Dopamine-induced hypophagia is mediated by D1 and 5HT-2c receptors in chicken

The present study was designed to examine the effects of intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of Dopamine (10, 20 and 40 nmol), L-DOPA (dopamine precursor; 62.5, 125 and 250 nmol), 6-OHDA (dopamine inhibitor; 75, 150 and 300 nmol), SCH 23390 (D₁ antagonist; 2.5, 5 and 10 nmol), AMI-193 (D₂ antagonist; 2.5, 5 and 10 nmol), NGB2904 (D₃ antagonist; 3.2, 6.4 and 12.8 nmol), L-741 T742 (D₄ antagonist; 1.5, 3 and 6 nmol) on food intake in FD₃ chickens. At following, birds were ICV injected using 8-OH-DPAT (5-HT_1A agonist; 15.25 nmol) and SB242084 (5-HT_2C antagonist; 1.5 μg) prior dopamine (40 nmol) injection. Cumulative food intake was determined until 3 h post-injection. According to the results, dopamine significantly decreased food intake in chickens (p?<?0.05). The inhibitory effect of dopamine on food intake was decreased by SCH 23390 pretreatment (P?<?0.05), but AMI-193, NGB2904 and L-741, 742 had no effect on food intake induced by dopamine. In addition, hypophagic effect of dopamine was attenuated by SB242084 (P?<?0.05), but 8-OH-DPAT had no effect. These results suggest that dopamine decrease food intake via D₁ receptor and there is an interaction between dopaminergic and serotonergic systems via 5-HT_2C receptor in chickens.     

Edible neotropical blueberries: antioxidant and compositional fingerprint analysis

Edible blueberry species are well recognized for their potential health benefits. Ericaceae fruits including the North American highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) and five less common edible blueberry relatives from the New World tropics, Anthopterus wardii Ball, Cavendishia grandifolia Hoerold, Macleania coccoloboides A. C. Smith, Sphyrospermum buxifolium Poeppig & Endlicher, and Sphyrospermum cordifolium Benth, were investigated for their antioxidant properties and phenolic profiles. The neotropical berries C. grandifolia and A. wardii exhibited significantly higher 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH(?)) and 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS(??+)) free radical scavenging and iron chelation activities than V. corymbosum. Total phenolic content and high-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection (HPLC-PDA) compositional fingerprint analyses were also carried out. Significant correlations were observed among total phenolic contents, DPPH(?) and ABTS(??+) scavenging, and iron chelation activities. By use of HPLC-PDA, the phenolic constituents in the berries were identified as chlorogenic acid, p-coumaric acid, hyperoside, quercetin-3-O-glucoside, isoorientin, isovitexin, orientin and vitexin. Principal component analysis reduced the dimensions of antioxidant and total phenolic data to two components, which accounted for 95% of total variation among the six fruits. Each fruit species formed its own cluster, and therefore the antioxidant profile of each species was shown to be distinct.     

Attribute selection and model evaluation for the maternal and paternal imprinted genes in bovine (Bos Taurus) using supervised machine learning algorithms

Imprinted genes display biased expression of paternal and maternal alleles in mammals. They are marked through epigenetic process during gametogenesis. Characterization of imprinted genes has expanded our understanding of the regulation and function of genes. In the current study, 22 experimentally validated imprinted genes in bovine (Bos Taurus) were analysed. Several supervised machine learning algorithms and attribute weighting methods were used to find characteristics of different types of imprinted genes and suggest a classification method for finding maternally and paternally expressed genes in bovine. For assessing the best model and comparing attributes in other organisms, we have also conducted a comparative analysis for human and sheep imprinted genes. According to the results of the present study, GC contents 10 and 100 kb upstream, Gly and Gln amino acids, Ile/ATC codon usage, LINE and SINE in 100kbup and length of first intron were significantly different between the maternal and paternal genes in cattle. Considering all species together, we found that GC content 100 kb up, LINE 100 kb up and the frequency of amino acids like Gly, Gln and Met were the most important attributes for identifying the paternal and maternal imprinted genes. These findings could imply conservation pattern in the attributes among these species.     

Molecular genotyping and epidemiology of Mycobacterium bovis strains obtained from cattle in Iran

Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) genotyping was employed to analyze the population genetics of Mycobacterium bovis in Iran. One hundred and twenty-three isolates collected from slaughtered tuberculosis-suspect cattle and one clinically asymptomatic buffalo were subjected to RFLP analysis with probes of the polymorphic GC-rich sequence (PGRS) and the direct repeat sequence (DR) using DNA digested with PvuII and AluI. All these methods detected a large homogeneous population in which only a few isolates had variant genotypes. Only AluI-based RFLPs of both the PGRS and DR sequences were able to clearly differentiate between BCG and field strains of M. bovis. As in previous reports, these findings seem to reflect a recent dispersal of one or a few strains in Iran following the substantial expansion of Holstein-Friesian cattle over the last few decades.     

A review of the contemporary knowledge of bovine tuberculosis and government policy in Iran

In 1931 Carpantier reported bovine TB (BTB) in Iranian cattle. Some eighty years on with a national test-and-slaughter programme in place for over four decades, the efforts to vanquish Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) infection in cattle have been in vain as the vast majority of the 30 Iranian provinces still have reports of BTB in their cattle herds every year. This paper reviews the present epidemiology of BTB in Iran and in the region and evaluates the success of government policy in controlling this disease.     

The effect of magnesium sulfate on bleeding time and nitric oxide production in preeclamsia

Preeclampsia is a disease regarding with altered vascular reactivity leading to hypertension of the mother and metabolic alterations in the fetus. This study aimed to assess nitric oxide and bleeding time following administration of magnesium sulfate to preeclamtic patients compared to normotensive pregnant women. A total of 112 subjects (56 preeclamtic patients and 56 normotensive pregnant controls) were enrolled in this case-control study. Cases and controls were matched for age, BMI, gestational age, parity and gravidity. Total concentration of nitrite and nitrate (NOx) was measured before and during magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) treatment using a modified Griess-based method. RESULTS: Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly decreased during MgSO4 treatment in preeclamtic patients (p < 0.0001). NOx levels were significantly increased in preeclamtic women after MgSO4 administration (33.7 +/- 18.5 vs. 50.2 +/- 21.6, p < 0.0001) but it was not seen in normotensive parturients (52.4 +/- 28.9 vs. 57.3 +/- 21.7, p = 0.362). The bleeding time was scarcely increased following magnesium sulfate treatment in preeclamptic patients compared to normotensive pregnant women but it was not significant (p = 0.18). In addition, there was only a significantly reverse correlation between NOx levels and systolic or diastolic blood pressure in preeclamtic parturients after MgSO4 treatment (r = -0384; p = 0.003 and r = -0.29; p = 0.03, respectively). This study demonstrates that administrating MgSO4 to preeclamtic patients induced significant changes in NOx production which had a major role in modulating vasculature changes in preeclamsia.     

Two new antioxidant malonated caffeoylquinic acid isomers in fruits of wild eggplant relatives

Fruits of the cultivated eggplant species Solanum melongena and its wild relative Solanum incanum have a high content of hydroxycinnamic acid conjugates, which are implicated in the human health benefits of various fruits and vegetables. Monocaffeoylquinic acid esters, in particular 5-O-(E)-caffeoylquinic acid, are usually predominant in solanaceous fruits and tubers. Two closely related caffeoylquinic acid derivatives with longer C(18) HPLC retention times than those of monocaffeoylquinic acids are minor constituents in cultivated eggplant fruit. In a prior study, the two compounds were tentatively identified as 3-O-acetyl- and 4-O-acetyl-5-O-(E)-caffeoylquinic acids and composed ≤2% of the total hydroxycinnamic acid conjugates in fruit of most S. melongena accessions. It was recently found that the pair of these caffeoylquinic acid derivatives can compose 15-25% of the total hydroxycinnamic acid conjugates in fruits of S. incanum and wild S. melongena. This facilitated C(18) HPLC isolation and structural elucidation using (1)H and (13)C NMR techniques and HR-ToF-MS. The isomeric compounds were identified as 3-O-malonyl-5-O-(E)-caffeoylquinic acid (isomer 1) and 4-O-(E)-caffeoyl-5-O-malonylquinic acid (isomer 2). Both exhibited free radical scavenging activity, albeit about 4-fold lower than that of the flavonol quercetin dihydrate. By contrast, the iron chelation activities of isomers 1 and 2, respectively, were about 3- and 6-fold greater than that of quercetin dihydrate. Reports of malonylhydroxycinnamoylquinic acids are rare, and only a few of these compounds have been structurally elucidated using both NMR and MS techniques. To the authors' knowledge, these two malonylcaffeoylquinic acid isomers have not previously been reported.     

The phenotypic and genotypic characterization of Bacillus anthracis isolates from Iran

To understand epidemiology of Bacillus anthracis in Iran, the morphological, biochemical, and virulence specifications of 32 B. anthracis isolates, collected from human, sheep, cattle, goat, and environmental specimens obtained from throughout Iran were examined by conventional and molecular approaches. B. anthracis isolates were characterized in multiple ways: (1) capsule formation both on bicarbonate agar and in defibrinated horse blood, (2) motility of vegetative forms, (3) hemolysis on 5% sheep blood agar, (4) penicillin G susceptibility, (5) lecithinase production on egg yolk agar, (6) gelatin hydrolysis, (7) ability to develop “string of pearls” on tryptose agar, and (8) capability to develop mucoid colonies in presence of CO₂ were assessed. In addition, biochemical properties such as indole, methyl red, catalase, citrate utilization, and finally nitrate reduction tests were used. All the tested isolates produced identical morphological and biochemical patterns with those of the vaccine strain B. anthracis 34F2 Sterne. In order to assess potential virulence of isolates at genomic level, PCR protocols assaying for the pXO1 and pXO2 loci were employed. The intriguing high level of phenotypic similarity between Iranian isolates of B. anthracis and the 34F2 Sterne strain deserves further studies at genomic level.     

The population structure of Salmonella enterica Enteritidis in Iran analyzed by multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis

Salmonella enterica Enteritidis is the most frequent etiological agent of salmonellosis in humans and poultry. To understand the genetic diversity of S. Enteritidis in Iran, we examined 69 chicken isolates from 18 broiler farms and six non-epidemic human isolates from six geographically distant provinces by multi-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA). Among SE2, SE3, SE5, SE7, SE8, SENTR4, and SENTR7, only SE5 with four and SENTR7 with two alleles, respectively, proved variable giving estimates of locus genetic diversity of 0.58 and 0. In all, six closely related MLVA profiles were identified among which three were commonly represented by human and chicken isolates. This population homogeneity contrasts with the high diversity at these loci reported elsewhere and is likely a consequence of a single clone of S. Enteritidis distributed across Iran.     

Trend of fertilizer application during the last three decades (Case study: America,Australia, Iran and Malaysia)

The use of chemical fertilizers in four countries (Iran, Malaysia, Australia and US) was compared over a period of 30 years. Results showed that the use of nitrogen as a nutrient in Australia, Iran and Malaysia had a wide change due to the population growth and the need to provide food for the community. By growing the trend of urbanization, the ratio of population parameters of arable land has been reached from 3 ha/person in 1980 to less than 2 ha/person in 2010. Finally, the ratio between the main nutrient elements in Iran, Malaysia, the US and Australia was 100-70-0.2, 100-80-145, 100-43-51 and 100-329-100 in 2010, respectively. Regardless of the specific reasons and differences in sources of soil, crop and climate in these countries, the ratio in US is much closer to the balance of plant and stabilizes the long optimum ratio during the period.