To identify the effect of a sudden change in feeding of three forages with different contents of crude protein and fiber fractions on behavioral pattern of sheep, alfalfa hay, oats hay and perennial ryegrass hay were given to 6 animals with different sequences of feeding orders. The proximate chemical composition showed that oats hay and perennial ryegrass hay contained about the same level of crude protein and alfalfa hay more than 3 times of them. The dry-matter intake was the highest on the feeding of alfalfa hay and the lowest on that of perennial ryegrass hay with oats hay in the middle. The feeding of the previous hay affected the level of intake of the different kinds of hay followed. The change in the hay of greater difference in its quality appeared to have some psychological effects on sheep. (author abst.)

It has been demonstrated that chicken TRPV1 (transient receptor potential vanilloid of subtype-1) is insensitive to capsaicin (CAP), and therefore, a chicken model is suitable to analyze the CAP-sensitive TRPV1-independent pathway. We elucidated here the possible involvement of the pathway in hypothermia induced by bacterial endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) in chickens. Chicks were pretreated with CAP (10 mg/kg, iv) at 1, 2 and 3 days of age to desensitize them towards the CAP-sensitive pathway. An intravenous injection of LPS in 4-day-old chicks caused progressive hypothermia, ending with collapse and 78% mortality within 12 h after injection. The CAP pretreatment rescued the LPS-induced endotoxin shock and hypothermia in chicks. LPS-induced iNOS expression as well as NO production in liver and lung was suppressed by CAP pretreatment. CAP pretreatment also attenuated hypothermia due to exposure of chicks to cold ambient temperature. These findings suggest that a CAP-sensitive TRPV1-independent pathway may be involved in pathophysiological hypothermic reactions through the mediation of NO in chickens

It has been demonstrated that capsaicin blocks lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced fever in mammals. In this study, we investigated TRPV1 (transient receptor potential ion channel of vanilloid subtype-1)-independent action of capsaicin on LPS-induced fever in chickens. The chicken is a valuable model for this purpose because chicken TRPV1 has been shown to be insensitive to capsaicin and thus the effects of capsaicin can be attributed to TRPV1-independent mechanisms. Administration of capsaicin (10 mg/kg, iv) to conscious unrestrained chicks at 5 days of age caused a transient decrease in body temperature. This effect of capsaicin was not observed in chicks that had been pretreated twice with capsaicin, indicating that the capsaicin-sensitive pathway can be desensitized. LPS (2 mg/kg, ip) induced fever that lasted for about 2.5 h, but fever was not induced in chicks that had been pretreated with capsaicin for 2 days. The preventive effect of capsaicin on LPS-induced fever was not blocked by capsazepine, an antagonist for TRPV1, but the antagonist per se blocked the febrile response to LPS. These findings suggest that a capsaicin-sensitive TRPV1-independent mechanism may be involved in LPS-induced fever.

The mathematical analysis for plasma disappearance curve of aflatoxicosed animals, subsequently injected with 45Ca was determined. The analysis showed that the three main compartments of the calcium pool (plasma, bone and the labile calcium pool on the surface of bone and soft tissues) had been affected. Specifically, the fractional rate constant for migration of 45Ca from plasma pool to the labile pool had been diminished to its third value. This led to a corresponding reduction in the calcium content of the bone ash. The probable mechanism by which aflatoxin B1 affects calcium dynamics may be interpreted by the inhibitory effect of aflatoxin in the hydroxylation mechanism of vitamin D3 into an active intermediate. During aflatoxicosis (induction of 15 days) the animals entered a state of calcium deficiency, secondary to intestinal absorption inhibition. This was followed by bone resorption and disturbance of the fractional removal rate constant among different calcium compartments.

A single dose of zearalenone (10 g/g LBW) was injected intraperitoneally to Wistar Albino rats at the age of 50–100 days. The uterine acetyl cholinesterase enzyme was significantly increased in the treated animals compared to that in the controls. Therefore, zearalenone would be considered as an esterogenic effector for increasing the uterine acetyl cholinesterase which enhances uterine relaxation and subsequently improves its function for pregnancy in prematured-animals. Unlike estradiol, it was interesting to find that the estrogenicity of zearalenone was increased by the moderating progesterone hormone. Moreover, it was revealed in this study that the injected dose of zearalenone had no deleterious effects on the pregnant rats at 10–12 days period of gestation. The harmful effects of zearalenone on pregnant animals cited in the literature (11, 13, 19) were reviewed.