Comparative study on hypocholesterolemic effect of Rhodopseudomonas palustris and Rhodobacter capsulatus on rats fed a high cholesterol diet

This comparative study was to investigate the hypocholesterolemic effects of dietary Rhodopseudomonas palustris and Rhodobacter capsulatus on rats fed a high cholesterol diet. Thirty male Wister–Imamichi rats were assigned to three groups and fed on either a high cholesterol diet, or a high cholesterol diet supplemented with 2.0% R. palustris or R. capsulatus for 4 weeks. Compared to the control diet, both of the R. palustris and R. capsulatus supplemented diets significantly reduced the serum cholesterol, triglycerides, low‐density lipoprotein, very low density lipoprotein cholesterol and hepatic triglycerides, but increased hepatic cholesterol in rats. In addition, both of the R. palustris and R. capsulatus supplemented diets may reduce the risk of atherosclerosis, as the ratio of high density lipoprotein cholesterol to the total cholesterol was significantly higher than in the control group (P < 0.05). Both the R. palustris and R. capsulatus supplemented diets led to an increase in the serum palmitic acid, compared with the oleic acid and linoleic acid. No significant differences were postulated between the rats fed R. palustris and R. capsulatus supplemented diets during the 4 weeks of the experimental period. Thus, the results may suggest that both R. palustris and R. capsulatus can contribute significant health benefits and seems to be feasible to investigate in future research.     

Variations of blood corpuscles and immunoglobulin G of plasma and milk in placenta-fed sows

The objective of the present study was to investigate the variations of blood corpuscle and immunoglobulin G (IgG) of plasma and milk in sows fed placenta. The first experiment was designed with two groups, the experimental group (Ex: with placenta) and the control (Ct: without placenta) depending on whether they were fed placenta or not. The second experiment was designed using varying condition of placenta (fresh: Fp or cooked: Cp) and amounts of placenta (900 g or 1800 g) according to 2 × 2 factorial design. The number of erythrocytes were higher (P < 0.05) in Ct than in Ex on day 1 of Experiment 1. It was greater in Fp than in Cp on day 3 (P < 0.01) and day 8 (P < 0.05) in Experiment 2. The concentration of hemoglobin was greater (P < 0.05) in Fp than in Cp on day 3 in Experiment 2. In Experiment 1, the concentration of IgG in milk was significantly greater in Ex than in Ct on day 15 (P < 0.05) and day 20 (P < 0.01). In Experiment 2, the concentration of IgG in plasma was significantly greater in Fp than in Cp from day 3 to day 20 (P < 0.05). The concentration of IgG in milk was greater (P < 0.05) in Fp than in Cp on day 1 in Experiment 2. The results indicate that, when supplied as a feed, fresh placenta affected the IgG in the plasma and milk of sows.     

An unusual example of fracture healing

The authors report the natural healing of a fractured femur in a young puppy where the whole diaphysis had been lost.     

华北冬小麦条锈病流行规律研究

 小麦条锈病(Puccinia glumarum Erik.et Henn.)是我国冬小麦区小麦最主要的病害,每年都有不同程度的发生,1950的年曾在全国范围内大流行,据估计损失约在一百三十亿斤左右。