No abstract

Diclofenac sodium is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug commonly used worldwide for the treatment of inflammation and pain due to arthritis or other ailments in man and animals. Despite these benefits, there are concerns that this drug may have adverse effect on animal's liver and kidneys. This work was designed to determine the effect of diclofenac sodium on blood components using haematological tests, as well as determine the hepatotoxic and nephrotoxic effects using biochemical assays. Twenty rats were randomly divided into four groups with 5 rats per group. The groups 2, 3, and 4 were assigned rats, intramuscularly administered diclofenac sodium at the doses of 49.05, 98.10 and 147.15 mg/kg body weight respectively, once a day for seven days while group 1 rats were given distilled water only, and served as control. The blood collected was tested by haemoanalyzer while the serum was assayed by biochemistry analyzer. The various doses of diclofenac sodium produced significant (p<0.05) decrease in the values of haemoglobin concentration, packed cell volume, red blood cells and white blood cells while there was significant (p<0.05) increase in the levels of serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, total bilirubin, urea, creatinine, total cholesterol, triglycerides and electrolytes. However, there was significant (p<0.05) decrease in the levels of serum total protein, albumin, glucose and HDLcholesterol. The results therefore showed that diclofenac sodium may have deleterious effect on animal tissues, resulting in hepatic and renal impairments at the given doses and treatment duration. So caution needs to be exercised in its administration, which should be limited to the lowest therapeutic doses, to prevent its harmful effect.

A thirteen week feeding trial was conducted to determine the effects of feeding varying levels of dietary protein on productive performance, egg quality traits, erythrocyte osmotic fragility and haematological parameters using 195 six weeks old laying quails. The birds were randomly allocated to five dietary treatment groups of thirty nine (39) birds each, and were further replicated three times with thirteen (13) birds per replicate. They were fed five experimental diets containing 17, 18, 19, 20 or 21%CP. Feed and water were provided ad libitum through out the experimental period. The results obtained showed significant (p<0.01) enhancement on percent hen-day egg production (HDEP), hen-housed egg production (HHEP), average daily feed intake, average daily protein intake and feed conversion ratio as the dietary protein level increased. Egg traits like egg size, yolk weight, yolk diameter, yolk index, albumen height, egg shell weight and shell thickness improved significantly (p<0.01) at higher protein levels (20 and 21%CP). However, egg width, yolk width, albumen weight and egg shape index were not significantly (p>0.05) affected by dietary protein levels. The cost of producing 1g of egg in the treatment groups were N0.32, N0.31, N0.29, N0.27 and N0.27 for 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21% dietary protein levels respectively. The haematological results indicated that the lowest haemolysis of 37.37 ± 6.81 % was recorded at 0.85 % NaCl concentration in quail placed on 21 % CP and this increases as the crude protein level decreases while the haematological parameters showed that the highest values was obtained for packed cell volume, haemaoglobin concentration, total erythrocyte count and total protein in the quail placed on 21 % CP while the lowest value (p < 0.05) was recorded in the group of quail placed on 17 % CP. It was thus, concluded from the results of this study that 21% CP is required in the diets of laying Japanese quails under a hot-humid tropical environment and also it was demonstrated for the first time, that high CP level up to 21 % maintain the erythrocyte membrane integrity thereby preventing oxidative stress and haemolysis and thus improves haematological parameters in quail tremendously and the study also shows direct correlation between protein intake and serum protein level.

The experiments were performed in order to determine the effect of 8-h road transportation of pigs on erythrocytes osmotic fragility during the hot-dry season, and the ameliorative role of ascorbic acid. Twenty-three adult pigs comprising of both sexes served as subjects for the study. Thirteen pigs administered ascorbic acid (AA) per os 30 min before transportation, at a dose rate of 100 mg/kg served as experimental animals, while ten pigs administered with distilled water per os served as control, and were transported for 8 h during the hot-dry season. EDTA blood samples collected a day before (pre-transportation), immediately after 8-h transportation and 7 days post-transportation were used to determine erythrocyte osmotic fragility. The ambient temperature (AT) and relative humidity (RH) measured within the vehicle ranged between 30.5-39.0 °C and 40.0-71.0% respectively. These values were outside the thermoneutral zone for the pig, indicating that the season was thermally stressful. Results obtained showed a significant difference (p<0.05) in percent haemolysis recorded at NaCl concentrations of 0.4% and 0.6% immediately after transportation in experimental pigs and at 0.5, 0.6, 0.8 and 0.9% NaCl concentrations in experimental pigs 7 days post-transportation. In conclusion, result from the present study indicated that 8-h road transportation during the hot-dry season could induce stress resulting in haemolysis of erythrocytes and AA administration ameliorated the stress.

Experiment was conducted with the aim of investigating eight hours road transportation and ascorbic acid (AA) administration effects on haematology and serum biochemical parameters of pigs during the harmattan season. Seventeen pigs administered with AA at a dose of 250 mg/kg per os and individually served as experimental animals, and 12 others each administered orally with sterile water served as control animals. The animals were then transported for 8-h at a speed of 40-50 km/h covering a distance of 260 km. Blood samples were taken early in the morning a day before transportation, immediately after and a week after transportation. The leucocyte count dropped in the experimental pigs from 18,686.24 ± 832.51 × 10 3 /µl before the journey to 16,790.00 ± 782.50 × 10 3 /µl immediately after the journey (P > 0.05), while the recorded values in the control pigs before (17,058.33 ± 698.25 × 10 3 /µl) transportation was significantly (P < 0.05) lower than the value of 19,420.67 ± 1034.00 × 10 3 /µl obtained after the journey. The neutrophils: lymphocyte ratio obtained in the control animals increased from 0.36 ± 0.04 before transportation to 0.38 ± 0.04 immediately after transportation. Aspartate amino transferase and urea values were significantly different (P < 0.05) in the experimental and control pigs immediately after the journey. This study indicates for the first time the beneficial effect of AA administration on haematology of pigs transported by road during the harmattan season for long journey of 8-h. It is, therefore, recommended that pigs be administered with AA before transportation by road during the harmattan season in order to reduce the risk of adverse effects of transportation stress on health.