Study of Red Wine Neuroprotection on Astrocytes

Phenolic composition of wine depends not only on the grape variety from which it is made, but on some external factors such as winemaking technology. Red wine possesses the most antioxidant effect because of its high polyphenolic content. The aim of this work is to study for the first time, the neuroprotective activity of four monovarietal Spanish red wines (Merlot (ME), Tempranillo (T), Garnacha (G) and Cabernet-Sauvignon (CS)) through its antioxidant ability, and to relate this neuroprotection to its polyphenolic composition, if possible. The wine effect on neuroprotection was studied through its effect as free radical scavenger against FeSO₄, H₂O₂ and FeSO₄ + H₂O₂. Effect on cell survival was determined by 3(4,5-dimethyltiazol-2-il)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium reduction assay (MTT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assay on astrocytes cultures. Results showed that most of the studied wine varieties induced neuroprotection through their antioxidant ability in astrocytes, Merlot being the most active; this variety is especially rich in phenolic compounds, mainly catechins and oligomeric proanthocyanidins. Our results show that red wine exerts a protection against oxidative stress generated by different toxic agents and that the observed neuroprotective activity is related to their polyphenolic content.     

Determination of insoluble, soluble, and total dietary fiber in foods and food products: interlaboratory study

A collaborative study was conducted to determine the insoluble dietary fiber (IDF), soluble dietary fiber (SDF), and total dietary fiber (TDF) content of food and food products by using a combination of enzymatic and gravimetric procedures. The method was basically the same as that developed for TDF only, which was adopted official final action by AOAC, except for changing the concentration of buffer and base and substituting hydrochloric acid for phosphoric acid. These changes were made to improve the robustness of the method. Duplicate blind samples of soy isolate, white wheat flour, rye bread, potatoes, rice, corn bran, oats, Fabulous Fiber, wheat bran, and a high fiber cereal were analyzed by 13 collaborators. Dietary fiber values (IDF, SDF, and TDF) were calculated as the weight of residue minus the weight of protein and ash. The coefficients of variation (CVs) of both the independent TDF determination and the sum of IDF and SDF were better than 15 and 18%, respectively, with the exception of rice and soy isolate. These 2 foods, however, contained only about 1% TDF. The CVs of the IDF were equally good, except for Fabulous Fiber, for which filtration problems occurred. The CVs for the SDF were somewhat high, but these products had very low SDF content. There was excellent agreement between the TDF determined independently and the TDF determined by summing the IDF and SDF. The method for separate determination of IDF and SDF requires further study. The modifications (changes in concentration of buffer and base and the use of hydrochloric acid instead of phosphoric acid) to the official final action method for TDF have been adopted.     

Migration of eels tagged in the Baltic Sea and Lake Mälaren—in the context of the stocking question

Eels (Anguilla spp.) are in decline worldwide, and the signs of reduced recruitment have been observed in continental Europe since the early 1970s. To aid recovery of the European eel, stocking is used by many European countries as a management option. In this study, tagging experiments were conducted to follow eel migration from Lake Mälaren and four sites along the Swedish east coast in the Baltic Sea. The recaptured tagged eels were retrieved from fishermen, allowing for the opportunity to investigate their origin (brackish water, stocked in freshwater or a mix in between) by otolith microchemistry and to assess for morphological differences after tagging. Several changes took place; for example, eye index increased while weight and condition decreased with migrated distance and time until recapture. In Lake Mälaren, the majority of tagged eels did not migrate out of the outlets, irrespective of their origin. Most of them were caught in the opposite direction and continued to be caught in the lake 1–3 years after tagging, with significant weight losses. Overall, overwintering is suggested to be an inferior option, but it is uncertain whether this is a natural behaviour or a result of translocation and restocking. For coastal eels, origin had no effect on migratory behaviour; a majority of the tagged eels migrated towards the outlet of the Baltic Sea. Interestingly, a minority of the recaptured eels originated from stocked fish. Instead, recaptures were dominated by natural immigrants that had spent most of their lives in brackish waters.     

Uptake and distribution of calcium and phosphorus in beech (Fagus sylvatica) as influenced by aluminum and nitrogen

We studied the effects of excess nitrogen added as nitrate (NO(3) (-)) or ammonium (NH(4) (+)), or both, on mineral nutrition and growth of beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) plants grown at pH 4.2 in Al-free nutrient solution or in solutions containing 0.1 or 1.0 mM AlCl(3). A high external concentration of NH(4) (+) increased the concentration of nitrogen in roots, stems and leaves. The root/shoot dry weight ratio was less in plants grown in the presence of NH(4) (+) than in plants grown in the presence of NO(3) (-). The concentration of phosphorus in the roots was increased and the concentration of potassium in all parts of the plant was decreased by NH(4) (+). A high external concentration of NO(3) (-) caused a decrease in phosphorus concentrations of the root, stem and leaf. Uptake of (45)Ca(2+) by roots was reduced in the presence of high concentrations of NH(4) (+) or NO(3) (-), and a combination of high concentrations of nitrogen and aluminum further reduced the uptake of (45)Ca(2+). Uptake of phosphate ((32)P) and concentrations of phosphorus in root and shoot were increased when plants were grown in the presence of 0.1 mM Al. Exposure to 1.0 mM Al, however, reduced the concentration of phosphorus in roots and shoots and the reduction was greater when plants were grown in the presence of a high external NO(3) (-) concentration. Aluminum binds to roots, and plants grown in the presence of 1.0 mM Al had a slightly higher concentration of aluminum in roots than plants grown in the presence of 0.1 mM Al, whereas the concentration of Al in the shoot was increased 2 to 3 times in plants exposed to 1.0 mm Al. Furthermore, the effects of 1.0 mM Al on uptake of other macronutrients were quite different from the effects of 0.1 mM Al. We conclude that 0.1 mM Al facilitates uptake and transport of phosphorus in beech and that between 0.1 and 1.0 mM Al there is a dramatic change in the effects of Al on uptake and transport of divalent cations and phosphorus.     

Chemokine gene silencing in decidual stromal cells limits T cell access to the maternal-fetal interface

The chemokine-mediated recruitment of effector T cells to sites of inflammation is a central feature of the immune response. The extent to which chemokine expression levels are limited by the intrinsic developmental characteristics of a tissue has remained unexplored. We show in mice that effector T cells cannot accumulate within the decidua, the specialized stromal tissue encapsulating the fetus and placenta. Impaired accumulation was in part attributable to the epigenetic silencing of key T cell-attracting inflammatory chemokine genes in decidual stromal cells, as evidenced by promoter accrual of repressive histone marks. These findings give insight into mechanisms of fetomaternal immune tolerance, as well as reveal the epigenetic modification of tissue stromal cells as a modality for limiting effector T cell trafficking.     

Seroepidemiological studies of zoonotic infections in hunters in southeastern Austria--prevalences,risk factors,and preventive methods

The aim of this study was to investigate the seroprevalences to zoonotic pathogens in hunters, to propose preventive measures and to obtain more information about the occurrence of zoonotic pathogens in local wild animal populations. From 146 male and 3 female hunters originating from the south-eastern Austrian federal states of Styria and Burgenland blood samples were taken and anamnestic data were obtained using a questionnaire. The serological investigations included the following viral, bacterial and parasitic zoonotic agents or zoonoses, respectively (antibody-seroprevalences in brackets): encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV, 15%), Puumala-Hantavirus (10%), Newcastle Disease virus (NDV, 4%), borreliosis (IgG 42%, IgM 7%), brucellosis (1%), chlamydiosis (3%), ehrlichiosis (IgG 15%, IgM 3%), leptospirosis (10%), tularaemia (3%), Q fever (0%), Echinococcus multilocularis/E. granulosus (5%/11%), toxocariasis (17%). Out of a control group of 50 persons (urban population, no hunters) only one person was found to be seropositive for Toxocara canis and NDV and four for EMCV, all other results were negative in the control group. The high seroprevalences especially to Borrelia burgdorferi s.l., Ehrlichia spp., Leptospira interrogans, E. granulosus, E. multilocularis, encephalomyocarditis virus and Puumala virus demonstrate that hunters are particularly exposed to zoonotic pathogens. It should also be noted that one hunter was seropositive for Brucella abortus and five exhibited antibodies to Francisella tularensis. In these cases, as well as in the cases of the 15 seropositives for Leptospira interrogans, the suspected source of infection may--besides rodents--also include wild boars and brown hares. The infections with NDV and Chlamydophila psittaci may be traced back to contact with certain species of birds (potential risk: aviaries). For Hantaviruses, rodents are considered to be the main source of human infections.     

Diagnosis of bacterial kidney disease by detection of Renibacterium salmoninarum by real-time PCR

Bacterial kidney disease (BKD), caused by Renibacterium salmoninarum (Rs), is a serious threat to salmon in aquaculture as well as to wild populations. We have developed a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection of Rs in kidney samples. The PCR is based on detection of unique parts of the 16S rRNA gene of Rs and DNA equivalent to 1-10 Rs genomes was detected per reaction. No cross-reactivity with other fish pathogenic or related bacteria could be demonstrated. Analysis of individual kidney samples collected from BKD classified populations identified 39.9% of the fish as positive by real-time PCR compared with 28.0% by polyclonal enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The real-time PCR assay was found to be well suited for complementary use with ELISA for diagnosis of BKD, with the ability to detect clinical as well as covert Rs infections. The infection level determined by the polyclonal ELISA and by real-time PCR was significantly correlated.     

Genomic selection in American mink (Neovison vison) using a single-step genomic best linear unbiased prediction model for size and quality traits graded on live mink

Genomic selection relies on single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which are often collected using medium-density SNP arrays. In mink, no such array is available; instead, genotyping by sequencing (GBS) can be used to generate marker information. Here, we evaluated the effect of genomic selection for mink using GBS. We compared the estimated breeding values (EBVs) from single-step genomic best linear unbiased prediction (SSGBLUP) models to the EBV from ordinary pedigree-based BLUP models. We analyzed seven size and quality traits from the live grading of brown mink. The phenotype data consisted of ~20,600 records for the seven traits from the mink born between 2013 and 2016. Genotype data included 2,103 mink born between 2010 and 2014, mostly breeding animals. In total, 28,336 SNP markers from 391 scaffolds were available for genomic prediction. The pedigree file included 29,212 mink. The predictive ability was assessed by the correlation (r) between progeny trait deviation (PTD) and EBV, and the regression of PTD on EBV, using 5-fold cross-validation. For each fold, one-fifth of animals born in 2014 formed the validation set. For all traits, the SSGBLUP model resulted in higher accuracies than the BLUP model. The average increase in accuracy was 15% (between 3% for fur clarity and 28% for body weight). For three traits (body weight, silky appearance of the under wool, and guard hair thickness), the difference in r between the two models was significant (P < 0.05). For all traits, the regression slopes of PTD on EBV from SSGBLUP models were closer to 1 than regression slopes from BLUP models, indicating SSGBLUP models resulted in less bias of EBV for selection candidates than the BLUP models. However, the regression coefficients did not differ significantly. In conclusion, the SSGBLUP model is superior to conventional BLUP model in the accurate selection of superior animals, and, thus, it would increase genetic gain in a selective breeding program. In addition, this study shows that GBS data work well in genomic prediction in mink, demonstrating the potential of GBS for genomic selection in livestock species.