Effects of Dietary Lanthanum Chloride on Growth Performance, Hematology and Serum Biochemistry of Juvenile Catfish Fed Diets Amended with Mixtures of Aflatoxin B1 and Fumonisin B1.

This study aimed to determine the effects of dietary lanthanum chloride on the growth and health performance of juvenile Clarias gariepinus when fed diets experimentally contaminated with mixtures of aflatoxin B1 and fumonisin B1. A control diet, (mycotoxin free, diet A), mycotoxin contaminated (diet B), and two mycotoxin-contaminated diets amended with lanthanum chloride (200 mg/kg, diet C; and 400 mg/kg, diet D), were fed to 450 fish divided equally into five groups (each with three replicates) for 56 days. The fish were randomly sampled at the time points: day 7, 28 and day 56 for the zootechnical, hematological and serum biochemical evaluations.

Comparative neuroanatomical study of the amygdala and fear conditioning in Nigerian breeds of Artiodactyla: Sheep (Uda) and goats (Red Sokoto).

The aim of this study was to evaluate fear condition responses in sheep and goat and to relate this to the neuroarchitecture of their amygdala. Forty adult sheep (Uda breed) and 40 adult goats (Red Sokoto breed) were fear-conditioned by associating the sound of a car horn (neutral stimuli) with water spray (aversive stimuli) and the fear response was determined by direct observation of the behavior of the sheep and goats and measuring their flight distances and escape time. Eight groups were studied, each comprising of 10 animals (five sheep and five goats).

Eating Bushmeat Improves Food Security in a Biodiversity and Infectious Disease "Hotspot".

Hunting and consumption of wild animals, colloquially known as "bushmeat," is associated with health trade-offs. Contact with wildlife increases exposure to wildlife-origin zoonotic diseases yet bushmeat is an important nutritional resource in many rural communities. In this study, we test the hypothesis that bushmeat improves food security in communities that hunt and trade bushmeat regularly.

Comparative Tissue Stainability of Lawsonia inermis (Henna) and Eosin as Counterstains to Hematoxylin in Brain Tissues.

We hyposthesized that henna staining could provide an alternative to eosin when used as a counterstain to hematoxylin for understanding basic neurohistological principles. Therefore, this study was aimed at investigating the suitability of henna as counterstain to hematoxylin for the demonstration of the layer stratification and cellular distribution in the brain tissue. Henna stained nervous tissue by reacting with the basic elements in proteins via its amino groups.

Infectivity of macrophages and the histopathology of cutaneous lesions, liver and spleen is attenuated by leaf extract of Vernonia amygdalina in Leishmania major infected BALB/c mice.

Preliminary investigation of the in vitro and in vivo efficacies of different extracts from the leaves of Vernonia amygdalina (VA), a plant widely used in Nigeria was evaluated in Balb/C mice infected with a laboratory strain of Leishmania major (L. major). The ability of the methanol, hexane and aqueous extracts of the plant to suppress the infection rate and its cytotoxicity on macrophages and L929 cells were determined in the in vitro study.

A 6-year survey of pathological conditions of slaughtered animals at Zango abattoir in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria.

A 6-year retrospective study (2000-2005) of animals slaughtered at the Zango abattoir in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria was carried out to determine disease conditions encountered in slaughtered animals. Records kept at the abattoir were analysed. A total of 69,307 cattle, 3,820 goats and 1,763 sheep were slaughtered for the period under study.