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JAHP_7_2_51-57

Research Article

Effect of Quinolones on Blood Glucose Level and Blood Profile of Laying Hens

Asif ur Rehman1, Arsalan Khan2*, Sarzamin Khan1, Hamza Maris3, Naseer Khan4

1Department of Poultry Science, Faculty of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences, Agriculture University Peshawar, 25000, Pakistan; 2Livestock Research and Development Station, Paharpur, Dera Ismail Khan-29050-Pakistan; 3Department of Poultry and Animal Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan-29050-Pakistan; 4Livestock and Dairy Development Department (Extension), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Peshawar-25000-Pakistan

Abstract | A study was designed to investigate the effects of quinolones antibiotics on the blood profile, blood glucose level, histomorphological features of pancreas and egg production of laying hens. For this purpose, a total of 48 laying hens were selected and allocated into four groups, each group included three replicates containing four birds in each. Three commonly used quinolones including enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin were used for four weeks with one week of adaptation period, while, one group served as negative control. Blood was collected directly from wing vein and serum was analyzed for estimation of blood proteins, glucose level, cholesterol and albumin which showed non-significant (P>0.05) response to quinolones treatment. Highest blood glucose level was measured for control (239.21 ± 5.26), followed by groups treated with enrofloxacin (233.54± 4.19), ciprofloxacin (227.76 ±4.71) and lowest in norfloxacin (225.47 ± 4.85). Highest cholesterol level was measured in groups administered with norfloxacin (164.17± 3.55), followed by control (163.36±1.99), ciprofloxacin (161.53±3.14) and enrofloxacin (160.78± 3.18). The highest level of total protein in blood was recorded in control group (18.51±0.18), followed by enrofloxacin (18.43± 0.27), norfloxacin (18.28± 0.10) and lowest in ciprofloxacin treated group (18.12± 0.36). The highest level of albumin in blood was found in control group (2.82±0.19), followed by enrofloxacin (2.70±0.15), ciprofloxacin (2.61±0.06) and norfloxacin (2.54±0.12). The highest count of WBCs (white blood cells) in blood was recorded for group treated with ciprofloxacin (18.6 ± 10.63), followed by norfloxacin (17.6± 3.63) and control group (17.1± 10.63), while, lowest in enrofloxacin treated group (16.9± 2.53). Total RBCs (red blood cells) and average hemoglobin values showed non-significant (P>0.05) changes in blood profile of laying hens in the treated groups. Hens egg production showed significant (P<0.05) increase in groups treated with different quinolones i.e., 10.95% was in norfloxacin, which was higher than control group followed by group treated with ciprofloxacin (8.63%) and enrofloxacin (6.5%). Histomorphology of pancreas treated with quinolones were noted and findings revealed that quinolones did not affect the histological architecture of the pancreas. It was thus concluded that quinolones have non-significant effect (P>0.05) on the serum biochemistry, blood profile and histomorphology of laying hens.

Keywords | Enrofloxacin, Ciprofloxacin, Norfloxacin, Histomorphology, Laying hens

Editor | Asghar Ali Kamboh, Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam, Pakistan.

Received | February 22, 2019; Accepted | March 25, 2019; Published | April 19, 2019

*Correspondence | Arsalan Khan, Livestock Research and Development Station, Paharpur, Dera Ismail Khan-29050-Pakistan; Email: drarsalankhandvm@gmail.com

Citation | Rehman A, Khan A, Khan S, Maris H, Khan N (2019). Effect of quinolones on blood glucose level and blood profile of laying hens. J. Anim. Health Prod. 7(2): 51-57.

DOI | http://dx.doi.org/10.17582/journal.jahp/2019/7.2.51.57

ISSN | 2308-2801

Copyright © 2019 Rehman et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

INTRODUCTION

Poultry industry plays a vital role in the world economic cycle and is the second largest enterprise of Pakistan. Almost 1.5 million people are earning their subsistence from poultry industry. Currently total investment in this sector has reached up to Rs. 200 billion with growth rate of 8-10 percent. Shares of poultry industry in national GDP are 1.3 percent (Economic survey of Pakistan 2015-2016).

In modern poultry production system antimicrobial agents are being increasingly used to enhance feed efficiency, improve productivity, promote health and for disease prophylaxis and treatment (Johnston, 1998; Prescott et al., 2000). It is important to note that the quinolones are synthetic anti-microbial agents used broadly in the poultry field for the control of untimely mortality and for the prevention and treatment of respiratory, uro-genital and digestive tract infections (Martinez et al., 2006). Antibiotics usage has also enhanced the health and well-being of poultry by reducing the incidence of diseases (Resurreccion and Galvez, 1999).

Various forms of quinolones available in Pakistan including ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin and enrofloxacin etc are extensively used in poultry sector to overcome the infectious bacterial maladies (Anjum and Rizvi, 1998). For the control of early chick mortality, for prophylaxis and treatment of respiratory, renal and digestive infections, enrofloxacin has undergone growth in poultry enterprises. These quinolones are thought to be relatively safer antibiotics and are well tolerated in poultry (Kordick et al., 1997; Todorov 2010).

The objectives of the current study were to investigate the effects of quinolones antibiotics on the blood profile, blood glucose level, histomorphological features of pancreas and egg production of laying hens.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The study was conducted at the Department of Poultry Science, Agriculture University Peshawar, following the guidelines of animal ethics principles. For this purpose, a total of 48 laying hens (layers of age more than 60 weeks, weighing 3.5-5 pounds) were selected and separated into 4 groups, each group included three replicates containing four birds in each. Three commonly used quinolones including enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin at the dose rate of 0.25mg/liter of drinking water were used, while, one group served as negative control (Table 1).

Birds were caged under identical environmental conditions. Commercial feed and water were offered at ad-libitum. The study was continued for four weeks including one week as adaptation period.

Eggs were collected on day-to-day basis from all groups to work out for daily eggs production. Blood samples were collected from the wing vein on weekly basis, for biochemical analysis and blood profile including hemoglobin, packed cell volume, RBCs count, WBCs count and blood glucose level by hematology analyzer. For histomorphology of pancreas, tissues were collected from experimental groups and were dried by immersing through a chain of alcohol of increasing concentrations (i.e., from 30% to absolute), cleared with xylene and filtered tissues were embedded in paraffin, Thin slices of sized 3-5µm were obtained by rotary microtome. The egg albumin was used to pursue the sections on the glass slide and dried for one hour in the oven at 60oC. The Harris haematoxylin and eosin (H&E), staining techniques were applied to stain the sections of the various tissues. The sections were reimbursed in the xylene and before putting a cover slip on the stained sections, a drop of distyrene plasticizer xylene (DPX), (Sigma Aldrich) was applied and studied under light microscope at suitable magnification and results were recorded.

The data obtained was analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and complete randomized design of statistical analysis system (Statistics 8.1).

RESULTS

Effect of Quinolones on Mean Blood Glucose Level (Mg/Dl) of Laying Hens

The effect of quinolones on blood glucose level of laying hens was found non-significant (P>0.05). Highest blood glucose level was measured for control group (239.21±5.26), followed by enrofloxacin (233.54± 4.19), ciprofloxacin (227.76 ±4.71) and lowest for group administered with norfloxacin (225.47 ± 4.85) as shown in Table 2.

Effect of Quinolones on Mean Cholesterol Level (Mg/Dl) of Laying Hens

The effect of quinolones on cholesterol level was found non-significant (P>0.05) as mentioned in Table 3. Highest cholesterol level was measured for norfloxacin (164.17± 3.55) followed by control group (163.36±1.99), ciprofloxacin (161.53±3.14), while the lowest cholesterol level was measured for enrofloxacin (160.78± 3.18).

Effect of Quinolones on Mean Blood Protein (G/Dl) of Laying Hens

Quinolones had non-significant (P>0.05) effect on the blood proteins level of laying hens (Table 4). The highest level of total protein in blood was measured for control group (18.51±0.18), followed by enrofloxacin (18.43± 0.27), norfloxacin (18.28± 0.10) and ciprofloxacin treated group (18.12± 0.36).

Effect of Quinolones on Mean Albumin (G/Dl) of Laying Hens

Effect of quinolones on blood Albumin in laying hens is shown in Table 5, showing non-significant (P>0.05) changes in the blood albumin of laying hens treated with quinolones antibiotics. The highest level of albumin in blood was found for control group (2.82±0.19), then,

Table 1: Experimental layout for the birds

Group	Dose of Administration	Replicates			Total
Group	Dose of Administration	R1	R2	R3	Total
Control	---------------	04	04	04	12
Enro	0.25 mg/L	04	04	04	12
Cipro	0.25 mg/L	04	04	04	12
Nor	0.25 mg/L	04	04	04	12