GLP1 and GIP are involved in the action of synbiotics in broiler chickens

Background: In order to discover new strategies to replace antibiotics in the post-antibiotic era in meat-type chicken production, two new synbiotics were tested:(Lactobacillus salivarius IBB3154 plus galactooligosaccharide(Syn1) and Lactobacillus plantarum IBB3036 plus raffinose family oligosaccharides(Syn2).Methods: The synbiotics were administered via syringe, using a special automatic system, into the egg air chamber of Cobb 500 broiler chicks on the 12 thday of egg incubation(2 mg of prebiotics + 105 cfu bacteria per egg).Hatched roosters(total 2,400) were reared on an experimental farm, kept in pens(75 animals per pen), with free access to feed and water. After 42 d animals were slaughtered. Blood serum, pancreas, duodenum and duodenum content were collected.Results: Syn2 increased trypsin activity by 2.5-fold in the pancreas and 1.5-fold in the duodenal content. In the duodenum content, Syn2 resulted in ca 30% elevation in lipase activity and 70% reduction in amylase activity.Syn1 and Syn2 strongly decreased expression of m RNA for GLP-1 and GIP in the duodenum and for GLP-1 receptors in the pancreas. Simultaneously, concentrations of the incretins significantly diminished in the blood serum(P 0.05). The decreased expression of incretins coincides with changed activity of digestive enzymes in the pancreas and in the duodenal content. The results indicate that incretins are involved in the action of Syn1 and Syn2 or that they may even be their target. No changes were observed in key hormones regulating metabolism(insulin, glucagon, corticosterone, thyroid hormones, and leptin) or in metabolic indices(glucose,NEFA, triglycerides, cholesterol). Additionally, synbiotics did not cause significant changes in the activities of alanine and aspartate aminotransferases in broiler chickens. Simultaneously, the activity of alkaline phosphatase and gamma glutamyl transferase diminished after Syn2 and Syn1, respectively.Conclusion: The selected synbiotics may be used as in ovo additives for broiler chickens, and Syn2 seems to improve their potential digestive proteolytic and lipolytic ability. Our results suggest that synbiotics can be directly or indirectly involved in incretin secretion and reception.     

Retrospective Biomolecular Investigation of Coxiella burnetii and Leptospira spp. DNA in Cases of Abortion,Stillbirth and Neonatal Mortality in Dogs and Cats

Abortion and neonatal mortality are events that can occur in breeding bitches and queens. It has been reported that up to 55% and 33% of these cases remain without a known cause, respectively, in canine and feline pregnancies. Unusual abortigenic and potentially zoonotic agents, including Coxiella burnetii and Leptospira spp., may be involved in these cases. C. burnetii is able to cause reproductive disorders in cattle, sheep and goats, and cases of abortion have been observed in dogs and cats. Moreover, several outbreaks of C. burnetii infection in humans have been caused by delivering bitches and queens, and some of these animals experienced abortion. Leptospira interrogans sensu lato is able to cause abortion or stillbirth in several animal species and its abortigenic role has occasionally been described in bitches and queens. The aim of this study was to search for C. burnetii and Leptospira spp. DNA in a retrospective series of 103 cases of canine and feline abortion, stillbirth, and neonatal mortality submitted for the identification of possible infectious agents. One hundred and fifty-one specimens were tested using PCR assays and found negative for C. burnetii and Leptospira DNA. However, in 49 samples (47.6%) other infectious causes of abortion, stillbirth, and neonatal mortality were identified. These results showed that C. burnetii and Leptospira spp. are probably not common abortigenic agents or causes of neonatal deaths in dogs. However, given the potential abortigentic and zoonotic role of these agents, surveillance of canine and feline abortion, stillbirth, and neonatal mortality could be advisable for a systematic investigation of these events.     

Ethnobotanical Uses and Antimicrobial Properties of Plants in Small‐Scale Tropical Fish Farms: The Case of Indonesian Fish Farmers in Java (Indonesia)

Among the most common plants used by fish farmers in Java, 18 were selected for deeper ethnobotanical and laboratory investigation into their antimicrobial activity. These plants are mainly used against fish diseases, but with no precise therapeutic indication, leading to low specificity of use. Leaves, which were the most commonly used part of plants, were generally placed directly in water or less frequently added to the feed. Disk diffusion tests showed that 15 plants of the 18 (83%) displayed varying degrees of antibacterial activity and that Streptococcus agalactiae was more sensitive than Aeromonas hydrophila. Crude ethanolic extracts (EE) were more active than water macerates (WM), and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) ranged from 12.5 to 25 mg/mL. Only the EE of Piper betle had an inhibitory effect against A. hydrophila. No MIC was found for any of the WM studied here. Furthermore, both the EE and, to a lesser extent, the WM of active plants were able to reduce bacterial growth by more than 99%, even at doses below their MICs. These results suggest that these plant extracts have a potential for eco‐friendly prevention of bacterial fish diseases.     

Mycoflora and Mycotoxicological Quality of Four Freshly Harvested Paddy Rice Cultivars and Relation with Harvest to Industry Reception Timing

Grain quality and safety of four freshly harvested paddy rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars (Epagri 109,SCS 114 Andosan,Tio Taka 113 and Epagri 115 CL) grown under irrigation system in the north of Santa Catarina State,Brazil were studied.The quality parameters evaluated were mycoflora,mycotoxins (aflatoxins,ochratoxin A and zearalenone),water distribution (moisture content and water activity) apart from environmental conditions (relative humidity and temperature) and the relation between harvest and the industry reception timing.All cultivars presented an average waiting time of 8.6 h (ranged from 0.3 to 24.9 h),a total fungi load of 8.6×104 cfu/mL (ranged from 1.8×103 to 9.4×105 cfu/mL) with a rather high humidity condition of 19.0% moisture content (varied from 14.9% to 24.5%) and 0.92 water activity (varied from 0.78 to 0.99) under the average environmental conditions of 87.3% relative humidity (varied from 80.0% to 96.8%) and 25.4 ℃ (varied from 22.5 to 27.5 ℃),respectively.The conditions to which the samples were submitted allowed fungal growth,but no mycotoxins were detected.Regarding the rice cultivars fungal genera isolated,Aspergillus and Penicillium were the most often isolated among all the cultivars and variation on fungi distribution among them was not observed.Moreover,it was not found a correlation of the grain loading & unloading time with the humidity conditions and the total fungi load.Furthermore,all results and the importance of monitoring the rice mycotoxicological quality and safety were discussed.     

Daily and Annual Variation in Digestive Enzymes – Amylase and Basic and Acid Proteases – in Gilt‐head Sea Bream,Sparus aurata

This study examines the daily and annual changes in amylase and basic and acid protease activities in gilt‐head sea bream, Sparus aurata. During the experiment, the fish were kept in cages for production under natural temperature and photoperiod conditions and fed with a commercial diet. To study the effect of photoperiod and temperature, the experiments were conducted during six different months that were chosen based on temperature and photoperiod. To determine daily changes in enzymes activities, for every 3 h during 24 h period, six fish were randomly selected and sacrificed. The annual results for acid protease activity show a rhythm with 6‐mo period (bimodal rhythm) with acrophases in May and November. The activities of pancreatic enzymes, which include basic protease and amylase, exhibited parallel changes with two peaks of activity in January and October without a rhythmic pattern. The daily changes in enzyme activities are significant only in May, June, and November for basic proteases and May, October, and November for amylase (P < 0.05). The observed variations suggest a varying capacity for digestion depending on the day and the year and could aid in the study of seasonal feeding protocols.     

Application of an algal bioassay to heavy‐metal contaminated soil samples

The aim of this study was to test the effect of heavy‐metal contamination (Cu, Zn) on the growth of Chlorella kessleri. Two soils (Chernozem and Podzoluvisol) were contaminated with several amounts of copper and zinc (100–3000 ppm), and the effects of the soil eluates on the growth of the alga were examined over several days. The soil eluates inhibited algal growth in dependence on metal concentration and soil properties. It was shown that this algal assay, which was first developed for aquatic samples, in principle seems to be suitable also in monitoring soil contamination.     

Dispersion of Dissolved Contaminants in Groundwater: from Visualization Experiments to Macroscopic Simulation

In order to estimate the longitudinal and transverse dispersivities of pore networks, an explicit method, based on the calculation of the transient variation of the spatial moments of the solute concentration over a disordered medium, is used to analyze visualization miscible displacement experiments and calculate the components of velocity vector and dispersion tensor. The longitudinal dispersion coefficient commonly estimated by using the 1-D advection dispersion coefficient is smaller than that calculated by the present method which accounts for the transverse dispersivity. The numerical predictions of the contaminant spreading in a macroscopically homogeneous porous medium are reliable presuming that correct values of longitudinal and transverse dispersivity are used.     

Enteromyxum leei infection in parrotfish,Sparisoma cretense: Histopathological,morphological and molecular study

Enteromyxum leei (Myxozoa) has been identified as the aetiological agent of morbidity and mortality in captive feral parrotfish, Sparisoma cretense held at the facilities of Cretaquarium, the public aquarium of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research in Crete. The parasite caused substantial mortality to the parrotfish exceeding 60% over a period of 3.5 months. Here we describe the course of disease, the effects of the parasite on the host based on histopathological observations and we provide morphological and molecular data on the parasite.