Abstract:Formaldehyde is an anxious gas used as a tissue preservative of cadavers in anatomy halls. Therefore, laboratory staff and students are at high risk of different clinical complications due to the continuous exposure to formaldehyde. The present questionnaire-based study evaluates the effects of formaldehyde exposure on veterinary students and staff in the anatomy gross dissection laboratory, University of Tripoli, Libya. A total of 104 students and 6 anatomy staff members completed a questionnaire of 24 questions related to the clinical symptoms observed after formaldehyde exposure and the answers were assessed using a six point (0-5) scale. Students had a high prevalence of nasal itching 78(75%), eyes burning 78(75%), excessive lacrimation 76(73%), eyes redness 60(58%), headache 64(62%) and respiratory distress 61(59%). Smoking and wearing glasses or gloves worsened many symptoms while wearing masks minimized other symptoms and male students were more affected than females. All anatomy staff members (100%) reported nasal itching, burning and congestion, eyes burning and redness, excessive lacrimation, cough and respiratory distress and less than that (83%) suffered from mouth dryness, headache, temporary loss of their ability to recognize the smell of formaldehyde and needed a physician assistance after the exposure to formaldehyde. The repeated exposure to formaldehyde in gross anatomy dissection has harmful effects on both students and staff member and finding alternative preservation methods, such as freezing, would be safer than using the formaldehyde.

Abstract:It has been more than 90 years since the discovery of vitamin D and its capability to cure rickets in children. Recently, awareness is growing of the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in the general population in association with an increased risk of several diseases. Analyses of vitamin D levels in blood samples provide direct measures of exposure to dietary or supplemented vitamin. This review is focused on the pre-analytical factors and challenges are known to affect the concentrations of vitamin D biomarkers. The pre-analytical measurement of disease relevant vitamin D deficiency in blood can vary as a function of differences in sample handling and processing. It could impact the accurate measurement of the diseases relevant vitamin D deficiency. Majority of the analysis in a clinical biochemistry laboratory requires serum or plasma as the analytical specimen and obtaining serum or plasma from a primary sample is an important step of pre-analytical procedure. Although vitamin D is considered as a relatively stable analyte, effect of pre-analytical conditions and stability of vitamin D in serum and plasma needs to be identified clearly.

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Tendon injury is the most important veterinary reason for wastage of thoroughbred racehorses. Clinical diagnosis of tendon injuries is confirmed by a combination of clinical, ultrasonographic or post mortem examination of the injured limb. In addition, measurement of hematological and biochemical blood parameters are an important tool that aid health assessment and decision-making in diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of the injured tendon. Therefore, the lack of information or misinterpretation of these parameters may affect the accuracy of disease diagnosis and then lead to poor treatment. The present study was conducted to evaluate the levels of some hematological and biochemical parameter in the blood of thoroughbred horses affected by chronic tendinitis and compared with normal horses. Blood samples were collected from 15 healthy thoroughbred horses (8 stallions and 7 mares) and 21 tendinitis thoroughbred horses (11 stallions and 10 mares); and the levels of 18 blood parameters were determined. The tendinitis horses had higher number of erythrocytes and thrombocytes, higher values of packed cell volume (PCV) and mean corpuscular volume (MCV); lower enzyme activity of creatine kinase (CK), lower values of lactic acid (LA), icteric index and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and lower numbers of band neutrophils than the normal horses. The chronic tendinitis mares had higher number of thrombocytes and lower values of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) enzyme activity, lactic acid, plasma proteins, MCHC and lower numbers of white blood cells (WBC) than the normal mares. The chronic tendinitis stallions had higher levels of lactic acid, plasma proteins, MCV, and higher numbers of erythrocytes and thrombocytes,; and lower values of icteric jaundice, MCHC, band neutrophils than the normal horses. No significant differences were reported when tendinitis mares were compared with tendinitis males. However, normal mares showed higher levels of plasma proteins than normal stallions. The results obtained by this study can be used as useful index to diagnose and treat chronic tendinitis in horses.