Efficacy of intravaginal progesterone administration combined with prostaglandin f(2alpha) for cystic ovarian disease in Japanese Black cows

The objective of this study was to investigate cystic ovarian disease (COD) in commercial Japanese Black cows and to evaluate the efficacy of 7-day insertion of an intravaginal progesterone insert (CIDR) combined with prostaglandin F(2alpha) (PGF(2alpha)) at CIDR removal. Experiment 1 was conducted to group cysts into 4 patterns based on alteration of plasma progesterone (P(4)) concentrations on d -7 and d 0 (=CIDR insertion) with 1.0 ng/ml as the cut-off level by ultrasonographic examination of 28 cows with COD that were >or=40 days postpartum and anoestrous after calving. In Experiment 2, a total of 55 cows under the same conditions as in Experiment 1 were utilized, and the same regimen as in Experiment 1 was performed without 7 days of pre-observation before treatment. As a result, 92.9% of CLs on d 21 were highly formed in Experiment 1 and 83.6% were highly formed in Experiment 2. The conception rates within 60 days after CIDR removal were also satisfactory high and were 71.4% and 54.5%, respectively. There were no differences in any overall reproductive parameters between Experiments 1 and 2 (P>0.05). The average days between CIDR removal and conception were 24.4 +/- 5.3 and 24.0 +/- 6.5 days, respectively (P>0.05); therefore, the conception dates of the cows in Experiment 2 were at least 7 days earlier compared with Experiment 1. In conclusion, treatment with a CIDR and PGF(2alpha) against COD could minimize the risk of incorrect treatment and provide sufficient reproductive performance in Japanese Black cows.     

Estrogen modulates the skeletal muscle regeneration process and myotube morphogenesis: morphological analysis in mice with a low estrogen status

The purpose of this study was to elucidate the functions of estrogen and two estrogen receptors (ERs; ERα and ERβ) in the myoregeneration process and morphogenesis. Cardiotoxin (CTX) was injected into the tibialis anterior (TA) muscles of ovariectomized (OVX) mice to induce muscle injury, and subsequent myoregeneration was morphologically assessed. The diameter of regenerated myotubes in OVX mice was significantly smaller than that in intact mice at all time points of measurement. OVX mice also showed lower muscle recovery rates and slower speeds than did intact mice. ER protein levels showed a predominance of ERβ over ERα in both intact and OVX states. The ERβ level was increased significantly at 7 days after CTX injection in OVX mice and remained at a high level until 14 days. In addition, continuous administration of E2 to OVX mice in which muscle injury was induced resulted in a significantly larger diameter of regenerated myotubes than that in mice that did not receive estrogen. The results indicate that estrogen is an essential factor in the myoregeneration process since estrogen depletion delayed myoregeneration in injured muscles and administration of estrogen under the condition of a low estrogen status rescued delayed myoregeneration. The results strongly suggested that ERβ may be a factor that promotes myoregeneration more than does ERα.     

Establishment of a canine lens epithelial cell line

Some immortalized lens epithelial cell lines have been established and are useful for molecular analysis. The establishment of additional cell lines must, however, enable a variety of in-vitro examinations. The objective of this study was to establish a new canine lens epithelial cell line by isolating CLC-1 cells from the lens tissue of a dog with cataracts. In CLC-1 cells, transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) treatment significantly decreased gene expression of an epithelial marker and elevated that of mesenchymal markers; these characteristics are similar to those of a human lens epithelial cell line. Interestingly, CLC-1 cells exhibited lower expression of an epithelial marker and higher expression of mesenchymal markers than an anterior lens capsule. These results suggest that CLC-1 cells were derived from a cell population that was committed to epithelial-mesenchymal transition in cataract lens tissue. In conclusion, CLC-1 cells could be useful for analyzing molecular pathogenesis in canine cataracts.     

Infection of Rice Plants with the Sheath Blight Fungus Causes an Activation of Pentose Phosphate and Glycolytic Pathways

The response of key regulatory enzymes of the pentose phosphate and glycolytic pathways in disease development was assessed in genetically-related rice plants resistant and susceptible to the sheath blight fungus, Rhizoctonia solani. The plants were grown and maintained under greenhouse conditions and inoculated at 50% flowering. Uninoculated healthy plants served as controls. The activities of pentose phosphate pathway enzymes (glucose-6 phosphate dehydrogenase and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase) increased more than two-fold in both the resistant and susceptible plants. Activities of ATP- and pyrophosphate-dependent phosphofructokinase and phosphoenolpyruvate phosphatase increased in infected plants while activity of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase in infected plants was lower than in the healthy plants. Furthermore, for enzymes with increased activity, the levels were higher in the resistant line than in the susceptible line. The enhancement of the enzyme activities correlated well with the post infection period. These data suggest that altered carbohydrate metabolism in sheath blight infections may play an important role in modulating the rice plant's response to infection. The isolation of an infection-induced gene encoding a basic enzyme of pentose phosphate and glycolytic pathways could be used to develop plants with more resistance towards sheath blight disease.     

Antimicrobial susceptibilities of Mycoplasma isolated from bovine mastitis in Japan

Mycoplasma spp. are highly contagious pathogens and intramammary Mycoplasma infection is a serious issue for the dairy industry. As there is no effective vaccine for Mycoplasma infection, control depends on good husbandry and chemo‐antibiotic therapy. In this study, antimicrobial susceptibility of Mycoplasma strains recently isolated from cases of bovine mastitis in Japan was evaluated by minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). All Mycoplasma bovis strains were sensitive to pirlimycin, danofloxacin and enrofloxacin, but not kanamycin, oxytetracycline, tilmicosin or tylosin. M. californicum and M. bovigenitalium strains were sensitive to pirlimycin, danofloxacin, enrofloxacin, oxytetracycline, tilmicosin and tylosin, but not to kanamycin. This is the first report to describe the MIC of major antimicrobial agents for Mycoplasma species isolated from bovine mastitis in Japan.     

General Chemical Properties of Brown Forest Soils Developed from Different Parent Materials in the Submontane Zone of the Kanto and Chubu Districts, Japan

It is essential to analyze chemical properties including the amount of various materials and the soil colloid characteristics in forest soils to forecast wood production and the distribution of and variations in the environmental functions of forest soils, such as conservation of stream water and carbon sequestration. Approximately 70% of the forest soils in Japan consists of Brown Forest Soils (BFS), which are considered to be typical zonal soils under the humid-temperate and warm-temperate regime of Japan. BFS were subclassifled into several groups according to the soil moisture environment along the slope and morphological properties. However, even the same type of soil may display different properties depending on the climatic conditions, parent materials and vegetation types. In the present study, the variations in the carbon content, nitrogen content, cation exchange capacity and some properties depending on the parent materials, were clarified by using 34 sola of BFS, and 3 sola of black soils (BLS) for comparison, which were distributed in the submontane zone of the Kanto and Chubu districts in central Japan under the same climatic conditions. We observed differences in the pH, cation exchange capacity, base saturation and clay content among BFS samples derived from various parent materials. The BFS derived from volcanic ash contained obviously larger amounts of carbon and nitrogen than the BFS derived from other parent materials. However, the BFS derived from volcanic ash differed from the BLS derived from volcanic ash in the vertical distribution pattern of carbon and nitrogen. Thus, even in the submontane zone of the Kanto and Chubu districts, the chemical properties of BFS varied considerably with the parent materials. It was concluded that the classification of BFS by the parent materials was useful for evaluating the ability of the BFS, that cover 70% of the forests in Japan, to store various materials.