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Background: Curcumin, a polyphenol derived from rhizome of Curcuma longa, has been successfully used in animals and humans due to its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Recently, a study demonstrated that curcumin ointment reduced pain, mammary tension and erythema in humans with mastitis 72 h after the treatment. Mastitis in sheep is an important problem due to restrictions associated to the use of antibiotics, affecting milk production and becoming a public health issue. Thus, the aim of this study was to verify whether the addition of curcumin in the diet of six female sheep with subclinical mastitis could have curative efficacy and benefits to animal health.Cases: Six Lacaune sheep with subclinical mastitis that persisted for more than thirty days after the parturition were used. The animals received feed containing the curcumin (60 mg/animal/day) during 10 days. On days 0 and 10 of the experiment, total blood was collected to perform the hemogram and serum biochemistry (triglycerides, cholesterol, glucose, total protein (TP), albumin, globulin, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and urea), as well as individual milk samples for centesimal composition, somatic cell count (SCC) and total bacterial count (TBC). Total leukocytes and erythrocytes, as well as hemoglobin content, were obtained using the hematological counter CELM-CC-550. Blood smears were stained by theRomanowsky method and used for leukocytes differentiation. After ten days of treatment, five sheep were negative in the California Mastitis Test (CMT). Total erythrocytes increased, while total leukocytes decreased after the treatment. Seric levels of AST, triglycerides, cholesterol and globulins decreased, while seric levels of albumin and urea increased after tendays of treatment. No differences were observed regarding milk production and composition, as well as for SCC and TBC on days 0 and 10 post treatment.Discussion: The use curcumin to prevent or to delay the occurrence of subclinical mastitis in ewes was first tested. In an experiment of lipopolysaccharide-induced mastitis in rats, researchers identified receptors type Toll 4 which are related with the induction of the synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines, as tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-6 and 1β, molecules involved in the migration of leukocytes to the site of inflammation. According to literature, curcumin was able to reduce theactivity of myeloperoxidase in the mammary gland, an enzyme used as indicator of neutrophil infiltration, demonstrating the potent anti-inflammatory effect of curcumin. This effect can be associated to the release of interleukin-8, a cytokine that promotes the migration of neutrophils, lymphocytes and eosinophils into the site of infection, i.e., the mammary gland. It is important to highlight that neutrophils, due to its capacity to release inflammatory mediators and to delay apoptosis, has the potential to maintain a permanent inflammatory process, effects that were prevented or reduced by curcumin, specially the apoptotic and cytotoxic effects. It is important to emphasize the direct effect of curcumin on bacteria present in the mammary gland, since it exerts potent bactericidal effect. In summary, the use of curcumin in sheep with subclinical mastitis exerted beneficial effects in the dose of 60 mg/sheep/day, since it showed 83.3% of curative efficacy in the test CMT. This effect of curcumin can be direct or indirect, since the curcumin provided in the diet showed anti-inflammatory properties byreducing oxidation reactions and cell damage. Overall, the addition of curcumin in sheep diet improved the hematological and biochemical variables after only ten days of treatment. Future studies should be performed to clarify and determine whether the curcumin provided in diet can be an alternative to treat clinical or subclinical mastitis.Keywords: curcumin, mammary infection, immunity, biochemistry parameters, ovine.

No abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the phenotypic and genotypic profile of antimicrobial susceptibility and the possible involvement of extended spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) in the resistance profile of Salmonella Heidelberg (SH) isolated from chicken meat. We used 18 SH isolates from chicken meat produced in 2013 in the state of Paraná, Southern Brazil. The isolates were submitted to disk-diffusion tests and from these results it was possible to determine the number of isolates considered multiresistant and the index of multiple antimicrobial resistance (IRMA) against ten antimicrobials routinely used in human and veterinary medicine. It was considered multidrug resistant the isolate that showed resistance to three or more classes of antibiotics. Another test performed was the disc-approximation in order to investigate interposed zones of inhibition, indicative of ESBLs production. In the isolates that presented multidrug resistance (18/18), a search of resistance genes involved in the production of ESBLs was performed using PCR: blaCMY-2, blaSHV-1, blaTEM-1, blaCTX-M2, blaOXA-1, blaPSE-1 and AmpC. The overall antimicrobial resistance was 80.55%. The highest levels of resistance were observed for nalidixic acid and ceftiofur (100%). The most commonly resistance pattern found (42.1%) was A (penicillin-cephalosporin-quinolone-tetracycline). The results were negative for ghost zone formation, indicative of ESBLs. However, PCR technique was able to detect resistance genes via ESBLs where the blaTEM-1 gene showed the highest amplification (83.33%), and the second most prevalent genes were blaCMY-2 (38.88%) and AmpC gene (38.88%). The blaOXA-1 and blaPSE-1 genes were not detected. These results are certainly of concern since SH is becoming more prevalent in the South of Brazil and able to cause severe disease in immune compromised individuals, showing high antimicrobial resistance to those drugs routinely used in the treatment and control of human and animal salmonellosis.

Bacteria of the genus Salmonella may infect humans and domestic animals, causing a serious public health problem worldwide. Nowadays, Salmonella enterica serovar Heidelberg (SH) is among the top three serovars isolated from people with salmonellosis and it is present in the poultry production chain. Moreover, it seems to be more invasive than other serotypes that cause enteritis. The overall status of the antimicrobial resistant of Brazilian strains of SH is still unknow. The bacterium may use similar mechanisms of resistance to antibotics, as well as disinfectants such as the efflux system and enzymatic degradation of chemical compounds. Thus, the objective of this study was to identify the Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) for ceftiofur of SH isolated from different materials of poultry origin, as well as to verify the relation between antibiotic resistance and disinfectant resistance. In addition, the screening efflux system was performed, using ethidium bromide to determine the presence of this mechanism of resistance. MIC results indicated high levels of SH resistance to ceftiofur, indicating the need for alternative drugs to treat salmonellosis. The concentration of ceftiofur needed to eliminate SH resistant isolates were 32 times higher than the therapeutic dose. Regarding disinfectants, most of the disinfectants tested were efficient to eliminate SH, however one isolate was resistant to glutaraldehyde-quaternary ammonia. All isolates were negatives in the screening efflux system, which suggest a different mechanism of resistance. It is possible to conclude that SH shows a real threat to poultry production, and caution should be taken when choosing the right antibiotic and disinfectant against this serovar.