Epidermoid cyst of the ileum in a miniature dachshund dog

A 13-year-old castrated male miniature dachshund dog was presented with chronic vomiting and diarrhea. Contrast radiography and surgical exploration revealed an ileal cyst, which was excised. A diagnosis of epidermoid cyst was made from a combination of the clinical findings and histological examination of the surgical specimen.     

The effect of dietary ratios of corn silage and alfalfa hay on carbohydrate digestion and retention time of feed particles in the gastrointestinal tract of steers

Four Holstein steers fitted with duodenal cannula were used in a 4 × 4 Latin square design to investigate the effect of the combination of corn silage (CS) and alfalfa hay (AH) in different ratios on the ruminal and intestinal digestion of carbohydrates and feed particle passage rate. Steers were fed mixed diets containing both CS and AH in ratios of 80:20, 60:40, 40:60 and 20:80 on a dry matter basis at 95% of ad libitum feed intake. The increase of AH proportion in diets increased dry matter intake and ruminal digestion of dry matter, non-fiber carbohydrate, neutral and acid detergent fiber linearly. Ruminal digestibility of neutral detergent fiber showed a quadratic response, and total digestibility increased linearly with increasing AH proportion. Digestibility of acid detergent fiber in the rumen was not affected by the dietary treatments, but the total tract digestibility increased as the AH proportion increased. Mean retention time of feed particles in total compartment increased when the AH proportion increased from 20% to 60%, but decreased with further increase of the AH proportion. These results indicate that moderate combinations of CS and AH have an associative effect on ruminal fiber digestion, modifying particle movement in the rumen.     

4个群体鲢mtDNA D-loop的PCR-RFLP分析

采用PCR技术扩增了湖北监利、江西瑞昌、湖南长沙3个长江野生群体和天津宁河1个人工繁殖群体(已繁殖6代)共158尾鲢(Hypophthalmichthys molitrix)mtDNA D-loop区段,并用14种核酸内切限制酶对扩增片段进行酶切。结果显示:所有试验鱼均扩增出约1.6 kb的DNA片段,10种限制酶有酶切位点,共检测出16种单倍型,以单倍型Ⅰ为主,在各群体中所占比例为57.5%~90.0%。鲢4个群体的单倍型多样性指数、核苷酸多样性指数为0.1885~0.6526和0.001182~0.007570。瑞昌群体与监利群体的Rogers遗传距最小,为0.1250;监利群体与宁河群体的Rogers遗传距最大,为0.2693。χ2检验结果显示4个群体间的遗传差异显著(P<0.01)。在4个群体中,宁河人工繁殖群体的单倍型多样性指数、核苷酸多样性指数均最高,并且HinfⅠ的C酶切类型为宁河群体所特有,达20.0%。     

白鱚卵各胚胎发生阶段对高温突变、落下冲击和紫外线照射的感受性

本研究将白鱚卵的胚胎发生过程严格区分为27个阶段,并就各不同发生阶段的卵对高温突变、落下冲击和紫外线照射的感受性进行了详细的比较研究,得出了卵裂早期和原肠晚期至胚孔封闭期的卵对高温突变的感受性高;卵裂晚期至胚体出现期,对落下冲击的感受性高;对紫外线照射的感受性,则以胚体出现期为最高。文中同时分析了这种不同环境因素作用于相同鱼卵的同一发生阶段,产生不同影响的原因;建议在鱼类资源保护和鱼苗生产的孵化管理上,应尽量避免感受性较高的相应环境因素变化对鱼卵的影响。     

Correlations between mitochondrial respiration activity and residual feed intake after divergent genetic selection for high‐ and low‐ oxygen consumption in mice

The aims of the present study were to identify the differences between two mouse lines (high (H)‐ and low (L)‐oxygen consumption) in terms of mitochondrial respiratory activity when GMP (glutamate, malate, and pyruvate) and succinic acid are used as substrates and to examine the relationship between mitochondrial respiration activity and feed efficiency in both lines. The average daily feed intake, feed conversion ratio (FCR), and residual feed intake (RFI) were significantly higher in the H than the L line. The correlation between FCR and RFI was significant (r = 0.60, p < 0.05). RFI was effective as an indicator of feed efficiency. When succinic acid was used as a substrate, mitochondrial respiration states 2–4, ACR, and proton leak were significantly higher in the H than the L line. When GMP was used as a substrate, respiration states 3 and 4 in the H line were significantly higher than those in the L line, and there were significant positive correlations between FCR and RFI and mitochondrial respiration states 2–4. The results indicated that selection for high or low OC changed the basal metabolic rates estimated from liver mitochondrial respiration activity and feed efficiency.     

Expression and localization of tight junction-related proteins in adult rat pituitary stem/progenitor cell niches

Pituitary endocrine cells are supplied by Sox2-expressing stem/progenitor cells in the anterior lobe of the adult pituitary gland. These SOX2-positive cells are maintained in two types of microenvironments (niches): the marginal cell layer (MCL)-niche and the parenchymal-niche. Recently, we isolated dense SOX2-positive cell clusters from the parenchymal-niche by taking advantage of their resistance to protease treatment as parenchymal stem/progenitor cell (PS)-clusters. In the present study, by analyzing these isolated PS-clusters, we attempted to identify novel structural characteristics of pituitary stem/progenitor cell niches. Quantitative real-time PCR showed that tight junction-related genes were distinctly expressed in the isolated PS-clusters. Immunocytostaining showed that the tight junction molecules, ZO-1 and occludin, were localized in the apical membrane facing the pseudo-follicle-like structure of the isolated PS-clusters regardless of the expression of S100β, which distinguishes the sub-population of SOX2-positive cells. Furthermore, immunohistochemistry of the pituitary glands of adult rats clearly demonstrated that ZO-1 and occludin were densely present in the parenchymal-niche encircling the pseudo-follicle, while they were observed in the apical membrane in the MCL-niche facing the residual lumen. Collectively, these tight junction-related proteins might be involved in the architecture and maintenance of the plasticity of pituitary stem/progenitor cell niches.     

Diagnostic value of recombinant nanoluciferase fused Toxoplasma gondii antigens in Luciferase-linked Antibody Capture Assay (LACA) for Toxoplasma infection in pigs

Toxoplasmosis is a widespread protozoan zoonosis. Since ingesting undercooked meat harboring Toxoplasma gondii cyst is considered one of the major transmission routes to humans, the screening of T. gondii in meat-producing animals can reduce the risk of food-borne toxoplasmosis in humans. Among serological diagnostic methods, Luciferase-linked Antibody Capture Assay (LACA) has been found to be a promising platform with high sensitivity and specificity. In this study, we aimed to evaluate recombinant nanoluciferase fused-T. gondii antigens (rNluc-GRA6, rNluc-GRA7, rNluc-GRA8 and rNluc-BAG1) for their potential use in LACA for pigs. As a result, the sensitivity of GRA6-, GRA7-, GRA8- and BAG1-LACA were 70.0%, 80.0%, 80.0% and 30.0% with specificity 87.0%, 81.5%, 74.1% and 50.0%, respectively. The cocktail LACA using a mixture of rNluc-GRA6, rNluc-GRA7 and rNluc-GRA8 indicated higher sensitivity (90.0%) and a similar specificity (96.3%) in comparison with the commercial ELISA kit. Compared to the Dye-Test as a reference test, cocktail LACA showed strong agreement (kappa value=0.811) when we assessed pig sera collected at the slaughterhouse. In addition, we also successfully established the rapid LACA format for the detection of Toxoplasma infection in pigs (called Rapid-LACA) in which the test could be performed within 30 min. In Rapid-LACA, the protein A pre-coated/blocked plates could be preserved at −30°C, 4°C or room temperature conditions for at least two months without compromising on the quality of assay.