Protective Effect of Sulforaphane on Reproductive Function of Male Mice with Cadmium Poisoning

The study was aimed to explore the protective effect of sulforaphane (SFN) on the reproductive function of male mice with cadmium poisoning.40 healthy clean grade male Kunming mice were randomly divided into four groups:control group (H₂O),cadmium chloride group (2.3 mg/kg CdCl₂),sulforaphane group (10 mg/kg SFN),sulforaphane + cadmium chloride group (10 mg/kg SFN+2.3 mg/kg CdCl₂),and continuous administration for 10 d,all mice were executed by dislocated cervical vertebra at 2 d after the last administration,and then the pathologic changes of testicular tissues,organ coefficient of testicle and epididymis,sperm quality and concentration of testosterone were tested.Additionally,the contents of GSH and MDA,and the activities of T-SOD in testis were also detected at the same time. Compared with the control group,pathology damages were observed in cadmium chloride group,organ coefficient of testis and epididymis,sperm quality and levels of testosterone extremely significantly decreased (P<0.01),the activities of T-SOD and GSH content were extremely significantly decreased (P<0.01),and the concentration of MDA was extremely significantly enhanced (P<0.01).Compared with the control group,the activity of T-SOD and concentration of GSH in sulforaphane group were significantly increased (P<0.05),and the concentration of MDA was not significant different between the control group and sulforaphane group (P>0.05).While compared with the cadmium chloride group,the sperm motility rate and sperm total count in sulforaphane and cadmium chloride group were extremely significantly increased (P<0.01),the organ coefficient of testicle and epididymis was increased significantly (P<0.05),the concentration of GSH and activity of T-SOD in testicular tissue were extremely significantly increased (P<0.01),and the concentration of MDA was extremely significantly decreased (P<0.01).The results indicated that sulforaphane had the protection effect on reproduction function of male mice with cadmium poisoning.     

Effects of Donor Cells Treated with Egg Extracts on the Development Competence of Cloned Embryos

Japanese Balck cattle fetal fibroblasts (JBCFF) were induced with Xenopus leavis egg extracts and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) was carried out with the reprogrammed JBCFF as donor cells in order to investigate their effects on SCNT efficiency.Three samples of egg extracts were acquired from different Xenopus laevis.The protein contents and kinds in extracts were evaluated with BCA Protein Quantification Kit and SDS-PAGE.Concentration of Digitonin to permeabilize JBCFF was optimized and assessed with PI staining.Reprogrammed cells treated with egg extract were used as donor in SCNT.Additionally the reconstructed embryos were activated with ionomycin+6-DMAP and A23187+6-DMAP to compare their effects on the development competence.The protein contents of extracts samples were 56.2255,64.6570 and 71.2158 μg/mL,respectively,the each extract had the same composition about 40-55 and 70-100 ku.The optimal concentration of Digitonin was 7 μg/mL and the permeabilization rate was 55.44%.After extracts treatment and continuous culture for 6-7 d,JBCFF formed well-defined colony structures.No significant composition difference was found in rates of fusion (92.83% vs 96.04%),cleavage (89.64% vs 89.78%) and blastocyst formation (24.06% vs 23.12%) of cloned embryos when the colony cells and JBCFF without extracts treatment were used as donor cells (P>0.05).Similarly,the two activation methods had no significant effect on the developmental competence of cloned embryos (cleavage rate 92.16% vs 92.28%,blastocyst rate 23.21% vs 24.18%).Conclusively,Xenopus leavis,egg extracts could induce JBCFF reprogramming to a low differentiated state.However donor cells with reprogramming partially could not improve the development of cloned embryos and its mechanism requires further research.     

Analysis on Differential Expression Genes in Porcine Aortic Vascular Endothelial Cells Induced by Apolipoprotein C Ⅲ

The aim of this study was to investigate the differential expression genes induced by ApoCⅢ,and study the function of ApoCⅢ.Porcine aortic vascular endothelial cells were successfully isolated using enzyme digestion,and then screened the differential expression genes induced by ApoCⅢ using the Solexa high-throughput sequencing technology.The results showed 647 differential expression genes,including 390 up-regulated genes and 257 down-regulated genes.The qRT-PCR results verified that the gene expression results from Solexa sequencing data were reliable.GO and Pathway analysis showed that the function of differential expression genes were related to immune response,cell apoptosis and death.These findings suggested that ApoCⅢ affected the physiological function of porcine aortic endothelial cells by the molecular pathways of inflammation,cell adhesion and apoptosis,which provided a theoretical basis for further understanding the molecular mechanisms of atherosclerosis caused by ApoCⅢ.     

Effect of Vitamin E on Bovine Granulosa Cells Apoptosis and Proliferation through Cx43

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of vitamin E on Cx43,the mechanism and function of vitamin E on bovine granulosa cells apoptosis and proliferation.In this study,granulosa cells were isolated from bovine ovary and cultivated in vitro by adding different concentration of vitamin E (0,25,50,100,200 and 500 μmol/L) for 24 h.After cultured,apoptotic cells were detected by FCM,mRNA expression levels of BCL2/BAX、P53 and Cx43 genes were determined by Real-time PCR and cell proliferation was detected by CCK8.The results showed that compared to control group,100 μmol/L vitamin E could significantly inhibit the apoptosis of granulosa cells (P<0.05).Real-time PCR detection results showed that vitamin E significantly changed the mRNA expression levels of BCL2/BAX,P53,Cx43 genes (P<0.05).Vitamin E could significantly improve granulosa cells proliferation when granulosa cells were treated for 24 and 36 h (P<0.05).The results provided a theoretical basis on further analysis for studing the influence mechanism of vitamin E on oocytes development and maturity,and improvement of female animal reproduction by influencing granulosa cells proliferation and apoptosis.     

Screening of Probiotics Inhibiting E. coli K88 in vitro

The probiotics tested in the experiment were isolated from the intestinal of weaning piglets.The isolated probiotics and E.coli K88 were inoculated into the culture of intestinal porcine epithelial cell-1 (IPEC-1).The activity of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in the supernatant was measured after incubating for 2.5 h.At the same time, the probiotics and E.coli K88 were co-cultured in vitro, the number of E.coli K88 was counted and the probiotics which could be resistant to the E.coli K88 were selected 2.5 h later.The results showed that the Lactobacillus casei and Bacillus coagulans could significantly reduce LDH activity (P<0.05), decrease the damage of E.coli K88; Bacillus coagulans could inhibit the growth of E.coli K88.At the same time, Bacillus coagulans could resist high temperature, acid and bile salt.The results showed that Bacillus coagulans strains had great potential as the application of probiotics strains.The methods could be used as a model of screen probiotics which could inhibit the growth of E.coli K88 in vitro.     

Effects of apple pomace proportion levels on the fermentation quality of total mixed ration silage and its digestibility,preference and ruminal fermentation in beef cows

Four Japanese black beef cows were used in a 4 × 4 Latin square to evaluate the fermentation quality, digestibility, ruminal fermentation and preference of total mixed ration (TMR) silages prepared with differing proportions of apple pomace (AP). Experimental treatments were the control (no AP added, CAP), 5% (low, LAP), 10% (medium, MAP) and 20% (high, HAP) of TMR dry matter (DM) as AP. All TMR silages were well preserved. Ethanol was produced in silages containing AP and the amount increased with the proportion of AP (P < 0.05). Nutrient digestibility with LAP, MAP and HAP treatment was lower than that with CAP treatment (P < 0.05). The ruminal molar proportion of acetic acid increased (P < 0.05), but the ruminal ammonia‐N concentration decreased (P < 0.05) as the proportion of AP increased. The preference of the animals was highest for HAP, followed by MAP, CAP and LAP. This study demonstrates that decrease in nutrient digestibility might be related to the ethanol produced naturally from AP. Therefore, the proportion of AP in TMR silages should be less than 5% of dietary DM.     

INVITED REVIEW—IMAGE REGISTRATION IN VETERINARY RADIATION ONCOLOGY: INDICATIONS,IMPLICATIONS, AND FUTURE ADVANCES

The field of veterinary radiation therapy (RT) has gained substantial momentum in recent decades with significant advances in conformal treatment planning, image‐guided radiation therapy (IGRT), and intensity‐modulated (IMRT) techniques. At the root of these advancements lie improvements in tumor imaging, image alignment (registration), target volume delineation, and identification of critical structures. Image registration has been widely used to combine information from multimodality images such as computerized tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography (PET) to improve the accuracy of radiation delivery and reliably identify tumor‐bearing areas. Many different techniques have been applied in image registration. This review provides an overview of medical image registration in RT and its applications in veterinary oncology. A summary of the most commonly used approaches in human and veterinary medicine is presented along with their current use in IGRT and adaptive radiation therapy (ART). It is important to realize that registration does not guarantee that target volumes, such as the gross tumor volume (GTV), are correctly identified on the image being registered, as limitations unique to registration algorithms exist. Research involving novel registration frameworks for automatic segmentation of tumor volumes is ongoing and comparative oncology programs offer a unique opportunity to test the efficacy of proposed algorithms.     

Isolation and characterization of antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli from national horse racetracks and private horse-riding courses in Korea

Limited information is available regarding horse-associated antimicrobial resistant (AR) Escherichia (E.) coli. This study was designed to evaluate the frequency and characterize the pattern of AR E. coli from healthy horse-associated samples. A total of 143 E. coli (4.6%) were isolated from 3,078 samples collected from three national racetracks and 14 private horse-riding courses in Korea. Thirty of the E. coli isolates (21%) showed antimicrobial resistance to at least one antimicrobial agent, and four of the AR E. coli (13.3%) were defined as multi-drug resistance. Most of the AR E. coli harbored AR genes corresponding to their antimicrobial resistance phenotypes. Four of the AR E. coli carried class 1 integrase gene (intI1), a gene associated with multi-drug resistance. Pulsed-field gel electrophoretic analysis showed no genetic relatedness among AR E. coli isolated from different facilities; however, cross-transmissions between horses or horses and environments were detected in two facilities. Although cross-transmission of AR E. coli in horses and their environments was generally low, our study suggests a risk of transmission of AR bacteria between horses and humans. Further studies are needed to evaluate the risk of possible transmission of horse-associated AR bacteria to human communities through horse riders and horse-care workers.     

Nanosize of zinc oxide and the effects on zinc digestibility,growth performances,immune response and serum parameters of weanling piglets

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of nanosize zinc on zinc digestibility, growth performances, immune response and serum parameters of weanling piglets. Ninety‐six LYD weanling piglets were assigned to control, zinc oxide (ZnO), organic‐Zn (Zn‐methionine) and nanosize ZnO (nano‐Zn) groups with four replicates. The zinc was at the 120 mg/kg level in the treatment group's diet, while the control group's was 80 mg/kg Zn. The experiment results indicated that the nano‐Zn and organic‐Zn groups had significantly higher Zn digestibility compared to the ZnO and control groups. For the immune response traits, the IgG level and goat red blood cells (GRBC) antibody titer were nano‐Zn and organic‐Zn>ZnO>control; in the phytohemagglutinin (PHA) challenge test result, nano‐Zn>organic‐Zn>ZnO>control; in regard to the γ‐globulin level, nano‐Zn and organic‐Zn>ZnO and control, with significant difference between groups. In the serum parameters aspect, serum Zn concentration in nano‐Zn and organic‐Zn groups were higher than in the ZnO and control groups, serum growth hormone concentration was increased in the nano‐Zn group than in the other groups. In conclusion, nanosize zinc oxide for dietary supplementation can increase zinc digestibility, serum growth hormone levels and carbonic anhydrase activity and enhance the immune response of weanling piglets.     

Effects of apple pomace‐mixed silage on growth performance and meat quality in finishing pigs

We measured the growth performance and meat quality of 10 crossbred (Yorkshire × Duroc × Landrace) neutered male pigs to evaluate the effects of apple pomace‐mixed silage (APMS). The pigs were divided into two groups and were respectively fed the control feed and the AMPS ad libitum during the experiment. No difference was found in the finished body weight, average daily gain, carcass weight, back fat thickness or dressing ratio between the control and the AMPS treatments, but average dairy feed intake (dry matter) was significantly lower and feed efficiency was significantly higher using the APMS treatment (P < 0.05). With regard to meat quality, the APMS increased the moisture content but decreased the water holding capacity (P < 0.05) compared with the control treatment. Furthermore, the APMS affected the fatty acid composition of the back fat by increasing linoleic acid (C18:2n6), linolenic acid (C18:3) and arachidic acid (C20:0) levels, while decreasing palmitic acid (C16:0), palmitoleic acid (C16:1) and heptadecenoic acid (C17:1) levels, compared with the control treatment. These results indicate that feeding fermented apple pomace to finishing pigs increases the feed efficiency and affects the meat quality and fatty acid composition of back fat.