Plasma concentrations resulting from florfenicol preparations given to pigs in their drinking water

Florfenicol administered through the drinking water has been recommended as a metaphylactic antibacterial drug to control outbreaks of respiratory diseases in pigs caused by strains of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae and Pasteurella multocida, yet it is difficult to pinpoint in practice when the drug is given metaphylactically or therapeutically. Further, pigs are likely to reject florfenicol-medicated water, and plasma concentrations of the drug are likely to be marginal for diseases caused by Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Staphylococcus aureus. The reported minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values for these organisms show a breakpoint of 2 to 3 μg/mL. An experiment was conducted during September and October 2009. One hundred twenty healthy crossbred pigs (Landrace-Yorkshire), weighing 23 ± 6.2 kg, were used in this trial. They were randomly assigned to 5 groups, with 3 replicates of 8 animals/group. Two commercial preparations of florfenicol were administered through the drinking water at 2 concentrations (0.01 and 0.015%). Water intake was measured before and after medication, and plasma concentrations of florfenicol were determined by HPLC. Considerable rejection of florfenicol-medicated water was observed. However, plasma florfenicol concentrations were of a range sufficient for a methaphylaxis approach to preventing disease by bacteria, with MIC breakpoints of ≤ 0.25 μg/mL. Decreased efficacy as a metaphylactic medication should be expected for bacteria with MIC >0.25 μg/mL, considering the reported existence of bacteria resistant to florfenicol and the natural resistance of Streptococcus suis or E. coli to this drug.     

Natural progression of Bovine Leukemia Virus infection in Argentinean dairy cattle

We describe the progression of Bovine Leukemia Virus (BLV) infection from birth until the first lactation in 61 animals from a typical large dairy herd of Argentina, with more than 85% of prevalence. The purpose was to identify potential points to effectively break the BLV cycle of transmission in our dairy productive system. We detected early infection in 11.47% of newborn calves by nested PCR. From birth to 12 months, no evidence of new infections was observed. After 12 months of age, the detection of new reactors increased slowly with time, from 15.09% at 15 months to 24% at 27 months. After that, the number of reactors increased rapidly up to 40% and 60.76% at 30 and 36 months, respectively. This last 9-month period coincided with parturition and the entry into the milking herd. Real-time PCR showed that more than 75% of adult animals had low peripheral-blood proviral load. Complementary, all infected animals showed low levels of provirus in milk and colostrum. The most important finding was that even when management procedures to prevent BLV iatrogenic transmission were followed, no significant change was observed in the prevalence after three years, strongly suggesting that other way/s of transmission play a key role under natural conditions. This study showed an interesting baseline to draw an alternative approach based on selective segregation according to the peripheral-blood proviral load as a potential indicator of risk transmission, and as an alternative to classical control measures.     

Effects of different variables on whole blood cholinesterase analysis in dogs.

The influence of several variables such as sample and reagent storage, anticoagulants, reaction temperature, pH, and substrate concentration on whole blood cholinesterase determination was studied. Storage of nondiluted whole blood samples at room temperature or under refrigeration (4 C) was adequate for short-term storage (3 days to 2 weeks). However, freezing would be more appropriate for long-term storage (> or = 1 month), and successive thawing and freezing did not produce any loss of cholinesterase activity. All reagents (2,2'-dithiodipyridine as chromophore and acetylthiocholine and butyrylthiocholine as substrates) were stable for 3 months when frozen. Heparin and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid were the most suitable anticoagulants for whole blood acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase determination, because citrate yielded lower acetylcholinesterase values and fluoride inhibited butyrylcholinesterase. Increases in reaction temperature and pH yielded higher cholinesterase values but also increased nonenzymatic substrate hydrolysis. Higher cholinesterase and nonenzymatic substrate hydrolysis values were obtained as higher substrate concentrations were used.     

Evaluation of antioxidant capacity of cereal brans

Several oat brans (crunchy oat bran, oat bran alone, and oat breakfast cereal) and wheat brans (wheat bran alone, wheat bran powder, wheat bran with malt flavor, bran breakfast cereal, tablet of bran, and tablet of bran with cellulose) used as dietary fiber supplements by consumers were evaluated as alternative antioxidant sources (i) in the normal human consumer, preventing disease and promoting health, and (ii) in food processing, preserving oxidative alterations. Products containing wheat bran exhibited higher peroxyl radical scavenging effectiveness than those with oat bran. Wheat bran powder was the best hydroxyl radical (OH*) scavenger. In terms of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) scavenging, wheat bran alone was the most effective, while crunchy oat bran, oat bran alone, and oat breakfast cereal did not scavenge H2O2. The shelf life of fats (obtained by the Rancimat method for butter) increased most in the presence of crunchy oat bran. When the antioxidant activity during 28 days of storage was measured by the linoleic acid assay, all of the oat and wheat bran samples analyzed showed very good antioxidant activities. The Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay was used to provide a ranking order of antioxidant activity. The wheat bran results for TEAC (6 min), in decreasing order, were wheat bran powder > wheat bran with malt flavor > or = wheat bran alone > or = bran breakfast cereal > tablet of bran > tablet of bran with cellulose. The products made with oat bran showed lower TEAC values. In general, avenanthramide showed a higher antioxidant level than each of the following typical cereal components: ferulic acid, gentisic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, protocatechuic acid, syringic acid, vanillic acid, vanillin, and phytic acid.     

Partitioning of olive oil antioxidants between oil and water phases.

The partition coefficient (K(p)) of the natural phenolic antioxidant compounds in the olive fruit between aqueous and olive oil phases was determined. The antioxidants of olive oil are either present in the olive fruit or formed during the olive oil extraction process. The antioxidants impart stability to and determine properties of the oil and are valuable from the nutritional point of view. The olive oil antioxidants are amphiphilic in nature and are more soluble in the water than in the oil phase. Consequently, a large amount of the antioxidants is lost with the wastewater during processing. The determination of antioxidants was performed using HPLC, and the K(p) was estimated to be from as low as 0.0006 for oleuropein to a maximum of 1.5 for 3,4-DHPEA-EA (di-hydroxy-phenyl-ethanol-elenolic acid, oleuropein aglycon). Henry's law fitted very well to the experimental data. The partition coefficients were also estimated by applying the activity coefficients of the antioxidants in the two phases using a predictive group contribution method, the UNIFAC equation. The K(p) values estimated with UNIFAC method were of the same order of magnitude but varied from the experimental values. Nevertheless, this method may be a rough predictive tool for process optimization or design. Because the K(p) values were very low, some changes in the process are recommended in order to achieve a higher concentration of antioxidants in the oil. A temperature increase may lead to increasing the partition coefficient. Also, limiting the quantity of water during oil extraction could be a basis for designing alternative processes for increasing the antioxidant concentration in the olive oil.     

Oomycete species associated with Theobroma cacao crops in Colombia

The study of oomycetes associated with crops is highly important due to the economic losses they might cause. In cacao, the genus Phytophthora has been extensively studied, but little is known about other genera and species of oomycetes associated with this plant. This study aimed to determine the oomycetes’ diversity present in Colombian cacao crops. A total of 146 isolates were obtained from diseased plants and soil in 11 departments. Analysis of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and cytochrome oxidase subunit I (coxI) sequences was performed along with the assessment of morphological characteristics. Nine species were identified, distributed in four genera: Phytophthora (P. palmivora, 54%; P. nicotianae, 1%), Phytopythium (Phy. chamaehyphon, 15%; Phy. cucurbitacearum, 9%; Phy. vexans, 7%; Phy. helicoides, 1%), Globisporangium (G. splendens, 3%), and Pythium (Py. delicense, 1%; Py. inflatum,1%). Additionally, an unidentified and possibly new species of Phytophthora (5%) and three unidentified species of Phytopythium (3%) were found. This is the first report of Globisporangium, Phytopythium, and Pythium in cacao crops of Colombia and the first report of the species Phy. chamaehyphon in the country. Interestingly, some isolates of Phytopythium spp. were isolated from necrotic leaves and vascular section of stems, which may suggest a role in cacao diseases traditionally associated with Phytophthora. Also, it is proposed that the new species of Phytophthora may be contributing significantly to black pod disease in Colombian cacao crops, and we highlight that the study of P. palmivora is urgent because of its distribution all over the country.     

Reproductive strategies and food sources used by Acerophagus n. sp. near coccois, a new successful parasitoid of the invasive mealybug Phenacoccus peruvianus

Phenacoccus peruvianus Granara de Willink (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) is a new invasive mealybug that causes important damages in ornamental plants in urban landscapes and nurseries in Southern Europe. Recently, a new species of genus Acerophagus Smith (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) has been recorded as the main parasitoid of P. peruvianus in Spain, displacing the native parasitoid Leptomastix epona Walker (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae). In this work, we have determined some traits of the reproductive and feeding strategies of Acerophagus sp.: fecundity, immature developmental time, host instar suitability, and preference when parasitizing P. peruvianus, and the effect of natural occurring sugar sources on adult longevity. Acerophagus sp. egg load reached its maximum when it was 5 days old. Second and third nymphal instars and adults were suitable for parasitism and immature development (efficient encapsulation was low). Immature development lasted between 20 and 22 days. Acerophagus sp. developed as a solitary parasitoid in the second instar and as a gregarious parasitoid in older instars (2–4 parasitoids per host). All the emerged offspring were females. Acerophagus sp. always preferred older instars when different host instars were available. Finally, adults lived more than 20 days when fed on honey, but they lived fewer than 3 days when fed on naturally occurring sugar sources (host honeydew and host plant flowers, Bougainvillea glabra). The consequences of these characteristics on biological control and parasitoid rearing are discussed.     

Detection of potential markers for systemic disease in saliva of pigs by proteomics: A pilot study

Animals with different health status have been studied in order to extend the knowledge about protein composition of porcine saliva samples and to discover potential salivary markers for systemic disease in porcine production. Clinical examination of animals was performed at farm level where 10 healthy pigs and 10 animals with evident clinical signs of disease were randomly selected. Saliva and blood samples were obtained and afterwards animals were humanely sacrificed to perform a complete necropsy. Levels of two acute phase proteins, haptoglobin and C-reactive protein, were used to identify possible active infections of the animals. Moreover, serological analysis, to the main porcine infectious diseases in the area, was performed. Salivary proteins were separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis followed by mass spectrometry for the identification of specific proteins. A total of 58 spots out of 75 were successfully identified by MS, which correspond to 20 unique proteins. Two different approaches were used to perform a statistical comparison of saliva protein patterns from healthy and diseased animals using the relative spot volume (% spot volume/total volume of all spot in the gel, approach “A”) or taking also into account the total protein content of each saliva sample (μg of spot/mL of saliva, approach “B”). Both analyses showed three proteins in common that are differentially regulated between states. However, approach B was selected for biomarker searching since it gave an estimation of protein concentration and showed differential expression of proteins between both health states in a total of 10 proteins, which were up-regulated in disease. Mass spectrometric analysis identified those proteins as salivary lipocalin, lipocalin 1, double headed protease inhibitor protein, adenosine deaminase, haptoglobin, albumin fragments, S100-A8, S100-A9, S100-A12 and pancreatic alpha amylase. These proteins could be considered as potential salivary markers of disease.     

Genetic parameters for birthweight environmental variability in mice

Data from a divergent experiment for birthweight (BrW) environmental variability were used to estimate genetic parameters for BrW trait and its environmental variability by fitting both homoscedastic (HO) and heteroscedastic (HE) models. A total of 5 475 records of BrW from animals born from inbred dams, and 7 140 pedigree records were used. The heritability of BrW using the model HO was 0.27, with the litter effect much more important, 0.43. The model HE provided a genetic correlation between the trait and its environmental variability that was very high and negative, ?0.97, and a high value for the additive genetic variance for environmental variability, suggesting an artefact in the model. The residual skewness was found to be essentially null. A model considering the genetic correlation null was also fitted, and used to obtain the breeding values for the selection process. Moreover, the trait was considered as maternal resulting in similar estimates under the model HO, but more reasonable for the genetic correlation between the trait and its environmental variability of 0.48 with a value of 0.25 for the additive genetic variance regarding environmental variability under the model HE. This led to the conclusion that environmental variability of BrW in mice must be selected via dams. Estimated parameters in a reduced dataset without inbred animals did not substantially change this conclusion.     

Lipophilic extractives from the cortex and pith of elephant grass ( Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.) stems

The composition of lipophilic extractives in the cortex and pith of elephant grass ( Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.) stems was thoroughly studied by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The predominant compounds were fatty acids followed by sterols (in free and conjugated forms as esters and glycosides). Other steroid compounds, as steroid hydrocarbons and ketones, were also present. Additionally, important amounts of mono-, di-, and triglycerides were identified. Other aliphatic series such as n-alkanes, n-fatty alcohols, and n-alkyl ferulates, together with tocopherols and a series of high molecular weight esters, were also found, although in minor amounts. The analyses also revealed the presence of a β-diketone (12,14-tritriacontanedione), which was particularly abundant in the cortex. Finally, two lignans, matairesinol and syringaresinol, were also detected. In general terms, the abundances of the different classes of compounds were higher in the pith, except for the series of n-fatty alcohols, n-alkyl ferulates, β-diketones, and lignans, which were more prominent in the cortex.