Hormonally active agents are released into the environment from industrial and manufacturing activity. Evidence in the literature indicates that impaired reproductive capacity in wildlife and laboratory species is associated with chemical exposures. In particular, bisphenol A (BPA) and di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) have generated public interest due to their presence in several consumer products. In this study, we determined that expression of steroid hormone receptors (estrogen and androgen receptors), Wnt4, and b-catenin was greater (p 0.05) in the rat epididymis at 35 days of age compared to 21 and 90 days. Second, timed-pregnant Long- Evans dams were exposed to the chemicals BPA and DEHP by gavage from gestational days 12–21. The caput epididymis was collected from cohorts of male offspring at 35 and 90 days of age and processed for Western blot analysis. Results showed that prenatal BPA and DEHP exposures affected (p 0.05) expression of estrogen and androgen receptor, Wnt4, b-catenin, MAPK, and HOXD4 protein in the epididymis. Data have implications for morphological development of the epididymis, a possibility that would be explored in future studies.

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This study was undertaken to evaluate the microbiological quality of ready-to-eat (RTE) liver sandwiches known as “Kibda” from vending shops and different restaurants in Assiut city, Egypt. Microbiological analysis of 100 samples of examined RTE liver sandwiches resulted in total bacterial counts from 1 × 10 to 2 × 10 cfu/g with average 1 × 10 cfu/2 7 6 g and Enterobacteriaceae counts ranged from 1 × 102 to 2 × 105 cfu/g with average 1 × 104 cfu/g, while, total fungal counts from 1 × 102 to 5 ×106 cfu/g with an average 4 ×105 cfu/g. Coagulase positive Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Shigella and Salmonella Typhimurium were detected in 40, 20, 23 and 7% of examined samples, respectively. S. aureus was the most common pathogen detected in examined samples (mean counts 6 × 102 cfu/g), while, mean values of B. cereus were 8 × 102 cfu/g. Three isolates of S. aureus were positive for enterotoxin production. Also, 39 isolates related to family Enterobacteriacae could be isolated. The obtained results indicate that consumption of RTE liver sandwiches may cause a public health hazard to the consumer. Measures to control the quality of the raw material, environmental and hygienic conditions during preparation and serving should be taken.

AIM: This study was conducted to evaluate the presence of Aeromonas spp. in raw and ready-to-eat (RTE) fish commonly consumed in Assiut city, Egypt, and to determine virulence factors due to they play a key role in their pathogenicity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 125 samples of raw and RTE fish samples were taken from different fish markets and fish restaurants in Assiut Governorate and screened for the presence of Aeromonas spp. by enrichment on tryptic soy broth then incubated at 30°C for 24 h. Plating unto the sterile Petri dishes containing Aeromonas agar base to which Aeromonas selective supplement was added. The plates were incubated at 37°C for 24 h. Presumptive Aeromonas colonies were biochemically confirmed and analyzed for pathogenicity by hemolysin production, protease, and lipase detection. RESULTS: The results indicated that raw fish were contaminated with Aeromonas spp. (40% in wild and 36% in cultured Nile tilapia). Regarding RTE, Aeromonas spp. could be isolated with the percentage of 16%, 28% and 20% in fried Bolti, grilled Bolti and fried Bayad, respectively. Out of 35 isolates obtained, 22 were categorized as Aeromonas hydrophila, 12 were classified as Aeromonas sobria and Aeromonas caviae were found in only one isolate. The virulence factors of Aeromonas spp. were detected and the results showed that all isolates produced of hemolysin (91.4%), protease (77.1%), and lipase enzyme (17.1%). CONCLUSION: This study indicates that the presence of A. hydrophila with virulence potential in fresh and RTE fish may be a major threat to public health.

This study was conducted in Assiut, Egypt, to investigate the prevalence rate of Listeria spp., Staph. aureus, Salmonella spp. and Campylobacter spp. in ready to eat (RTE) chicken meat and products. A total of 135 RTE chicken samples comprised of 50 chicken frankfurters, 35 chicken shawerma, 25 chicken breast and 25 chicken thigh which were collected randomly from different restaurants. The achieved results declared that Staph. aureus was the most predominant one; isolated from 22 (16.3%) from examined samples followed by L. monocytogenes was detected in 9 (6.7%) in cooked chicken samples. Salmonella was isolated from 6 (4.4%). The most prominent Salmonella serovars were S. Enteritides while, Campylobacter spp. was isolated from 3 (2.2%) of the samples. C. jejuni was the only strain isolated. Conclusion: RTE cooked chicken meat and products can be contaminated with a wide variety of pathogenic food poisoning microorganisms as Staph. aureus, L. monocytogenes, S. Enteritidis, S.Typhimurium and C. jejuni during processing, so it could be considered as an important public health risk. These results signify the importance of sustained surveillance of foodborne pathogens in cooked chicken meat to minimize the risk of contamination and protecting consumers against outbreaks of food poisoning.

Abstract: 50 packed frozen beef meatballs which commercially marketed in Assiut City were collected for the occurrence of Aeromonas spp., Yersinia spp., Listeria spp. and Salmonella spp. Other bacteriological aspects; aerobic plate count (APC), total Staph. aureus, pshycrotrophic bacteria and anaerobic bacteria were also counted. In addition, adulteration of donkey meat in this product was determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The achieved results revealed that the mean APC, total Staph. aureus, psychrotrophic count and anaerobic bacterial count of frozen beef meatballs were 5x106, 9x102, 1x106 and 6x102 CFU/g, respectively. 32%, 48%, 54 and 4% of samples were positive for the presence of Aeromonas spp., Yersinia spp., Listeria spp. and Salmonella spp., respectively. Assay of PCR revealed that the adulteration rate was 20% (2/10) for donkey meat in frozen meatballs. In conclusion, most of the examined frozen meatball samples revealed high levels of microbial contamination. Therefore, this product represent public health hazards considering the incidence of food poisoning microorganisms such as A. hydrophila, Y. enterocolitica, L. monocytogenes, S. Typhimurium and S. Enteritidis. Moreover, it was concluded that there was adulteration of meatballs, in which inferior quality and illegal donkey meat is mixed into beef. It was recommended that the generally acceptable microbial guideline value for pshycrotrophic bacteria of frozen meatballs (kofta) set at 106 cfu/g be adapted locally until more precise microbial criteria for Egyptian frozen meatballs are be established. Also, it was recommended that applying PCR for fast, easy, and reliable control of adulteration and fraud in meat products in Egypt. Keywords: Bacteriological status, frozen meatball, adulteration, donkey meat, PCR

Background and Objective: The addition of different dietary sources of fat and/or oil have become an inherent practice in poultry production to improve fatty acid content of poultry meat, therefore evaluation of the effects of different dietary fat sources with two antioxidants on growth performance and carcass traits of Japanese quails was the major concern in this study. Methodology: A total of 189 one day old unsexed Japanese quail chicks were randomly distributed into 7 treatment groups each with 3 replicates of 9 chicks/replicate (n = 27). The dietary treatments consisted of the basal or control diet without supplementation and the basal diet supplemented with 3% of fish oil, sunflower oil and animal fat accompanied with either vitamin E and selenium mixture (5 g kg–1 diet) in T1, T2 and T3 or with L-carnitine (50 mg kg–1 diet) in T4, T5 and T6, respectively. Growth performance was evaluated weekly in terms of body weight, body weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio for 42 day of age. At the end of the experiment, 4 birds from each group were randomly selected and sacrificed for determination of carcass traits, the relative weight of internal organs and meat and chemical composition. Results: Supplementation of fish oil followed by sunflower oil to quails diet significantly (p0.05) improved the final body weight, cumulative weight gain, dressed carcass weights and dressing percentages. Conclusion: Fish oil supplementation regardless of antioxidants type was superior and more effective than sunflower oil and animal fat in improving growth performance, final body weight gain, feed conversion, carcass yield and meat chemical composition in growing Japanese quails.

Background and Objective: The addition of different dietary sources of fat and/or oil have become an inherent practice in poultry production to improve fatty acid content of poultry meat, therefore evaluation of the effects of different dietary fat sources with two antioxidants on growth performance and carcass traits of Japanese quails was the major concern in this study. Methodology: A total of 189 one day old unsexed Japanese quail chicks were randomly distributed into 7 treatment groups each with 3 replicates of 9 chicks/replicate (n = 27). The dietary treatments consisted of the basal or control diet without supplementation and the basal diet supplemented with 3% of fish oil, sunflower oil and animal fat accompanied with either vitamin E and selenium mixture (5 g kg–1 diet) in T1, T2 and T3 or with L-carnitine (50 mg kg–1 diet) in T4, T5 and T6, respectively. Growth performance was evaluated weekly in terms of body weight, body weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio for 42 day of age. At the end of the experiment, 4 birds from each group were randomly selected and sacrificed for determination of carcass traits, the relative weight of internal organs and meat and chemical composition. Results: Supplementation of fish oil followed by sunflower oil to quails diet significantly (p0.05) improved the final body weight, cumulative weight gain, dressed carcass weights and dressing percentages. Conclusion: Fish oil supplementation regardless of antioxidants type was superior and more effective than sunflower oil and animal fat in improving growth performance, final body weight gain, feed conversion, carcass yield and meat chemical composition in growing Japanese quails.

This study investigated the effects of dietary prebiotics, probiotic, synbiotic and organic acid salt supplementation on broiler growth performance, intestinal microflora, and histomorphology. A total of 300 one-day-old broiler chicks were randomly assigned to 5 different treatments with 3 replicates including 20 birds each. The birds received the same basal diet based on the corn-soybean meal, and additives included in the diet at 0 control, prebiotic (1 g/kg), probiotic (1 g/ kg), synbiotic (1 g/ kg), and acidifier (5 g/ kg). The body weight, weight gain, feed conversion, intestinal morphology and microbiology of birds showed significant (p0.01) improvement with dietary pre, pro, synbiotic and organic acid salt supplementation from 0 to 21d, 22-42 d and from 0-41 d in comparison with the control group. Synbiotic followed by probiotic supplemented groups revealed the highest final body weight, weight gain, better feed conversion and the highest antibody response to Newcastle disease vaccine (NDV) vaccine in comparison with prebiotic and organic acids. Moreover, synbiotic followed by probiotic supplementation significantly improved intestinal morphology and intestinal microbial ecology than prebiotic, organic acids and control groups. In conclusion, we suggest the use of synbiotic followed by probiotic is preferable as efficient growth and health promoters for broilers in comparison with prebiotic and organic acids. Keywords: Prebiotic, Probiotic, Synbiotic, Organic acids, Broilers