Tooth brushing inhibits oral bacteria in dogs

In this study, scaling, polishing and daily tooth brushing were performed in 20 beagle dogs, and the number of oral bacteria was determined using a bacterial counter. The dogs were randomized into the scaling (S), scaling + polishing (SP), scaling + tooth daily brushing (SB) and scaling + polishing + tooth daily brushing (SPB) groups. Samples were collected from the buccal surface of the maxillary fourth premolars of the dogs immediately after scaling and every week thereafter from weeks 1 to 8. Throughout the study, the number of bacteria was significantly lower in the SB and SPB groups compared with the S group. The findings suggest that daily tooth brushing inhibited oral bacterial growth in the dogs.     

Therapeutic antibodies: their mechanisms of action and the pathological findings they induce in toxicity studies

Antibodies can swiftly provide therapeutics to target disease-related molecules discovered in genomic research. Antibody engineering techniques have been actively developed and these technological innovations have intensified the development of therapeutic antibodies. From the mid-1990’s, a series of therapeutic antibodies were launched that are now being used in clinic. The disease areas that therapeutic antibodies can target have subsequently expanded, and antibodies are currently utilized as pharmaceuticals for cancer, inflammatory disease, organ transplantation, cardiovascular disease, infection, respiratory disease, ophthalmologic disease, and so on. This paper briefly describes the modes of action of therapeutic antibodies. Several non-clinical study results of the pathological changes induced by therapeutic antibodies are also presented to aid the future assessment of the toxic potential of an antibody developed as a therapeutic.     

Lipid-rich bovine serum albumin improves the viability and hatching ability of porcine blastocysts produced in vitro

The effects of lipid-rich bovine serum albumin (LR-BSA) on the development of porcine blastocysts produced in vitro were examined. Addition of 0.5 to 5 mg/ml LR-BSA to porcine blastocyst medium (PBM) from Day 5 (Day 0 = in vitro fertilization) significantly increased the hatching rates of blastocysts on Day 7 and the total cell numbers in Day-7 blastocysts. When Day-5 blastocysts were cultured with PBM alone, PBM containing LR-BSA, recombinant human serum albumin or fatty acid-free BSA, addition of LR-BSA significantly enhanced hatching rates and the cell number in blastocysts that survived compared with other treatments. The diameter, ATP content and numbers of both inner cell mass and total cells in Day-6 and Day-7 blastocysts cultured with PBM containing LR-BSA were significantly higher than in blastocysts cultured with PBM alone, whereas LR-BSA had no effect on mitochondrial membrane potential. The mRNA levels of enzymes involved in fatty acid metabolism and β-oxidation (ACSL1, ACSL3, CPT1, CPT2 and KAT) in Day-7 blastocysts were significantly upregulated by the addition of LR-BSA. The results indicated that LR-BSA enhanced hatching ability and quality of porcine blastocysts produced in vitro, as determined by ATP content, blastocyst diameter and expression levels of the specific genes, suggesting that the stimulatory effects of LR-BSA arise from lipids bound to albumin.     

The effect of strain, growth stage, and cultivating condition of Ganoderma lucidum on 5α-reductase inhibition

The inhibitory effects of 102 methanol extracts of 40 mycelia, 9 culture fluids, and 53 fruiting bodies of 40 strains of Ganoderma lucidum on 5-reductase were investigated. The methanol extract of the fruiting body of each strain was found to show the strongest 5-reductase inhibitory activity among the extracts tested.     

Effects of olive leaf powder supplemented to fish feed on muscle protein of red sea bream

Olive leaf is known to have the high polyphenol content of 6–9% in dry weight. We investigated the effects of olive leaf powder (OLP) supplemented to fish feed on muscle protein of red sea bream (Pagrus major). Fish reared with feed containing 8% OLP for 40 days had 1.4 times higher myofibril content and 2.2 times higher acid-soluble collagen content than fish reared with control feed for the same period. On the other hand, sarcoplasmic protein content and collagenase activity of the muscle were almost the same between the control fish and OLP-diet fish. Microstructure observation of fish muscle showed that OLP-diet fish has more rigid endomysium structure than that of the control-diet fish. Since collagen fiber in endomysium is responsible for the texture of the muscle, feeding OLP to aquaculture fish will lead to a harder muscle texture. The present study suggests that OLP is a useful feed additive to enhance the texture of aquaculture red sea bream muscle through strengthening of the collagen structure in the muscle.     

Comparison in taste and extractive components of boiled dorsal muscle and broth from half-smooth golden puffer Lagocephalus spadiceus caught in Japan with those of the same fish imported

The taste and extractive components of boiled dorsal muscle and broth prepared from half-smooth golden puffer Lagocephalus spadiceus caught in Japan and from those imported from China were compared. In the sensory test, the first taste, elasticity, and saltiness of boiled muscle from Japanese (domestic) fish were higher than those of the imported fish, whereas the orthonasal fishy smell of the imported fish was higher than that of the domestic fish. The first taste, aftertaste, retronasal fishy smell, sweetness, saltiness, and umami of the broth prepared from dorsal muscle of the domestic fish were higher than those of the imported fish, whereas orthonasal fishy smell and bitterness of the imported fish were higher than those of the domestic fish. Most panelists preferred the overall taste of the domestic fish to that of the imported fish. The concentration of trimethylamine in the trichloroacetic acid extracts from boiled muscle and broth of the imported fish was higher than that of the domestic fish, suggesting that this substance contributes to the orthonasal fishy smell of the imported fish.     

A physically based FVM watershed model fully coupling surface and subsurface water flows

A sophisticated modeling approach for simulating-coupled surface and subsurface flows in a watershed is presented. The watershed model developed is a spatially distributed physically based model of composite dimension, consisting of 3-D variably saturated groundwater flow submodel, 2-D overland flow submodel and 1-D river flow submodel. The 3-D subsurface flow is represented by the complete Richards equation, while the 2-D and 1-D surface flows by the diffusive approximations of their complete dynamic equations. For piecewise integration of these equations, the finite volume method (FVM) is employed assuming unknown variables such as the water depth and the pressure head to be volume-averaged state ones. Problem plane geometry is meshed with the unstructured cells of triangular shape which conforms to external as well as internal irregular boundaries such as those between 1-D and 2-D flows. A cell size controlling scheme, referred to as quasi-adaptive meshing scheme, is introduced to keep the local discretization errors caused by topographic elevation gradient even over the entire-meshed geometry. Performance of the model is tested through its practical application to a rugged intermountain watershed. Tuning the values of the three key parameters ensures successful calibration of the model. Once the model is so calibrated, it could reproduce satisfactory runoff response to any rainfall event. Expansion and shrinkage of the contributing area importantly affecting the direct runoff, caused by the vicissitude of rainfall during its total duration, are well reproduced, like what the commonly accepted runoff theory argues. It is thus concluded that the model developed could serve as a powerful watershed simulator usable for investigating and assessing the hydrological aspect of a watershed.     

TGF-β and TNF-α stimulate MMP-9 production in murine epidermal keratinocytes

Matrix metalloproteinases 2 and 9 (MMP‐2 and ‐9) are zinc‐dependent metalloenzymes and have gelatin‐degrading activity. Both MMP are known to be secreted by many types of cells and play important roles in several biological changes including tissue remodeling and wound healing. In the present study, a primary culture of murine epidermal keratinocytes was prepared and effects of transforming growth factor‐β (TGF‐β), tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α) and interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ) on expression of MMP‐2 and MMP‐9 by the keratinocytes was examined. Gelatin zymography revealed that murine epidermal keratinocytes secreted proenzyme forms of MMP‐2 and MMP‐9, but the active forms of both MMP were hardly detectable, indicating that in vitro autoactivation of these proenzymes did not occur. Both TGF‐β and TNF‐α stimulated MMP‐9 production in a dose‐dependent manner, but the MMP‐2 level was not changed. Interferon‐γ hardly affected production of MMP‐2 or MMP‐9. Ribonuclease protection assay demonstrated that TNF‐α increased the level of MMP‐9 mRNA 6‐fold compared to the control, whereas TGF‐β slightly up‐regulated it. These results suggest that expression of MMP‐9 could be regulated by several cytokines in murine epidermal keratinocytes.     

Detection of Ehrlichia muris DNA from sika deer (Cervus nippon yesoensis) in Hokkaido, Japan

Ehrlichia muris DNA was detected in the blood of sika deer (Cervus nippon yesoensis) by species-specific PCR based on the citrate synthase gene, which was shown to be more sensitive than species-specific PCR based on the 16S rRNA gene. Among 102 deer examined, one deer was positive. Deer may be a possible mammalian reservoir of E. muris.