Clinical and histopathological findings in pustular psoriaform dermatitis (pityriasis rosea) in pigs

Three cases of pustular psoriaform dermatitis (pityriasis rosea) in pigs were clinically and histopathologically examined. Grossly, the affected skin was characterized by multiple, circumscribed lesions. Three pigs were the descendants derived from the same Landrace boar. Skin lesions expanded centrifugally to became ring-shaped plaques. There were no abnormal values in hematological and serum biochemical profiles. Histopathologically, the epidermis showed remarkable thickening. The dermal lesions were characterized by a prominent component of superficial and deep perivascular infiltration of eosinophils. Dilatation of microvasculature was accompanied with congested vessels. These results revealed that the etiology of pustular psoriaform dermatitis in pigs was associated with a hereditary predisposition derived from the specific boars. This dermatosis is histopathologically characterized by microcirculatory disturbances with infiltration of abundant eosinophils.     

Secondary erythrocytosis associated with schwannoma in a dog

An 11-year-old, spayed female mixed-breed dog showed clinical signs of right forelimb lameness and pain by palpation around the neck. Radiography and computed tomography (CT) revealed an extradural mass at the 6th and 7th cervical vertebrae, which compressed the spinal cord. The mass was surgically removed and histopathologically diagnosed as schwannoma. The dog recovered her normal gait after hemilaminectomy and removal of the mass. Ten months after the surgery, the tumor recurred with absolute erythrocytosis and was surgically removed again. This removal temporarily resolved the erythrocytosis with a decrease in plasma erythropoietin (EPO) concentration. EPO protein was detected immunohistochemically in the tumor cells. Erythrocytosis in this dog may be caused by ectopic EPO produced in the schwannoma tissues.     

Prevalence of autoantibody in cerebrospinal fluids from dogs with various CNS diseases

To examine the prevalence of autoantibody in canine cerebrospinal fluids (CSFs), CSFs were collected from 14 healthy controls and 88 clinical cases with various diseases in the central nervous system (CNS), and were analyzed by an indirect fluorescence antibody test on frozen sections of the cerebrum from normal Beagle dogs. An anti-astrocyte autoantibody was detected in 31 clinical cases with titers ranging from 1:1 to >/=1:100. All tested cases with necrotizing meningoencephalitis (NME: n=22) and granulomatous meningoencephalitis (GME: n=3) possessed the anti-astrocyte autoantibody, while the autoantibody was negative in most cases with other inflammatory CNS diseases. The autoantibody was also detected in 4 of 12 cases with brain tumors. Hence, examination of the autoantibody in the canine CFS would be significant for diagnosing NME and/or GME, as well as for understanding peritumoral events in cases with brain tumors.     

AFLP analysis of diploid species in the genus Vigna subgenus Ceratotropis

A representative set of germplasm of genusVigna subgenus Ceratotropis specieswas used to analyze genetic diversity using amplified fragment lengthpolymorphism (AFLP) methodology. The germplasm was selected based onmorphological diversity and geographic origin and includes 18 out of the 21species in the subgenus Ceratotropis. Genetic diversitywithin and between taxa was measured using information generated by AFLP bandpolymorphism from which Jaccard's similarity coefficient and nucleotidediversity were estimated. The data were also used to generate phenograms tovisualize relationships among analyzed accessions. All species in sectionsCeratotropis and Aconitifoliae arewell separated. However, most of the species in sectionAngulares show a high level of similarity suggesting a lowlevel of genetic differentiation. In section Angulares onespecies, V. trinervia, is welldifferentiated from the other species and represents a separate evolutionarybranch between section Ceratotropis and other species insection Angulares. The relationships between the newlydescribed species V. aridicola,V. exilis, V.nepalensis and V.tenuicaulis and other species in the subgenusCeratotropis are described for the first time based on AFLPdata.     

Evaluation of iron bioavailability from bonito dark muscle using anemic rats

The bioavailability of iron from ferrous sulfate (FeII-S), heme iron prepared from hemoglobin (HIP), and bonito dark muscle (BDM) was assessed in anemic rats using a hemoglobin regeneration efficiency (HRE) method. Freeze-dried BDM (FD), boiled and freeze-dried BDM (B/FD), and boiled and smoke-dried BDM (B/SD) were used as BDM source. Rats were made anemic by feeding on an iron-deficient diet for 28 days. To replete their iron levels, anemic rats were then fed on a diet containing iron at a level of 17 ppm for 14 days. Rats receiving FeII-S gained significantly more weight and had greater food intake and higher HRE compared to the other four groups. The bioavailability of iron from HIP was poor compared with that from FeII-S and BDM. When the HRE of rats fed FeII-S was 100, that of rats fed BDF was approximately 80. These results suggest that BMD is an effective dietary source of iron.     

Inhibitory activity of corn-derived bisamide compounds against alpha-glucosidase

Bioassay guided fractionation from corn gluten meal, a byproduct of a starch manufacturing plant, gave N-p-coumaroyl-N'-feruloylputrescine (1) and N,N'-diferuloylputrescine (2) as alpha-glucosidase inhibitors. Some structure-activity relationships were studied by comparing the inhibitory activity by preparing some related compounds, and it was revealed that the hydroxyl group was important for the inhibitory activity of bisamide alkaloids, but not the redox potential.     

The activity of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPS) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) in mammary tumors of dogs and rats

We conducted zymography for detecting the activity of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and reverse zymography for the activity of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) in canine spontaneous and rat 7, 12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA)-induced mammary tumor tissues. The activities of MMPs of canine mammary tumors were quite higher than those of the rat chemically induced tumors. The activities of MMPs were significantly higher in malignant tissues than in benign ones of canine tumors, whereas the activity of only MMP-2 was higher in both benign and malignant rat tumors compared to normal tissues. There were no differences of MMPs activities between benign and malignant rat tumors. The results of reverse zymography indicated that the activities of TIMP-1, -2 and -3 were strikingly higher in rat tumors than in canine tumors. The activities were higher in malignant tissues than in benign ones of dogs, and higher in tumor tissues than in normal mammary tissues of rats. The results of film in situ zymography for tissue localization of gelatinolytic activity showed that the digested area was more extended in malignant tumors than in benign ones of dogs. However, the area was similarly extended in both benign and malignant rat tumors. These results may indicate that the canine spontaneous malignant mammary tumors possess more aggressive nature than the rat chemically induced counterpart, resulting from the high level of MMPs and low level of TIMPs activities of the tumor tissues.     

在葫芦岛地区冬麦几项试验结果初报

近些年来 ,葫芦岛地区冬麦生产在逐年扩大 ,为了提高冬麦产量和以冬麦为前茬调整和优化种植业结构 ,以增加农民收入 ,我们围绕冬麦生产开展了一些试验与示范。现将试验结果初报如下 ,供参考。1　冬麦品种筛选1 .1　抗寒性鉴定通过在建昌县和尚房子乡、兴城市大寨乡和连山区金星镇试验田上鉴定结果表明 ,京 41 1越冬抗寒性居首 ,其越冬死亡率在 0～ 3.0 %。越冬死亡率最高的品种为 950 2 1 ,达 76.3%(引自金州区种子公司 )。京冬 8号越冬死亡率 0～ 1 8.4%。据调查 ,越冬死亡率在 1 5.0 %以内 ,返青后每667ｍ2 存活苗数达 1 5万株左右 ,仍然…     

Effect of hyperlipidemia on cardiovascular responses to adrenergic stimulation in piglets.

This study was designed to assess the effect of hyperlipidemia on cardiovascular responses to adrenergic stimulation in a porcine model. Four-week-old piglets (n = 10) were divided into two groups; one fed a control diet and the other was fed an atherogenic diet for 8 weeks. Cardiovascular responses were evaluated to both norepinephrine (NE; 0.5 and 2.5 micrograms/kg) and isoproterenol (ISO; 0.1 and 0.5 microgram/kg) from simultaneous recordings of femoral arterial pressure, heart rate, left intraventricular pressure and left intraventricular dP/dt. It was found that no significant difference in the baseline values of cardiovascular function was observed between the control and hyperlipidemic groups. However, in the hyperlipidemic group as compared with the control group: 1) arterial blood pressure responses to NE were significantly increased (P less than 0.05), 2) cardiac contractile responses to NE and ISO were significantly potentiated (P less than 0.05), and 3) reflex bradycardia in response to increasing arterial blood pressure did not occur. These findings indicate that hyperlipidemia can potentiate the cardiovascular responses to adrenergic stimulation, whereas reflex cardiovascular regulation is somewhat altered by hyperlipidemia. Conceivably, these observations may have relevance to the possible role of the mechanism of the interaction of hyperlipidemia and hypertension in atherogenesis.