Oral leukoplakia and costochondral hyperplasia induced by diethylnitrosamine in hamsters exposed to cigarette smoke with or without dietary vitamin C

Male Syrian golden hamsters receiving 12 weekly subcutaneous injections of diethylnitrosamine (DEN) were subjected to cigarette smoke-inhalation and fed a diet or without 1% vitamin C supplement for a period of 58 weeks. Another group was a sham-smoked control and was not fed vitamin C. Tissues of the oral cavity and costal cartilage were examined by light and/or scanning electron microscopy. Oral leukoplakia and costochondral hyperplasia occurred with high frequency in all groups treated with DEN. Leukoplakic lesions were found in the palate, tongue, and pharynx; the early change was focal erosion with mild epithelial hyperplasia and inflammatory cell infiltration. Advanced lesions had marked mucosal thickening due to acanthosis, parakeratosis, hyperkeratosis, and submucosal infiltration of lymphocytes and plasma cells. Precancerous lesions were noted in tongue and pharynx. Scanning electron microscopy of tongues revealed destruction of filiform papillae. The incidence of leukoplakic lesions were higher in smoke-exposed hamsters than in controls, but the incidence in vitamin C-supplemented hamsters was low when compared with the smoke-exposed hamsters without vitamin C. Costochondral hyperplasia was initiated by thickening of the perichondrium followed by proliferation of chondrocytes. Costochondral hyperplasia appeared earlier, and the incidence was higher in the vitamin C-supplemented hamsters. It could not be determined whether costochondral hyperplasia was the primary lesion induced by DEN or secondary change.     

Anatomically corrected malposition (ACM) with subpulmonary infundibulum in a calf: clinico-morphologic case report.

A Japanese black calf with cyanosis, tachycardia, tachypnea and systolic murmur died of hypoxemia and cardiac insufficiency on the 38th day after birth. We could not establish the diagnosis during it's life. However, anatomically corrected malposition (ACM) with ventricular septal defect was confirmed at autopsy. There was situs solitus of the viscera and atria with atrio-ventricular discordance and ventriculo-arterial concordance. The ventricles demonstrated l-loop, i.e. on the right-sided ventricle there was a markedly enlarged morphologic left ventricle, and on the left-sided ventricle there was a hypoplastic morphologic right ventricle with a stenotic tricuspid valve and Ebstein-like deformity. The right posterior aorta originated from the left ventricle. The pulmonary artery arose from the left-sided right ventricle via infundibulum. There was a fibrous continuity between the aortic and mitral valve. We considered that this is the first reported case of bovine ACM.     

Pseudorabies virus propagated in rabbit kidney-derived RK13 cells is neutralized by natural IgM antibodies in normal swine serum which specifically lyse host cells

Pseudorabies virus (PRV) propagated in rabbit kidney-derived RK-13 cells (PRV-RK) was neutralized by serum obtained from specific pathogen-free pigs through the activation of complement. The virus-neutralizing activity of swine serum was lost after treatment with ethylene glycol-bis-aminoethylether-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid (EGTA) or ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). Anti-C1q and anti-IgM antibodies also inhibited virus-neutralizing activity. Though IgG-depleted swine serum neutralized PRV, IgM and IgG-free swine serum lost virus-neutralizing activity. Pre-incubation of swine serum with RK-13 cells, but not with swine kidney-derived CPK cells, at 4 degrees C eliminated the virus-neutralizing activity to PRV-RK. Results indicated that swine serum contained natural IgM against an antigen(s) on the RK-13 cell surface and that this surface antigen was integrated into the PRV envelope during the budding process. Thus the natural IgM in swine serum reacted with the RK-13 antigen on the viral envelope, activated the complement cascade and neutralized the PRV-RK.     

Addition of Wakame seaweed (Undaria pinnatifida) stalk to animal feed enhances immune response and improves intestinal microflora in pigs

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of supplementation of Wakame seaweed stalks on the immunity and intestinal microflora of pigs. Three separate experiments were performed: Relatively young (start at 20–30 kg; Experiments 1 and 2) and fattening period (70 kg; Experiment 3). All pigs (including the control group) were fed the same commercial feed, free from antibiotic additives, but in the feed for the treatment groups, 1% seaweed powder was added. There were no group differences observed in daily weight gain and feed intake in Experiments 1 and 2 between groups; however, daily weight gain was significantly higher in the treatment group compared to the control group in Experiment 3. The percentage of peripheral blood natural killer cells of the treatment group was significantly higher than that of the control group in all experiments. Although addition of seaweed changed the gene expression of cytokine and toll‐like receptors of the small intestinal Peyer's patches slightly, seaweed seems to alter intestinal microflora preferentially, for instance, there was an increase in Lactobacillus and a decrease of Escherichia coli observed. These results suggest that Wakame seaweed can be used as supplement for pig feed to improve the gut health and immunity of pigs.     

坡面治理工程对土壤硬度和土壤厚度影响的研究

该文以日本长野县野底川流域的割泽支流域为对象 ,用土壤剖面法和简易打击试验法对坡面治理工程施工地的土壤硬度及厚度变化进行了调查 .用长谷川式简易打击机所得到的调查结果表明 ,坡面治理工程施工后的斜坡土壤硬度的变化是很复杂的 ,与土壤深度没有明显的关系 .土壤A层厚度随着坡面治理工程经过年数的增多而有增大的趋势 ,而简易打击试验所得到的打击值在 1 5cm/次以上的表层土壤厚度的变化却与坡面治理工程经过年数没有关系 ,而可能受施工时挖、填土状况的影响 .本次调查结果进一步证实为了改善植物根系的生育环境 ,必须增大表层土壤的厚度     

Changes in acute-phase proteins and cytokines in serum and milk whey from dairy cows with naturally occurring peracute mastitis caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae and the relationship to clinical outcome

This study was conducted to evaluate the changes in acute-phase proteins and cytokine concentrations in dairy cows with naturally occurring peracute Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) mastitis and their association with the outcome of the disease. Seventeen Holstein cows with K. pneumoniae mastitis from 8 dairy farms were divided on the basis of outcome after local and systemic therapy into 2 groups comprising 8 euthanized cows and 9 that recovered. Changes in acute-phase proteins and cytokine concentrations in cows with K. pneumoniae mastitis were evaluated at the onset of the disease (day 0) and at days 3, 7 and 14 after therapy and compared with those of 13 healthy dairy cows. The concentrations of haptoglobin (Hp) and interleukin (IL)-6 in serum and α(1)-acid glycoprotein and IL-1β in serum and whey on day 0 were significantly (P<0.05) higher in the euthanized cows than in those that recovered and the healthy cows. A correlation (r=0.90, P<0.01, n=17) was found between IL-6 and Hp concentrations in sera from recovered and euthanized cows at day 0. This indicated that serum concentrations of Hp and IL-6 at the initial examination were prognostic factors for survival, and the cutoff values were 2,020 μg/ml and 32 ng/ml, respectively. These results suggest that IL-6 and Hp concentrations are involved in the manifestation of K. pneumoniae mastitis and may be possible indicators of the prognosis of peracute K. pneumoniae mastitis.     

Molecular cloning, tissue expression, and subcellular localization of porcine peptidoglycan recognition proteins 3 and 4

Peptidoglycan recognition proteins (PGRPs) are innate immune molecules that are present in most invertebrates and vertebrates. Mammals have four PGRPs, PGLYRP1-4. In the present study, we cloned the cDNAs encoding porcine PGLYRP3 and 4 from the esophagus of adult swine. The length of the complete open reading frames of porcine PGLYRP3 and 4 are identical and contain 1125bp encoding 374 amino acid residues. The amino acid sequences of these two proteins were more similar to their human orthologs (78.9% [PGLYRP3] and 73.9% [PGLYRP4]) than to their mouse orthologs (71.3% [PGLYRP3] and 67.9% [PGLYRP4]). Expression analysis revealed that both PGLYRP3 and 4 were more strongly expressed in digestive tract, especially the esophagus, than in immune organs such as spleen or mesenteric lymph nodes in both newborn and adult swine. To analyze the subcellular distribution of porcine PGLYRP1-4, we constructed transfectant cell lines. Western blot and flow cytometric analyses revealed that porcine PGLYRP3 and 4 are not only secreted, but also expressed on the cell surface, unlike PGLYRP1 and 2. These results should help contribute to the understanding of PGLYRP3- and 4-mediated immune responses via their recognition of intestinal microorganisms in newborn and adult swine.     

Attributes of stand-age-dependent forest determine technosol fertility of Atlantic forest re-growing on mining tailings in Mariana,Brazil

Understanding how soil fertility changes due to environmental conditions and stand-age-dependent for-est attributes is important for local-scale forest restoration.We evaluated the effects of stand-age-dependent forest attributes (plant community composition and litter stock)on soil and technosol fertility across two second-growth Atlantic forests (SGF) after the deposition of mining tail-ings in Mariana,southeastern Brazil.We hypothesized that technosol fertility in the SGF tailings is positively affected by plant community composition variability,stand age,and litter stock.We used total exchangeable bases and organic matter as fertility indicators for technosol and soil,and spe-cies composition and litter stock as stand-age-dependent forest attributes.Our results showed significant differences in the stand-age-dependent forest attributes and soil chemi-cal properties between the two forest patches (SGF tailing and SGF non-tailing) evaluated.Thus,there was a marked gradient of litter storage and fertility between soil and tech-nosol that can be important forest recovery indicators for the affected plant communities.Furthermore,according to the tested models,we corroborated the hypothesis that techno-sol fertility is positively affected by stand age,plant com-munity composition variability,and litter stock,which may contribute considerably to forest recovery on tailings.Our results demonstrate that the fertility predictors analyzed to explain the forest recovery on tailings can also be considered as ecological indicators for assessing forest restoration in areas impacted by mining tailings in Mariana.     

Proposal of screening method for intestinal mucus adhesive lactobacilli using the enzymatic activity of glyceraldehyde‐3‐phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH)

Adhesion tests are complex, time‐consuming and expensive, while the most important criterion for a probiotic lactobacilli is the ability to adhere to the human intestine. Thirty lactobacilli isolates from human intestinal tissues were measured for cell surface glyceraldehyde‐3‐phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) activity using a microtiter plate screening method. GAPDH activities were detected in 21 out of 30 samples from 12 h cultures and in all samples from 18 h cultures. This suggests GAPDH is universally expressed on the bacterial cell surfaces from many lactobacilli. A statistically significant positive correlation was shown between GAPDH activity and adhesion using the BIACORE adhesion assay (P < 0.01). The new screening method using GAPDH enzymatic activity without an adhesion test may be possible due to the significant positive correlation of GAPDH activity with adhesion of lactobacilli derived from the human intestine.