Effect of a 1800 MHz electromagnetic field emitted during embryogenesis on chick development and hatchability

The level of artificial electromagnetic field (EMF) has steadily increased with the development of human civilization. The developing chicken embryo has been considered a good model to study the effects of EMF on living organisms. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of a 1800 MHz electromagnetic field during embryogenesis on the frequency of chick embryo malformations, morphometric parameters of the heart and liver and concentration of corticosterone in blood plasma, lipid and glycogen content in the liver of newly hatched chicks. A 1800 MHz EMF was found to shorten the duration of embryogenesis (earlier pipping and hatching of chicks) while having no effect on the quantity and quality of chicks and on increasing the incidence of embryo malformations. Exposure of chick embryos to EMF caused decreases in relative heart weight and right ventricle wall thickness. The pipping and hatching of chicks can be accelerated by stressful impact of EMF, which is confirmed by a significant increase in plasma corticosterone concentrations and decrease in fat and glycogen in the liver of chicks exposed during embryogenesis on the electromagnetic field with a frequency of 1800 MHz.     

New molecular targets in canine hemangiosarcoma—Comparative review and future of the precision medicine

Human angiosarcoma and canine hemangiosarcoma reveal similarities not only in their aggressive clinical behaviour, but especially in molecular landscape and genetic alterations involved in tumorigenesis and metastasis formation. Currently, no satisfying treatment that allows for achieving long overall survival or even prolonged time to progression does not exist. Due to the progress that has been made in targeted therapies and precision medicine the basis for a new treatment design is to uncover mutations and their functions as possible targets to provide tailored drugs for individual cases. Whole exome or genome sequencing studies and immunohistochemistry brought in the last few years important discoveries and identified the most common mutations with probably crucial role in this tumour development. Also, despite a lack of mutation in some of the culprit genes, the cancerogenesis cause may be buried in main cellular pathways connected with proteins encoded by those genes and involving, for example, pathological angiogenesis. The aim of this review is to highlight the most promising molecular targets for precision oncology treatment from the veterinary perspective aided by the principles of comparative science. Some of the drugs are only undergoing laboratory in vitro studies and others entered the clinic in the management of other cancer types in humans, but those used in dogs with promising responses have been mentioned as priorities.     

Dehydroeffusol Rescues Amyloid β25–35-Induced Spatial Working Memory Deficit

Plant Foods for Human Nutrition - Amyloid β (Aβ) peptides produced from the amyloid precursor protein, a transmembrane protein, are neurotoxic and blocking the neurotoxicity may lead to...     

1,25(OH)2 vitamin D concentration in the plasma of Solanum glaucophyllum intoxicated rabbits

OBJECTIVE: To test Solanum glaucophyllum calcinotic effects in adult New Zealand White rabbits in relation to cumulative dose and active principle concentration in plasma. DESIGN: An intoxication assay with controls. PROCEDURE: Rabbits were orally dosed with aqueous extracts of dry leaves of S glaucophyllum for 5, 7 or 9 days. During the experiment, body weight, calcaemia and phosphataemia were measured; retinal blood vessel calibre was observed by ophthalmoscopic examination of the ocular fundus. 1,25(OH)2 vitamin D plasma concentration was determined at the end of the experimental periods. Soft tissue calcium concentration and the presence of calcinotic lesions were studied after euthanasia. RESULTS: Toxic effects were evident in S glaucophyllum treated groups (loss of body weight, elevation of soft tissue calcium concentration, and presence of calcinotic lesions). Plasma 1,25(OH)2 vitamin D concentrations were negatively correlated with final body weight (r = -0.97; P < or = 0.001), and positively correlated with renal calcium concentration (r = 0.74; P = 0.02). There was also a significant regression of plasma 1,25 (OH)2 vitamin D concentration on the cumulative dose of S glaucophyllum (R2 = 0.87; P < or = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The procedure described here offers a sensitive and practical experimental model for the study of the pathogenesis of enteque seco.     

Marker-assisted Breeding for Disease Resistance in Potato

Sub-project 5 of BIOEXPLOIT aims to design durable disease resistance through marker-assisted breeding by converting existing markers for high-throughput application, developing and validating high-throughput marker technologies and pyramiding major R genes and/or quantitative trait loci into elite material. Activities include (1) the fine mapping of the quantitative trait locus PiXspg which accounts for a large proportion of the variation in late blight resistance, (2) converting SNP-based markers and an AFLP marker to easy-to-use-markers, (3) testing of progenies with combined sources of late blight resistance for presence of R genes and agronomic features, (4) backcrossing new sources of resistance to S. tuberosum and molecular screening of breeding materials with marker GP94 linked with gene Rpi-phu1 conferring late blight resistance, (5) evaluating potato clones with enhanced resistance against Phytophthora infestans under field conditions of Toluca (México), and (6) developing populations and marker-assisted breeding for disease resistance.     

In vitro effects of the activity of novel platinum (II) complex in canine and human cell lines

The anticancer activity of novel platinum derivative, a complex of platinum with tris(2‐carboxyethyl)phosphine (Pt‐TCEP), has been evaluated in canine (D‐17) and human osteosarcoma (U2‐OS) cell lines. Viability of cells after incubation for 24 or 72 hours with increasing concentrations (0.625, 1.25, 2.50, 5, 10 and 20 μM) of Pt‐TCEP was tested in an MTT assay and compared to effect of cisplatin. Longer‐term effect of Pt‐TCEP was evaluated in the colony‐forming unit assay after 24 hours exposure to the Pt‐TCEP (2 and 3 μM) and subsequent incubation for 2 weeks. The influence of the compound on the cell cycle was measured after 24 hours treatment with Pt‐TCEP (3 μM). Its pro‐apoptotic activity was examined after 24 hours treatment with Pt‐TCEP (1.25, 2.50, 5, 10 and 20 μM) using flow cytometry. Expression of main proteins involved in apoptosis was measured after exposure for 24 hours to 3 or 5 μM Pt‐TCEP in Western Blot. The compound much more effectively decreased cell viability than cisplatin in case of both cell lines. IC₅₀ of Pt‐TCEP was 5.93 ± 0.12 in D‐17 and 3.45 ± 0.14 in U2‐OS cell lines after 24 hours, and 1.77 ± 0.14 in D‐17 and 1.53 ± 0.11 in U2‐OS after 72 hours (P < .05). The compound arrested cells in the G2/M phase and inhibited the ability of cells to form colonies. Pt‐TCEP induced caspase‐dependent apoptosis. The expression of the anti‐apoptotic Bcl‐X_L protein was decreased after Pt‐TCEP treatment in both cell lines. The results confirmed anti‐cancer activity of Pt‐TCEP against canine and human osteosarcoma cell lines.