Two male and two female pet rabbits of about 1 year of age, naturally infested with Notoedres cuniculi were studied in the present investigation. Clinical examination revealed presence of crustaceous lesions on the head, ear pinnae, both the limbs and external genitalia. Microscopic examination of skin scrapings confirmed presence of Notoedres mange infestation. Biochemical parameters revealed altered values of total serum protein, albumin, globulin, and activities of aspartate amino transferase, alanine amino transferase and alkaline phosphatase respectively. The affected rabbits were treated with two injections of Ivermectin (400 μg/kg, subcutaneously, at interval of 15 days) along with supportive therapy. This treatment showed appreciable improvement in clinical signs and restoration in biochemical parameters.

The present study aims to design hepatic targeted curcumin (CUR) nanoparticles using Gantrez (GZ) as a polymer. Three carbohydrate-based hepatocyte asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGP-R) ligands were selected for the study, namely kappa carrageenan (KC), arabinogalactan (AG), and pullulan (P). AG and KC are galactose based while P is a glucose-based polymer. CUR-GZ nanoparticles were prepared by nanoprecipitation and anchored with the ligands by nonspecific adsorption onto preformed nanoparticles. The change in zeta potential values confirmed adsorption of the ligands. Docking simulation was evaluated as a tool to predict ligand ASGP-R interactions, using grid-based ligand docking with energies (Glide). Monomers and dimers were used as representative units of polymer for docking analysis. The binding of ASGP-R was validated using D-galactose as monomer. The interaction of the ligands with the receptor was evaluated based on Glide scores and E model values, both for monomers and dimers. The data of the docking study based on Glide scores and E model values suggested higher affinity of AG and P to the ASGP-R, compared to KC. At 1 h, following intravenous administration of the nanoparticles to rats, the in vivo hepatic accumulation in the order CUR-GZAG> CUR-GZKC > CUR-GZP correlated with the docking data based on Glide scores. However, at the end of 6 h, pullulan exhibited maximum hepatic accumulation and arabinogalactan minimum accumulation (p < 0.05). Nevertheless, as predicted by docking analysis, arabinogalactan and pullulan revealed maximum hepatic accumulation. Docking analysis using dimers as representative stereochemical units of polymers provides a good indication of ligand receptor affinity. Docking analysis provides a useful tool for the preliminary screening of ligands for hepatic targeting.

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Background: The thyroid function of the dog has been little studied in comparison with that of the human. This may have resulted, in part, from the apparent lack of reporting of thyroid-related disorders in the Indian canine population. There is, therefore, a need for a more detailed study of thyroid hormone levels (establish reference interval) in normal dogs using a specific and accurate technique like radioimmunoassay (RIA). Methods: Total 192 healthy dogs from the clinical setup of constituent colleges of MAFSU (viz. Mumbai, Nagpur, Parbhani, Shirwal, Udgir and Akola) were ethically enrolled to examine thyroid hormones levels (TT3, TT4 and FT4). Thyroid hormones were estimated using RIA. Result: The results of the present study recorded mean serum TT3, TT4 and FT4 values in healthy dogs as 1.29±0.04 nmol/l, 28.17±1.18 nmol/l and 13.03±0.68 pmol/l respectively. The reference interval (25th to 75th percentile) for TT3, TT4 and FT4 was found to be 0.88-1.51 nmol/l, 15.70-35.29 nmol/l and 7.80-14.75 pmol/l respectively. The median for TT3, TT4 and FT4 was found to be 1.13 nmol/l, 24.54 nmol/l and 10.00 pmol/l respectively. The baseline serum thyroid hormone concentration would be valuable for identifying thyroid dysfunction in dogs.

Radio Immune Assay (RIA) is an extremely sensitive in vitro assay technique to measure concentrations of antigen viz. hormones in biological fluids using antibodies. The present study reports the status of total triiodothyronine (TT3) and total thyroxine (TT4) in Trypanosoma evansi infection in a dog, year 2022. An adult, non-descript, male dog was referred to the Department of Veterinary Nuclear Medicine, Mumbai Veterinary College, (MAFSU), Parel, Mumbai (India) with a history of inappetence, weakness, and ataxia of the hind limbs. Inspection revealed cachexia, anemia, bedsores, and mild mucopurulent ocular and nasal discharge. Clinical examination revealed pyrexia, polypnoea and tachycardia. There was an enlargement of popliteal, pre-scapular, and submandibular lymph nodes. The blood smear examination revealed severe infection of extracellular T. evansi. Laboratory investigations showed an altered haemato-biochemical profile. RIA-enabled thyroid hormone profile revealed a reduced concentration of TT3 (0.57 nmol/l) and TT4 (22.52 nmol/l). The present study reports a reduction in the concentration of TT3 and TT4 in a dog suffering from trypanosomiasis. The drop in TT4 concentration was within the normal limit, this could be a cause for the non-appearance of usual clinical symptoms of hypothyroidism in the present case.