Intestinal gene expression in pigs experimentally co-infected with PCV2 and PPV

The objective of the present study was to characterize the local immune reaction in the intestine of pigs experimentally infected with PCV2 and PPV. Archived intestinal material from an experimental study in which pigs were co-infected with a Swedish isolate of PCV2 (S-PCV2) and PPV, or a reference isolate of PCV2 (PCV2-1010) and PPV, were used. The intestinal samples were analysed by qPCR for expression of a number of selected cytokines and the overall gene expression in the intestine was screened by cDNA microarray. Analyses by qPCR showed that pigs infected with PCV2-1010/PPV displayed a significantly increased mRNA expression for IL-6 (p<0.05), IL-10 (p<0.05) and IFN-γ (p<0.05). The microarray screening revealed a strong up-regulation of IFITM3 along with several other interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) in pigs infected with PCV2/PPV. The analyses also indicated differences between the two isolates. Fewer pigs infected with S-PCV2/PPV expressed the cytokines detected by qPCR, compared to pigs infected with PCV2-1010/PPV, and pigs infected with S-PCV2/PPV displayed a higher proportion of down-regulated genes than PCV2-1010/PPV-infected pigs.     

Protein functionality and its relation to food microstructure

Plant Foods for Human Nutrition - During food preparation, structures are formed which give the food its characteristic properties. The addition of protein ingredients is meant to improve the...     

Plasma lipid lowering effects of wheat germ in hypercholesterolemic subjects

The present study was performed to investigate the possible effects of wheat germ supplementation on lipid metabolism in humans. Ten free-living adult subjects participated in the study. None was obese or diabetic. They all presented an, hypercholesterolemia (from 6.58 to 9.50 mM), associated in 6 over 10 cases to an hypertriglyceridemia (from 1.70 to 5.00 mM). The subjects were studied in three consecutive periods, during which they first were on their usual diet (first week), they then ingested a daily supplement of 30 g wheat germ (4 weeks) and then they returned to their usual basal diet (4 weeks follow-up). Dietary records were obtained for 7 and 3 consecutive days before and during wheat germ supplementation, respectively. Fasting blood samples were taken at the end of each period. After 4 weeks of wheat, germ intake, glycemia did not change while total plasma cholesterol significantly decreased (paired Student'st test,p0.05) from 7.80 to 7.15 mM. LDL and HDL cholesterol values did not show marked changes, but VLDL cholesterol significantly dropped by 40.6%. Thus, the plasma/HDL total cholesterol ratio was significantly lower. Apoprotein B and A1 decreased. In the hypertriglyceridemic subjects, this was accompanied by a significant reduction of plasma triglycerides (1.64 vs. 2.68 mM) and a marked drop of VLDL triglycerides (–51%). Taken as a whole, the present results obtained in humans are very close to those previously obtained in the rat [40] and point out that wheat germ may play a beneficial role in the dietary management of hyperlipidemia.Part of the data communicated in this paper was presented at the Fibre 90 Conference, 17–20 April 1990, Norwich, UK.     

Measurement and fissuring of rice kernels during quasi-moisture sorption by image analysis

Fissuring associated with kernel elongation was evident in a moisture-adsorbing environment at 15 °C of relative humidity 88.72±0.28% with moisture content from 6% (d.b.) to 16.3% (d.b.). The average length and width of 800 kernels was measured during the sorption test using a Cervitec Grain Inspector equipped with two digital cameras. Samples were exposed to both a moisture-adsorbing and desorbing environments at 15 °C with relative humidities of 23.4±0.53%, 55.9±0.27%, 70.98±0.28% and 88.72±0.28%. On image analysis, the kernels changed in size from 5.13 to 4.84 mm in length and 2.9 to 2.73 mm in width. Both length and width changed as expected during moisture-adsorbing and moisture-desorbing tests. Fissured kernel percent was related to changes in the average length of the kernels during the moisture-adsorbing tests. The average length and fissured kernel percent of rice kernels measured by image analysis may be considered as a reliable indicator of changes in their dimensions during quasi-static moisture sorption processes.     

Effects of drinking water temperatures on water intake and milk yield of tied-up dairy cows

The effect of four drinking water temperatures (3, 10, 17 and 24°C) on water intake, feed consumption, milk yield and composition, live weight, salt consumption, and rumination, was studied with eight tied-up dairy cows of the Swedish Red and White Breed. The cows were in their 12th to 15th week of lactation at the start of the experiment. A Latin Square design was used with four periods of three weeks each in length. The cows were fed 9 kg hay, 2 kg dried molassed beet pulp and 9 kg concentrates throughout the experiment. The study was conducted from March until June in an average daily barn temperature of 15.3°C (10.2–23.7°C).Water intake was 75.6, 76.7, 76.9 and 71.5 1/day for 3, 10, 17 and 24°C respectively. The intake of the warmest water differed significantly (P<0.01) from the others. The corresponding figures for the milk yield were 25.39, 25.93, 26.33 and 26.09 kg 4% fat-corrected milk per day, where a t-test showed a significance of P<0.05 between 3 and 10°C, P<0.001 between 3 and 17°C and P<0.01 between 3 and 24°C. Feed and salt consumption, milk composition, live weight and rumination were not affected by treatment.     

Prenatal diagnosis of bovine citrullinaemia

Holstein/Friesian embryos, progeny of citrullinaemia heterozygotes, were transferred to recipient cows. The citrullinaemia genotype of the fetus/calf was established, at birth, by estimation of citrulline concentration in plasma or by analyses of argininosuccinate synthetase exon 5 sequences in dna from blood leucocytes. Between 115 and 125 days of gestation amniotic fluid was collected transabdominally from nine recipient cows. The mean citrulline concentration in amniotic fluid from fetuses unaffected with citrullinaemia was 28 μM, SD 9 and range 15 to 38 μM. Citrulline concentration was 107 and 130 μM in amniotic fluid from two fetuses homozygous for the citrullinaemia mutation. Only the normal bovine citrullinaemia sequence was detected in cells cultured from amniotic fluid taken from two homozygous normal and two heterozygous fetuses. Both normal and mutant sequences were found in cells cultured from amniotic fluid collected from three of five heterozygous fetuses. Only the mutant sequence was found in cells cultured from the two citrullinaemia affected fetuses. mhc class II DRB3 haplotyping revealed that in four instances cultured cells were from the surrogate mother, not the fetus, these included samples from two heterozygotes in which only the normal sequence was detected in amniotic fluid.     

The composition of the soil solution as influenced by fertilization and nutrient uptake

The composition of the soil solution in unfertilized and well-fertilized plots of three long-term field experiments has been determined at the beginning and at the end of the growing season. All the plots were manured and the K and P fertilizers given in the autumn before the growth of sugar beet. N was applied in the spring, 3–4 weeks before the first soil sampling.The soil solution was removed at a pressure of 5 atm. The composition and the corresponding osmotic pressure were calculated for the moisture contents at field capacity and wilting point.In spring the salt concentrations, cations + anions, at the field capacity were in the range 91–97 mmoles/l in the fertilized plots. In autumn the concentration had dropped to 13.9–20.3, a decrease of 78–85%. At the wilting point, the concentrations in spring were as high as 211–307 mmoles/l and in autumn 31.5–69 mmoles/l. The corresponding osmotic pressures at field capacity in the spring ranged 2.2–2.3 atm. and at wilting point 5.1–7.4 atm.In spring the unfertilized plots showed concentrations of 16–21 mmoles/l and osmotic pressures of 0.38–0.51 atm., the values decreasing 52–65% during the growing season.It was pointed out that the high soil-solution concentration and osmotic pressure at low moisture contents may lead to an unfavourable effect on root metabolism. Further, the obscuring effect of the varying soil-solution concentration on the relationships between root ion exchange and nutrient uptake by plants has been discussed.