Mastitis (intramammary inflammation) caused by infectious pathogens is still considered a devastating condition of dairy animals affecting animal welfare as well as economically incurring huge losses to the dairy industry by means of decreased production performance and increased culling rates. Bovine mastitis is the inflammation of the mammary glands/udder of bovines, caused by bacterial pathogens, in most cases. Routine diagnosis is based on clinical and subclinical forms of the disease. This underlines the significance of early and rapid identification/detection of etiological agents at the farm level, for which several diagnostic techniques have been developed. Therapeutic regimens such as antibiotics, immunotherapy, bacteriocins, bacteriophages, antimicrobial peptides, probiotics, stem cell therapy, native secretory factors, nutritional, dry cow and lactation therapy, genetic selection, herbs, and nanoparticle technology-based therapy have been evaluated for their efficacy in the treatment of mastitis. Even though several strategies have been developed over the years for the purpose of managing both clinical and subclinical forms of mastitis, all of them lacked the efficacy to eliminate the associated etiological agent when used as a monotherapy. Further, research has to be directed towards the development of new therapeutic agents/techniques that can both replace conventional techniques and also solve the problem of emerging antibiotic resistance. The objective of the present review is to describe the etiological agents, pathogenesis, and diagnosis in brief along with an extensive discussion on the advances in the treatment and management of mastitis, which would help safeguard the health of dairy animals.

Herbs and plant metabolites/extracts are gaining wide attention owing to their multiple beneficial health effects, medicinal values, and nutraceutical properties, particularly in the present era of emerging drug resistance and untold side effects of chemical drugs. Ocimum basilicum L., known as sweet basil, has been studied for its various potent effects including, antimicrobial, antifungal, insecticidal, antiparasitic, antioxidant, immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, anti-osteoporotic, cardioprotective, neuroprotective, anti-cancer, and other beneficial health effects. Thus, this herb has the potential for treating a myriad of ailments/diseases and disorders in both humans and animals. Different bioactive chemical compounds have been identified from O. basilicum, such as linalool, geraniol, methyl eugenol, methyl chavicol, p-allylanisole, 1,8–cineole, trans–α–bergamotene, and neryl acetate. Recent advances in nanotechnology can further be utilized for improving the multiple beneficial activities of the crude extract of O. basilicum. This review highlights the phytoconstituent profile, medicinal values, therapeutic applications, and salient beneficial health aspects of O. basilicum, which would help in further exploring this wonderful herb for designing effective pharmaceuticals, drugs and medicines for safeguarding various health issues of humans and animals, while supporting its traditional use in curing various ailments, diseases and health-promoting effects.

Articular cartilage injury poses a major challenge for both the patient and orthopaedician. Articular cartilage defects once formed do not regenerate spontaneously, rather replaced by fibrocartilage which is weaker in mechanical competence than the normal hyaline cartilage. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) along with different growth factors and scaffolds are currently incorporated in tissue engineering to overcome the deficiencies associated with currently available surgical methods and to facilitate cartilage healing. MSCs, being readily available with a potential to differentiate into chondrocytes which are enhanced by the application of different growth factors, are considered for effective repair of articular cartilage after injury. However, therapeutic application of MSCs and growth factors for cartilage repair remains in its infancy, with no comparative clinical study to that of the other surgical techniques. The present review covers the role of MSCs, growth factors and scaffolds for the repair of articular cartilage injury.

To establish reference values of vertebral heart score (VHS) in Indian Spitz, Labrador retriever, and Mongrel dogs; to assess applicability of VHS in these three dog breeds; to determine if breed, recumbency side, gender, body weight, and thoracic depth (TD) to thoracic width (TW) ratio has an influence on the VHS measurement in these dog breeds. A total of 60, client owned, clinically healthy Indian Spitz (n=20, mean age = 4.25±2.15 years, body weight = 11.87±2.7 kg), Labrador retriever (n=20, mean age = 4.75±1.91 years, body weight = 27.31±5.43 kg), and Mongrel dogs (n=20, mean age = 4.25±1.52 years, body weight = 16.25±3.99 kg), having no radiological and clinical signs of cardiovascular or pulmonary disease were included in the study. All dogs were restrained manually and left lateral (LL) and right lateral (RL) radiographic views were obtained. The size of heart in lateral radiographs was calculated using VHS method. Besides, the TD, TW and TD: TW were calculated to determine the type of thoracic conformation in the dog breeds. In addition to this, the effect of breed, side of recumbency, gender, body weight, and TD to TW ratio on the calculation of VHS was determined. VHS was calculated in all the animals of the breeds. VHS in Spitz and Labrador retriever was significantly (p9.7±0.5 v. RL and LL VHS in Mongrel dog was significantly (p9.7±0.5 v. Significant (p<0.05) differences in the VHS were observed among Spitz, Labrador retriever and Mongrel dogs, being higher for Labrador retriever followed by Spitz and Mongrel dogs. VHS in RL recumbency was significantly (p<0.001) greater than VHS in LL recumbency in all three breeds. LL and RL VHS correlated significantly with each other in Spitz (r=0.58; p=0.02), Labrador retriever (r=0.87; p<0.0001), and Mongrel dogs (r=0.93; p<0.0001). Significant (p<0.05) differences in the TD and TW were observed among Spitz, Labrador retriever, and Mongrel dogs. Non-significant effect of gender, body weight, and TD to TW ratio on the VHS measurement was observed in each dog breed. Breed-specific VHS reference ranges should be used for the objective measurement of heart size in dogs. Furthermore, the radiographic view should also be taken into consideration to avoid any erroneous interpretation of cardiac enlargement in dogs.