Determination of reference intervals for metabolic profile of Hanwoo cows at early,middle and late gestation periods

Background

Metabolic profile was initially designed as a presymptomatic diagnostic aid based on statistical analyses of blood metabolites to provide an early warning of certain types of metabolic disorder. However, there is little metabolic profile data available about Korean Hanwoo cows. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the reference intervals of metabolic profile for Korean Hanwoo cows.

Methods

Healthy animals (2,205) were selected and divided into early (day 1 to 95), middle (day 96 to 190) and late (day 191 to 285) period according to their gestating period. Metabolic profile including total protein (TP), albumin (Alb), urea (UREA), glucose (Glu), total cholesterol (T-Cho), long-chain fatty acid (LCFA), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), creatinine (Crea), calcium (Ca), inorganic phosphorous (iP) and magnesium (Mg) were analyzed using a TBA-40FR automatic biochemical analyzer. The data of Korean Hanwoo cows were then compared to those of the Japanese Wagyu cows.

Results

Most of the data of the Korean Hanwoo cows were relatively higher than those of Japanese Wagyu cows, with the exception of Glu and GGT. This may indicate that the nutritional level of feed for the Korean Hanwoo cows was higher than that of the Japanese Wagyu cows because of the different feeding system. In particular, relatively higher levels of UREA and LCFA were observed in the Korean Hanwoo cows, and this may also contribute to the low reproduction efficiency.

Conclusions

These findings may provide some theoretical basis for understanding the reproductive and feeding situation of Korean Hanwoo cows.     

Micro-computed tomography evaluation and pathological analyses of female rats with collagen-induced arthritis

Imaging techniques have been introduced to assess the efficacy and toxicity of developing pharmaceuticals. The purpose of this study was to perform a comprehensive characterization of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in rats using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and to compare the results with data from conventional pathological examination. Arthritis was induced by collagen in 24 female Wistar rats. Micro-CT and pathological analyses were performed to assess arthritis progression. Micro-CT analysis showed marked joint destruction occurring in a time-dependent manner following collagen administration. Bone volume was significantly decreased in the tibia at weeks 3 and 4 compared to week 0 (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively). Additionally, percent bone volume was significantly reduced in the tibia at week 4 compared to week 0 (p < 0.05). In contrast, bone surface/bone volume and trabecular separation were significantly increased in the tibia of the animals at week 4 compared to week 0 (p < 0.05). Severe joint destruction with extensive inflammation, erosion of cartilage and bone, and infiltration of inflammatory cells were observed in the knee joints of the collagen-treated rats. Taken together, micro-CT made it possible to quantify CIA lesions and should be performed with pathological examination in rats.     

Canine model of ischemic stroke with permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion: clinical and histopathological findings

The aim of the present study was to assess the clinical and histopathological findings in a canine model of ischemic stroke. Cerebral ischemic stroke was induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion in four healthy beagle dogs using silicone plugs. They showed neurological signs of forebrain dysfunction such as reduced responsiveness, head turning, circling, postural reaction deficits, perceptual deficits, and hemianopsia. These signs gradually regressed within 4 weeks without therapy. On magnetic resonance imaging, T2 hyperintensity and T1 hypointensity were found in the cerebral cortex and basal ganglia. These lesions were well-defined and sharply demarcated from adjacent brain parenchyma with a homogenous appearance. No abnormalities of the cerebrospinal fluid were observed. At necropsy, atrophic and necrotic lesions were observed in the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, and thalamus were partially unstained with triphenyl-tetrazolium chloride. Histopathologically, typical features of infarction were identified in cortical and thalamic lesions. This study demonstrates that our canine model resembles the conditions of real stroke patients.     

Disseminated transmissible venereal tumor in a dog.

Transmissible venereal tumor (TVT) is a well-documented transplantable tumor in dogs, with no breed or sex predilection and a low metastatic rate. In this report, a 2-year-old intact female Mastiff that had numerous, rapidly growing masses throughout the subcutis mainly at the dorsal body plane, the caudal half of the ventral abdomen, and around the vulva was euthanized due to poor prognosis. Neoplastic nodules similar to those seen in the subcutis were also noted in the lung, anterior mediastinum, liver, spleen, kidney, and superficial and deep lymph nodes in both abdominal and thoracic cavities. The neoplastic nodules from the subcutis as well as metastatic foci revealed similar cytologic and histologic features, which were consistent with canine TVT. By immunohistochemical staining, the neoplastic cells were positive for lysozyme and vimentin but were negative for cytokeratin, desmin, CD3, and CD79a. The diagnosis of the TVT was further supported by the identification and analysis of long interspersed nuclear elements (LINE) from paraffin-embedded tumor tissue. This case is a rare example of TVT with multiorgan metastasis. In this case, the polymerase chain reaction technique was useful in differential diagnosis of canine round cell tumors because this technique can be applied in retrospective as well as future study.     

Molecular cloning and expression analysis of pig CD81

CD81, also known as TAPA-1 (target of antiproliferative antibody 1), is a member of the tetraspanin family of proteins and a component of the B cell co-receptor complex. Several studies have shown that CD81 plays significant roles in a variety of immune responses, including activation of B cells and T cells. In this study, we cloned pig Cd81 cDNA using RT-PCR coupled with rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE)-PCR and determined the complete cDNA sequence of pig Cd81. Pig Cd81 cDNA contains an open reading frame (711 bp) encoding 236 amino acids. The identity of pig CD81 with those of human, cattle, rat, and mouse are 90.30%, 92.26%, 86.22%, and 86.22%, respectively. Alignment of the CD81 amino acid sequence with those of mammalian species showed that the large extracellular loop (LEL) is the most divergent, whereas other domains are largely conserved. Pig Cd81 mRNA was detected by RT-PCR in a broad range of tissues, including lymphoid tissues as well as nonlymphoid tissues, indicated variety of cellular functions of CD81 in most pig tissues. Flow cytometry analyses demonstrated that human CD81 antibody recognizes a pig CD81 on the cell surface. Further, immunohistochemistry analysis using human CD81 antibody on pig spleen was revealed that CD81 expression is widely diffused in spleen tissue. Future study will be focused on defining the functional role of CD81 during the course of pig infectious diseases.     

德国牧羊犬pose步造型及影像拍摄

德国牧羊犬是世界著名犬种，引入我国已有数十年的历史。虽然大家对德国牧羊犬已有较深入地了解研究，但对于能够凸显德国牧羊犬外貌特征、形体结构及健康状况的pose步造型及影像拍摄方面，尚未有专题介绍，而这确又是饲养、训练德国牧羊犬成就具有直接表征意义的重要体现。     

激素诱乳技术推广应用及其效益分析

１９８７～１９９３年７年间用＂诱乳激素＂处理空怀奶牛１３０２头次，诱乳成功率达８６．ｌ％，并有８１．６％的牛恢复正常的生理周期，配种后的受胎率达７７．４％，直接经济效益为１５０余万元。本试验表明，对因饲养管理，生殖疾病等原因引起不孕及无乳的成年母牛，用＂诱乳激素＂进行人工诱乳是完全可行的且经济效益是十分显著的。     

The stimulatory effect of TLRs ligands on maturation of chicken bone marrow-derived dendritic cells

Dendritic cells (DCs) are crucial for initiation of both innate and adaptive immune responses. TLR ligands combine with Toll-like receptors (TLRs) expressed on the DC surface and induce DC maturation. The potential effect of three types of TLR ligands (Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) spores, polyinosinic–polycytidylic acid and CpG oligodeoxynucleotides) on chicken bone marrow-derived DCs (chBM-DCs) maturation was studied. The chBM-DCs cultured in presence of recombinant chicken granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin (IL)-4 displayed the typical morphology of DCs after 7 days of culture. These immature chBM-DCs up-regulated the expression of MHC-II and of the putative CD11c, but had yet low to moderate levels of the CD40 and CD86 co-stimulatory molecules. After stimulation by the TLR ligands, the chBM-DCs displayed a more mature morphologic phenotype, significantly increased the CD40 and CD86 cell surface expression levels and gained the ability to stimulate proliferation of naive T cells in the allogeneic mixed lymphocyte reaction, compared to the immature chBM-DCs. In conclusion, our data demonstrated that all three TLR ligands were strong stimuli for driving chBM-DCs maturation in vitro, with B. subtilis spores being the most efficient.     

Increased humoral antibody response of foot-and-mouth disease virus vaccine in growing pigs pre-treated with poly-γ-glutamic acid

This study was conducted to determine if humoral antibody response of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine improved in 8-week-old growing pigs born to well-vaccinated sows pre-treated with 60 mg of poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) three days before vaccination. Antibody against FMD virus serotype O was measured 0, 2, 4 and 6 weeks post-vaccination, using a PrioCHECK FMDV type O ELISA kit. The results showed that positive antibody reactions against FMDV serotype O antigen among a component of the vaccine significantly increased in response to pre-injection with γ-PGA.     

Research Advances in Escherichia coli K1 Penetration Across Blood-brain Barrier

E.coli K1 strain is a representative strain of neonatal sepsis and meningitis, which causes disease by blood circulation to the brain. The molecular mechanism of E.coli K1 that adhering and invading the brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs) and cross the blood brain barrier (BBB) has been focused on by many scholars. In this review, we focused on the gene regulation mechanisms and signaling pathway of E.coli K1 crossing the blood brain barrier to understand the molecular mechanism of the infection caused by E.coli and provide reference for prevention and treatment programs.