Osteoarthritis is one of the common joint degenerative disorders for which only symptomatic treatment is available. In the present study we have investigated anti arthritic activity of the Methanolic extracts of the pods of Acacia nilotica in papain induced osteoarthritis model which mimics the human arthritis. Osteoarthritis was induced in rats by intra-articular injection of 0.8mg of papain and 0.03M of cysteine on day 0, 4 and 7. Methanol extract of A.nilotica pods was administered to the animals in the doses of 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg for 15 days after the injection of papain and cysteine. Celecoxib (30 mg/kg) was used as the reference standard drug. The joint activity was assessed by wire hang test and measurement of the knee joint diameter. At the end of 15 days blood samples were collected for the analysis of TNF?, and IL-10 gene expression by Real Time PCR. The animals were sacrificed and the knee of the each animal was collected for the histological studies of the joint.Injection of papain with cysteine produced a significant increase in joint diameter and reduction in joint strength as depicted by decrease in wire hanging time. The Methanolic extract of A.nilotica pods produced time and dose dependent decrease in swelling of the knee joint along with significant increase in joint strength. There was a significant elevation of TNF-? as well as IL-10 gene expression in the rats treated with 400 mg/kg of test extract. Celecoxib or lower doses of A. nilotica produced slight increase in these levels. Histopathological studies revealed that the reversal of damages in the cartilage induced by papain and cysteine after administration of the extract.

The domestic fowl (Gallus gallus domesticus) is a popular commercial species and is much studied for meat and egg production. Frequent studies on genetics, immunology, diagnostics and therapeutics are conducted in this species. For all these studies frequent blood collection is required. In the present study, blood collection technique in domestic fowl was standardized, wherein a single individual researcher can restrain the bird using the weak hand in the state of tonic immobility and carry out blood collection using the dominant hand, thus precluding the need for additional manpower which enhances the efficiency of collection especially for studies involving large number of birds without exposing them to much stress and discomfort. This fulfils one of the important objectives of refining experimentation by reducing stress on the birds.

The use of animal models is critical to the biomedical research. Animals used for biomedical research should be in a state of absolute good health for reliable and reproducible results. It has been reported that infections,environmental factors, genetic factors and interactions of all these may influence the suitability of an animal for research.Sometimes, apparent healthy animals also suffer from latent infections. Majority of these infections are subclinical and may go undetected in gross examination, but clinical symptoms may appear under conditions of stress during experimentation. Also, it has been reported that even subclinical infections in rodents modify or alter research outcome. Many infectious agents affect results in the field of immunology, physiology, reproductive physiology, oncology and many more research areas. Hence, proper and periodic health monitoring programme is important to define the health status of experimental animals. In India, more than 1500 facilities are using laboratory animals for biomedical research. However, majority of them have not adopted the comprehensive health monitoring or disease diagnostic programme due to prohibitive cost of the diagnostic kits. Few facilities in India have adopted international guidelines in health monitoring/disease diagnosis and this includes conventional culture techniques, ELISA and PCR for rapid diagnosis. However, recent techniques such as MFI, Micro ELISA, Microarray and LAMP that have been developed and adopted elsewhere needs to be adopted in India for rapid and accurate diagnosis of pathogens in rodents.

Psoroptes cuniculi is a common ectoparasite that causes ear mite infection in several species including rabbits. Six New Zealand White rabbits were purchased from a local breeder and were quarantined in a newly established Laboratory Animal Care Unit (LACU), Faculty of Medicine, Sungai Buloh, Selangor, Malaysia. Clinical examination for endo and ectoparasites were found to be negative. A prophylactic dose of ivermectin (0.1ml/kg, s.c) was administered. Rabbits were transferred to a holding area after 30 days of quarantine. Routine husbandry practices were followed under the guidance of a trained research assistant (RA). Approximately after 2-3 weeks, hard and scaly skin lesions were observed in the fore paws and hairy portion of the nails in three rabbits. In addition, both ears were observed to exhibit severe otitis externa with heavy crusting. The present study attempts to investigate the mode of transmission and the preventive measures to be adopted. Ear and fore paw scrapping were mixed with liquid paraffin and subjected to light microscopic (10 & 40X) observation. Psoroptic mites were observed and identified as Psoroptes cuniculi. Six rabbits were treated initially with ivermectin (0.2 ml/kg, s.c) and 0.4ml was instilled into both the ears. The treatment was repeated similarly after two weeks. It was identified that the transmission of P.cuniculi was through the RA. The RA has been visiting the rabbit breeder to learn the basic techniques of handling rabbits. The same lab coat was used by the RA at rabbit breeder facility and LACU. Transmission of P.cuniculimay be from the breeder through RA clothing. Veterinarians or animal care takers should follow the standard operating procedures for laboratory animal husbandry. Disposable personal protective equipments should be practiced during routine husbandry practices.

Technical azadirachtin, a major component of neem, has low acute/subchronic toxicity and non-mutagenic/teratogenic in mammalian species along with minimal disruption to the ecosystem. The present in vitro study aims to address the potential evaluation of azadirachtin-A, a tetranortritarpinoid of neem seed kernel, on the antioxidant system of rat spermatozoa to promote oxidative stress in a dose-dependent manner. To assess the effect of the azadirachtin-A on activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, Glutathione reductase (GR), Glutathione peroxidase (GPx), ?-Glucosidase, production of Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and level of lipid peroxidation (LPO) in rat spermatozoa, increasing quantities 0.5 mM, 1 mM, 1.5 mM and 2.0 mM per ml of the azadirachtin-A was added to the cultured medium prior to the addition of cauda epididymal spermatozoa. The spermatozoa were observed at 6th h post-culture and the expressions of enzyme activities and production of H₂O₂, level of LPO were recorded. The activities of antioxidant enzymes decreased significantly while the levels of H₂O₂ generation and LPO increased significantly in azadirachtin-A treated spermatozoa in a dose dependent manner when expressed in terms of milligram protein and milligram DNA. The activity of ?- glucosidase, a negative control against antioxidant enzymes, did not show any significant change at any of the doses. The results suggest that graded doses of azadirachtin-A elicits depletion of antioxidant defense system in sperm, indicating azadirachtin-A induced oxidative stress in the epididymal sperm of rats.