2016Astaxanthin (ASX) is a xanthophyll pigment isolated from crustaceans and salmonids. Owing to its powerful antioxidant activity, ASX has been reported to have the...
Astaxanthin (ASX) is a xanthophyll pigment isolated from crustaceans and salmonids. Owing to its powerful antioxidant activity, ASX has been reported to have the potential to protect against gastric ulcers and a variety of other illnesses. Histamine (His) is a dietary factor that causes gastric erosion and ulceration in young chicks. In this study, we examined whether ASX had protective effects on dietary histamine-induced lesions in the gizzard and proventriculus of broiler chickens. Four experimental treatment groups were planned: basal diet (BD), BD+His, BD+ASX, and BD+ASX+His, with four chicks (5 days old) in each group and three replications (i.e., a total of 12 chicks per group). The BD was supplemented with either 0.4% His or 100 ppm ASX. The birds were fed ad libitum for 3 weeks, and diets contained no antimicrobial compounds. Supplementing the diet with His significantly decreased body weight gain, but increased the weights of the gizzard and proventriculus of the chicks as compared with those of chicks in the BD group (p<0.05). ASX did not affect His-dependent changes in chick body weight or weights of the gizzard and proventriculus. The loss of gastric glands in the proventriculus, which was observed in His-treated chicks, was not prevented by ASX administration. The frequency of proventricular ulceration, however, was lowered by treatment with ASX, without significant differences between the two supplementation levels. In conclusion, our data showed that ASX might be helpful for alleviating structural damage to the digestive system in poultry under certain stressful conditions.
PubMed: 26954210
DOI: 10.5713/ajas.15.1020 -
The Journal of Poultry Science Oct 2021Glycation is a non-enzymatic reaction, and amino acids are glycated by glucose in vivo. Tryptophan is glycated with glucose to form two types of glycated compounds,...
Glycation is a non-enzymatic reaction, and amino acids are glycated by glucose in vivo. Tryptophan is glycated with glucose to form two types of glycated compounds, tryptophan-Amadori product and (1R, 3S)-1-(D-gluco-1, 2, 3, 4, 5-pentahydroxypentyl)-1, 2, 3, 4-tetrahydro--carboline-3-carboxylic acid (PHP-THC). Although PHP-THC can be incorporated into various chicken embryonic cells, the mechanism of its incorporation into intracellular fluids has not been clarified. In this study, we examined whether PHP-THC once incorporated into various chicken embryonic cells can combine with proteins. Embryonic cells from the breast muscle, liver, spleen, kidney, proventriculus, gizzard, and skin were prepared and H-PHP-THC was added to the culture medium at final concentrations of 0, 200, 400, 600, and 800 M to examine the incorporation of PHP-THC. After 18 h of incubation, radioactivity was measured in the whole-cell and protein fractions of the chicken embryonic cells. As PHP-THC concentration increased from 0 to 600 M, its accumulation in the whole-cell fractions of all types of chicken embryonic cells linearly increased and reached the maximum level. The saturated PHP-THC accumulation in the whole-cell fractions suggests that PHP-THC could be incorporated into intracellular fluids across cellular membranes by some transporter proteins. As PHP-THC concentration increased from 0 to 800 M, its accumulation in the protein fractions of all types of chicken embryonic cells increased in a linear manner and reached a maximum level in the 800 M PHPTHC treatment group. This is the first study to indicate that a part of PHP-THC incorporated into the whole-cell fraction was detected in the protein fraction of various chicken embryonic cells.
PubMed: 34899021
DOI: 10.2141/jpsa.0200076 -
Poultry Science Apr 2019The objective of this study was to evaluate the development and growth of the digestive system organs, from the 11th day of incubation until the 14 d post-hatch in...
The objective of this study was to evaluate the development and growth of the digestive system organs, from the 11th day of incubation until the 14 d post-hatch in European and Japanese quail. On days 11, 13 and 15 of incubation at hatch and at 4, 7, 10 and 14 d post-hatch, embryos or chicks of European and Japanese quail were analyzed. After 15 d of incubation, samples from stomach and small intestine were analyzed by microscopy. European quail had significantly heavier body weight at 15 d of incubation and after 4 d post-hatch. The digestive system weight progressively increased with age and was similar between European and Japanese quail at 11, 13, and 15 d of incubation and 10 d post-hatch, while relative weight of digestive system was similar between quail type with great values at 4 d post-hatch. For relative weight of the small intestine + pancreas, the weight of the proventriculus and of the gastric ventricle increased significant by among ages analyzed in both types of quail. At hatch, proventriculus had functional secretory cells and mucosa of gastric ventricle had a thin coilin membrane. In small intestine segments, at 15 d of incubation the height of the villi was similar among duodenum, jejunum, and ileum (80 μm). Villi had elongated shape towards the intestinal lumen, covered by enterocytes and dispersed goblet cells with PAS+ and AB+ contend in all segments. The number of goblet cell/villi increased in segments until 7 to 10 d post-hatch. Duodenum increases the villi up to 14 d, while the jejunum and ileum up to 10 and 4 d, respectively. Based on our data in digestive system growth, a shorter period of post-hatch fast and specific diets to quail during first days of growth is recommended to both quail types. It is concluded that the development and growth of different organs of the digestive system up to 14 d of age was similar between European and Japanese quail.
Topics: Animals; Coturnix; Intestine, Small; Organ Size; Stomach
PubMed: 30358872
DOI: 10.3382/ps/pey492 -
Poultry Science Aug 2015Taste perception is a crucial biological mechanism affecting food and water choices and consumption in the animal kingdom. Bitter taste perception is mediated by a...
Taste perception is a crucial biological mechanism affecting food and water choices and consumption in the animal kingdom. Bitter taste perception is mediated by a G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family-the taste 2 receptors (T2R)-and their downstream proteins, whereas sweet and umami tastes are mediated by the GPCR family -taste 1 receptors (T1R) and their downstream proteins. Taste receptors and their downstream proteins have been identified in extra-gustatory tissues in mammals, such as the lungs and gastrointestinal tract (GIT), and their GIT activation has been linked with different metabolic and endocrinic pathways in the GIT. The chicken genome contains three bitter taste receptors termed ggTas2r1, ggTas2r2, and ggTas2r7, and the sweet/umami receptors ggTas1r1 and ggTas1r3, but it lacks the sweet receptor ggTas1r2. The aim of this study was to identify and determine the expression of genes related to taste perception in the chicken GIT, both at the embryonic stage and in growing chickens. The results of this study demonstrate for the first time, using real-time PCR, expression of the chicken taste receptor genes ggTas2r1, ggTas2r2, ggTas2r7, ggTas1r1, and ggTas1r3 and of their downstream protein-encoding genes TRPM5, α-gustducin, and PLCβ2 in both gustatory tissues-the palate and tongue, and extra-gustatory tissues-the proventriculus, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, cecum, and colon of embryonic day 19 (E19) and growing (21 d old) chickens. Expression of these genes suggests the involvement of taste pathways for sensing carbohydrates, amino acids and bitter compounds in the chicken GIT.
Topics: Animals; Chick Embryo; Chickens; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; RNA, Messenger; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; Receptors, Cell Surface; Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Signal Transduction
PubMed: 26049797
DOI: 10.3382/ps/pev152 -
Poultry Science Aug 2020It is generally accepted that domestic ducks are valuable protein sources for humans. The gastrointestinal ecosystem contains enormous and complicated microbes that have...
It is generally accepted that domestic ducks are valuable protein sources for humans. The gastrointestinal ecosystem contains enormous and complicated microbes that have a profound effect on the nutrition, immunity, health, and production of domestic ducks. To deeply understand the gastrointestinal microbial composition of domestic ducks, we investigated the microbiomes of 7 different gastrointestinal locations (proventriculus, gizzard, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, cecum, and rectum) and the short-chain fatty acids in 15 healthy muscovy ducks based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing, qPCR, and gas chromatography. As a result, 1 029 735 sequences were identified into 35 phyla and 359 genera. Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Cyanobacteria, and Actinobacteria were the major phyla, with Bacteroidetes being most abundant in the cecum. The population of the total bacteria and the representatives of the Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Bacteroides groups increased from the proximal to the distal part of the GIT. Bacteroides was the most dominant group in the cecum. Acetate, propionate, and butytrate, as well as gene copies of butyryl-CoA including acetate-CoA transferase and butyrate kinase, were significantly higher in cecum than in other sections. Isobutyrate, valerate, and isovalerate were only found in the cecum. The differences of microbial composition and the short-chain fatty acids of their metabolites among these 7 intestinal locations might be correlated with differences in gut function. All these results provide a reference for the duck gastrointestinal microbiome and a foundation for understanding the types of bacteria that promote health and enhance growth performance and decrease instances of disease in duck breeding.
Topics: Animals; Bacteria; Ducks; Fatty Acids, Volatile; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Gastrointestinal Tract; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
PubMed: 32731989
DOI: 10.1016/j.psj.2020.03.040