Hypoglycemic effects of a phenolic acid fraction of rice bran and ferulic acid in C57BL/KsJ-db/db mice

Rice bran contains many phenolic acids, the most abundant of which is the antioxidant, ferulic acid (FA). We evaluated the hypoglycemic effects of a phenolic acid fraction (the ethyl acetate fraction, EAE) of rice bran and of FA in C57BL/KsJ db/db mice. Type 2 diabetic mice were allocated to a control group, an EAE group, or an FA group. Animals were fed a modified AIN-76 diet, and EAE or FA was administered orally for 17 days. There was no significant difference in body weight gain between groups. Administration of EAE and FA significantly decreased blood glucose levels and increased plasma insulin levels. EAE or FA groups had significantly elevated hepatic glycogen synthesis and glucokinase activity compared with the control group. Plasma total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentrations were significantly decreased by EAE and FA administration. These findings suggest that EAE and FA may be beneficial for treatment of type 2 diabetes because they regulate blood glucose levels by elevating glucokinase activity and production of glycogen in the liver.     

母猪妊娠期和哺乳期的理想氨基酸平衡

1摘要 对于限饲条件下的妊娠母猪以及采食量有限的哺乳母猪来说,改善蛋白质利用效率很重要。母猪在妊娠后期维持胎儿和乳腺发育以及在哺乳期促进乳腺生长和产奶的能力不足,特别是在第一个哺乳期。进行一系列研究来测定这些营养需要量以及氨基酸的理想比率,包括：1）胎儿生长;2）妊娠期母猪乳腺生长;3）妊娠母猪母体组织增重;4）哺乳母猪的乳腺生长;5）哺乳期母猪母体组织增重。     

A suspected case of Lyme borreliosis in a hunting dog in Korea

A two-year-old male Pointer had been presented with anorexia, cachexia, and weight loss of 10-day duration. Upon physical examination, fever, lethargy, superficial lymph node enlargement, and tick infestation were noted. The only abnormality in CBC and serum chemistry analyses was mild hyperglobulinemia. Spleen was enlarged by radiography, and the lymph nodes showed neutrophilic lymphadenitis by cytological examination. A polymerase chain reaction test for babesiosis and commercial ELISA tests for Ehrlichia canis, heartworm, and Lyme disease was negative except for Lyme disease, which was verified by both an IFA-IgG test and a quantitative C₆ assay. Doxycycline was administered for 2 weeks and the recovery was uneventful. Post-treatment C₆ titer decreased to within normal limits.     

Outbreak of ocular disease associated with naturally-acquired canine herpesvirus-1 infection in a closed domestic dog colony

Objective  To describe clinical and virological findings of an outbreak of ocular disease attributed to naturally-acquired primary canine herpesvirus-1 (CHV-1) infection in a closed domestic dog colony.
Animals studied  Twenty-seven 10- to 16-week-old laboratory Beagles.
Procedure  Complete ophthalmic examinations were performed and ocular samples collected for CHV-1 polymerase chain reaction and virus isolation.
Results  The prevalence of ocular morbidity was 100% in examined dogs. Lesions were restricted to the ocular surface and included bilateral conjunctivitis (100% of dogs); punctate, dendritic, or geographic ulcerative keratitis (26% of dogs); and non-ulcerative keratitis (19% of dogs). Conjunctival petechiae were detected in 22% of dogs. Punctate and dendritic corneal ulcers were frequently organized into discrete groups or linear arrangements. Non-ulcerative keratitis appeared clinically as a perilimbal ring of superficial corneal vascularization and leukocyte infiltration. CHV-1 was detected in ocular samples by polymerase chain reaction or virus isolation in all dogs sampled.
Conclusions  In susceptible populations of domestic dogs, CHV-1 may be associated with outbreaks of highly contagious ocular infection in the absence of concurrent overt systemic disease. This naturally-acquired outbreak of CHV-1 infection provides an opportunity to report the spectrum and prevalence of ocular lesions associated with primary ocular CHV-1 infection in dogs. Conjunctivitis was the most frequent ocular lesion detected. Ulcerative and non-ulcerative keratitis were less prevalent and of variable clinical appearance. Dendritic ulcerative keratitis, a classic and relatively specific ocular lesion associated with alphaherpesvirus infection, was detected in < 20% of dogs.     

Protein digestibility of porcine colostrum by neonatal pigs

Colostrum plays an important role in neonatal growth and development. However, little is known about the digestion of macronutrients in colostrum of any species. This study was conducted with the neonatal piglet model to determine the digestibility of proteins in porcine colostrum. Twelve, 1-d-old, male piglets were selected from 3 litters (4 pigs/litter) and housed individually in metabolism crates with heating lamps to maintain a temperature of 35 °C. Colostrum (13 L) was collected from 400 sows (30 to 40 mL/sow) within 12 h postpartum after injection of oxytocin. All piglets were fed colostrum containing 0.25% (DM basis) chromium oxide as an external marker based on the following feeding program: 6 meals/d for an entire 3-d period; with 40 mL/meal for d 1 (240 mL/d), 55 mL/meal for d 2 (330 mL/d), and 70 mL/meal for d 3 (420 mL/d). Colostrum was hand-fed using baby milk bottles. Entire fecal samples with the chromium green color were collected each day after colostrum feeding. Fecal collection was terminated before the fading of the green color. Fecal samples were weighed (10.3 ± 1.0 g/pig), stored in − 20 °C, freeze-dried, and thoroughly ground for chemical analysis. Blood samples were collected at 0900 h of d 3 to obtain plasma samples for amino acid and immunoglobulin (Ig) G analysis. Digestibilities of crude protein and DM in colostrum, defined as the percentage of ingested colostral crude proteins and DM that disappeared in the gut, averaged 96.9 ± 0.4% and 98.3 ± 0.2%, respectively. Digestibility of total amino acids (protein-bound plus free amino acids) in the colostrum was 98.3 ± 0.1%, with the values being 98.5 ± 0.3, 98.2 ± 0.4, and 98.3 ± 0.3%, respectively, for Lys, Thr, and Arg. Plasma and colostral IgG content were 3.4 ± 0.3 and 3.8 ± 0.7 g/L, respectively. In conclusion, protein-bound and free amino acids in porcine colostrum were highly digestible and available to neonatal pigs.     

Evaluation of novel adjuvant Eimeria profilin complex on intestinal host immune responses against live E. acervulina challenge infection

The effects against avian coccidiosis of two novel adjuvants, Quil A/cholesterol/dimethyl dioctadecyl ammonium bromide/Carbopol (QCDC) and QCDC/Bay R1005 (R)/cytosine-phosphate-guanosine (CpG) oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG ODN [T]) (QCDCRT) emulsified with profilin, a conserved Eimeria recombinant protein, were determined in broiler chickens. Chickens were subcutaneously immunized with isotonic saline (control group), profilin (P), profilin emulsified with QCDC (P-Q), or profilin with QCDCRT (P-QR) at 2 and 9 days post-hatch and orally challenged with 1.0 x 10(4) sporulated oocysts of Eimeria acervulina (EA) at 7 days postimmunization. All profilin-immunized groups showed increased body weight gain when compared to the control group, and the P-QR group had significantly higher body weight gain than did those of the P and P-Q groups following EA challenge infection. All groups immunized with profilin showed significantly decreased intestinal lesions compared with the control group, with the P-QR group showing the lowest intestinal lesions among the profilin-treated groups. Finally, the P-QR group showed greater CD4+/CD8+ and TCR1+/TCR2+ splenocytes and higher antiprofilin serum antibody titers compared with the P and P-Q (or both) groups following EA challenge infection. These results further suggest that vaccination of chickens with profilin, in combination with the QCDCRT adjuvant, may provide a novel control strategy against EA infection in commercial flocks.     

Differential glutathione S-transferase isozyme activities in rice and early watergrass seedlings

Glutathione S -transferase (GST) isozymes were investigated in one-leaf-stage rice ( Oryza sativa L. cv. Nipponbare) and early watergrass ( Echinochloa oryzicola Vasing) shoots after being induced by treatment with a combination of pretilachlor [2-chloro-2',6'-diethyl-N-(2-propoxyethyl)acetanilide] and fenclorim (4,6-dichloro-2-phenylpyrimidine) using DEAE-Sephacel anion exchange chromatography. Non-treated plants contained GST isozymes that had activity to the following substrates: three isozymes for l-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB), six isozymes for pretilachlor and three isozymes for fenclorim in rice shoots; and four isozymes for CDNB, three or four isozymes for pretilachlor and two or three isozymes for fenclorim in early watergrass shoots. Glutathione S -transferase isozyme activities of non-treated plants were higher in rice than in early watergrass, especially in the case of GST activity with fenclorim as a substrate. Pretreatment of rice roots with a combination of pretilachlor and fenclorim increased the activity of the constitutively expressed isozymes that exhibited activity with CDNB, pretilachlor and fenclorim. This pretreatment also caused the appearance of one new GST(fenclorim) isozyme. Pretreatment of early watergrass roots with a combination of pretilachlor and fenclorim produced almost no increase in activity of some constitutively expressed isozymes that exhibited activity to CDNB and fenclorim, although it partly increased the peaks to corresponding to pretilachlor. The induction of GST was higher in rice than that in early watergrass. These results indicated that the isozyme pattern and substrate specificity of GST isozymes in rice were different from those in early watergrass. Furthermore, the selectivity of pretilachlor between rice and early watergrass may be related to different constitutively expressed GST(pretilachlor) isozyme activities and the induction of GST(pretilachlor) isozyme activities in the combination treatment.     

An outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza subtype H5N1 in broiler breeders, Korea

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) was diagnosed in broiler breeders, submitted to the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service in South Korea. Grossly, the dead breeders had lesions consistent with HPAI, including pancreatic mottling, splenomegaly, pulmonary edema and congestion, and hemorrhages in the mucosa of the proventriculus, gizzard and small intestine, and on the serosal surface. Microscopically, there were necrotized hepatitis and pancreatitis, lymphocytic meningoencephalitis, myocarditis, and interstitial pneumonia. Influenza viral antigen was demonstrated in areas closely associated with histopathologic lesions. The AI virus was isolated from cecal tonsils, feces, trachea, and kidney of the chickens. The isolated virus was identified as the highly pathogenic H5N1, with a hemagglutinin proteolytic cleavage site deduced amino acid sequences of QREKRKKR/GLFGAGLFGAIAG. In order to determine the pathogenicity of the isolate, eight 6-week-old specific pathogen free chickens were inoculated intravenously with the virus, and all the birds died within 24 hr after inoculation. This is the first report of an outbreak of HPAI in the chickens in South Korea.