Background: Toxoplasmosis is a widespread disease in humans and many other species of warm-blooded animals. Among livestock animals, sheep and goat are more widely infected by Toxoplasma gondii. This parasite is a major cause of abortion, with significant economic losses for sheep and goat breeders. Objectives: The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method was employed to detect of the T. gondii DNA in the milk of sheep and goats based on its B1 gene. Materials and methods:A total of 625 milk samples were collected from 345 sheep and 280 goats from randomly selected flocks of NorthWest of Iran. Results: Of 625 examined milk samples, 19 animals (3.04%) yielded a specific T. gondii B1 fragment (529 bp), of which T. gondii was detected in 16 (4.63%) sheep and 3 (1.07%) goat milk samples. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the PCR products of T. gondii with AluI restriction enzyme produced only one distinct pattern among all positive samples, which indicates that one RFLP profile of T. gondii exists in the study area. Conclusions: Presence of T. gondii DNA in the milk of sheep and goats raises the possibility that this parasite is transmitted through consumption of raw milk. Since sheep and goats are important milk sources in Iran, there is a high risk of contamination through milk from these hosts due to their susceptibility to infection. Further studies are required on milk producing animals to implement effective control strategies against toxoplasmosis.

Cancer is one of the major deadly diseases globally. The alarming rise in the mortality rate due to this disease attracks attention towards discovering potent anticancer agents to overcome its mortality rate. The discovery of novel and effective anticancer agents from natural sources has been the main point of interest in pharmaceutical research because of attractive natural therapeutic agents with an immense chemical diversity in species of animals, plants, and microorganisms. More than 60% of contemporary anticancer drugs, in one form or another, have originated from natural sources. Plants and microbial species are chosen based on their composition, ecology, phytochemical, and ethnopharmacological properties. Plants and their derivatives have played a significant role in producing effective anticancer agents. Some plant derivatives include vincristine, vinblastine, irinotecan, topotecan, etoposide, podophyllotoxin, and paclitaxel. Based on their particular activity, a number of other plant-derived bioactive compounds are in the clinical development phase against cancer, such as gimatecan, elomotecan, etc. Additionally, the conjugation of natural compounds with anti-cancerous drugs, or some polymeric carriers particularly targeted to epitopes on the site of interest to tumors, can generate effective targeted treatment therapies. Cognizance from such pharmaceutical research studies would yield alternative drug development strategies through natural sources which could be economical, more reliable, and safe to use.

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Background: This study investigates the effects of cryopreservation and supplementation of Azeri water buffalo's semen with proline (Lp) and fulvic acid (FA).Objectives: Therefore, this study aimed to assess motility parameters, sperm viability, oxidative stress parameters, and DNA damage to detect the optimum concentrations of Lp and FA for buffalo semen cryopreservation.Methods: Thirty semen samples of three buffalo bulls were diluted in Tris-egg yolk extender and divided into 12 equal groups including control (

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different concentrations of lycopene and cysteamine on characteristics of sperm, liquid peroxidation and enzymatic activities in seminal plasma of canine semen preserved at 5°C for 72 hr. The semen samples were divided into eight aliquots: control, control sham (dimethyl sulfoxide 5%), lycopene groups (250, 500 and 750 µg/ml) and cysteamine groups (2.5, 5 and 10 mM). Motility, viability, membrane integrity, DNA integrity, total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were evaluated. Progressive motility and total motility were higher with the 500 and 750 µg/ml lycopene concentrations, respectively, compared to the control group and the cysteamine groups following 72 hr of storage in the liquid storage. Motility characteristics, viability and hypo‐osmotic swelling test (HOST) percentages were significantly improved in 500 µg/ml lycopene compared to other groups. The 500 and 750 µg/ml lycopene concentrations, respectively, showed significantly reduced percentages of spermatozoa with DNA integrity compared to the control group. The 500 and 750 µg/ml lycopene concentrations, respectively, led to the significant decrease of MDA levels. The 500 µg/ml lycopene enhanced TAC levels after 48 and 72 hr that was not observed in other groups. In conclusion, the findings of this study showed that lycopene supplementation in canine semen extenders improved canine semen parameters and TAC levels and decreased MDA levels in the chilling process.