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The bactericidal efficiency of silver nanoparticles (AgNP) was evaluated against bacteria isolated from surface and ground water samples in Egypt. The AgNP were synthesized by typical one-step synthesis protocol, and were characterized using transmission electron microscopy and atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The bactericidal efficiency of AgNP was evaluated by its application in three concentrations i.e., 0.1, 0.05 and 0.01 ppm to water sample, and allowed to interact with bacteria for different duration e.g., 5 min 15 min, 30 min, 1 h and 2 h. Then, the bactericidal efficiency of AgNPs was determined by comparing the counted bacteria before and after the treatments. Higher mean values of total bacterial count (TBC), total coliform count (TCC), and total streptococcal count (TFS) were detected in surface water than in ground water. Also, the results showed that TBC, TCC and TFS exceeded permissible limits. Application of AgNP at different concentration, the number of bacteria in TBC was significantly reduced in all AgNP-exposed samples as compared to the control group (p

Background: Fear can harm the welfare and productive performance of intensively housed chicks and resulted in lowered fear adaptability to automation and human contact. The purpose: This study was designated to measure fear levels to co-workers and its relation to productive performance in the most commonly reared commercial broiler strains (Avian 43, Hubbard, Ross and Cobb) in Upper Egypt when they were kept under intensive rearing conditions. Methods: In this study, measurement of fear levels in broiler strains was investigated according to various test situations. Firstly, using acute fear tests on individual and farm levels to differentiate between strains behaviors, Secondly the productive traits such as growth rate, mortality rate and feed conversion efficiency were measured at farm level during 7 weeks periods. Results: There were significant differences between strains in terms of fear and productive performance (P

Background: Studies of welfare status in commercial broiler chickens in Egypt were still not including all welfare indicators. The purpose: The present study was designated to investigate the welfare status in the previously studied commonly reared broiler strains in Upper Egypt in terms of hormonal assay, immunological and productive traits when they were kept collectively under the same husbandry conditions. Methods: Strains under investigation were Avian 43, Hubbard, Ross and Cobb. Firstly, tri-iodothyronine (T3) and growth hormone (GH) were measured. Secondly, Heterophil to lymphocyte ratios (HLRs) were also measured as an indicator to slight and moderate physiological stress and in addition to their indication about cellular immunity. Thirdly, the humoral immune component was estimated by measuring heamagglutination inhibition (HI) titer to Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) antigen. Results: Serum GH levels were lower in Ross and Cobb strains when compared with Hubbard and Avian 43 strains at 2nd and 4th weeks old. On the other hand serum T3 levels were significantly higher in Ross and Cobb strains when compared with Hubbard and Avian 43 strains at 2 weeks old. Therefore, the higher serum T3 levels at first 2weeks the higher were the feed conversion and final body weight. These results indicated that T3 has more impact on body weight gain than GH in commercial broiler strains in broiler chicken reared under intensive housing systems. HLRs were significantly increased with ages in all strains, but HLRs were higher in Avian 43 and Hubbard broilers when compared with Ross and Cobb broilers at 4th and 6th weeks of age. Conclusion: Welfare status in terms of immunity and stress tolerance was higher in Ross and Cobb broilers when compared with Avian 43 and Hubbard broilers. Therefore, the high welfare status could be translated into high productive performance in commercial broilers that kept under intensive rearing conditions in Upper Egypt.

It has been demonstrated that chicken TRPV1 (transient receptor potential vanilloid of subtype-1) is insensitive to capsaicin (CAP), and therefore, a chicken model is suitable to analyze the CAP-sensitive TRPV1-independent pathway. We elucidated here the possible involvement of the pathway in hypothermia induced by bacterial endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) in chickens. Chicks were pretreated with CAP (10 mg/kg, iv) at 1, 2 and 3 days of age to desensitize them towards the CAP-sensitive pathway. An intravenous injection of LPS in 4-day-old chicks caused progressive hypothermia, ending with collapse and 78% mortality within 12 h after injection. The CAP pretreatment rescued the LPS-induced endotoxin shock and hypothermia in chicks. LPS-induced iNOS expression as well as NO production in liver and lung was suppressed by CAP pretreatment. CAP pretreatment also attenuated hypothermia due to exposure of chicks to cold ambient temperature. These findings suggest that a CAP-sensitive TRPV1-independent pathway may be involved in pathophysiological hypothermic reactions through the mediation of NO in chickens.

It has been demonstrated that capsaicin blocks lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced fever in mammals. In this study, we investigated TRPV1 (transient receptor potential ion channel of vanilloid subtype-1)-independent action of capsaicin on LPS-induced fever in chickens. The chicken is a valuable model for this purpose because chicken TRPV1 has been shown to be insensitive to capsaicin and thus the effects of capsaicin can be attributed to TRPV1-independent mechanisms. Administration of capsaicin (10 mg/kg, iv) to conscious unrestrained chicks at 5 days of age caused a transient decrease in body temperature. This effect of capsaicin was not observed in chicks that had been pretreated twice with capsaicin, indicating that the capsaicin-sensitive pathway can be desensitized. LPS (2 mg/kg, ip) induced fever that lasted for about 2.5 h, but fever was not induced in chicks that had been pretreated with capsaicin for 2 days. The preventive effect of capsaicin on LPS-induced fever was not blocked by capsazepine, an antagonist for TRPV1, but the antagonist per se blocked the febrile response to LPS. These findings suggest that a capsaicin-sensitive TRPV1-independent mechanism may be involved in LPS-induced fever.