Mapping of B-cell epitopes in the N-terminal repeated peptides of Anaplasma marginale major surface protein 1a and characterization of the humoral immune response of cattle immunized with recombinant and whole organism antigens     

Garcia-Garcia JC  de la Fuente J  Kocan KM  Blouin EF  Halbur T  Onet VC  Saliki JT 《Veterinary immunology and immunopathology》2004,98(3-4):137-151

Major surface protein (MSP) 1a of the genus type species Anaplasma marginale (Rickettsiales: Anaplasmataceae) together with MSP1b forms the MSP1 complex. MSP1a has been shown to be involved in adhesion, infection and tick transmission of A. marginale, as well as to contribute to protective immunity in cattle. A differential antibody response to MSP1a and MSP1b was observed in cattle immunized with A. marginale derived from bovine erythrocytes (anti-MSP1a response) or cultured tick cells (anti-MSP1b response). In this study, we further characterized the MSP1a antibody response of cattle using several immunogens, including recombinant MSP1a (rMSP1a) protein, erythrocyte- or tick cell culture-derived A. marginale, or a combination of tick cell culture-derived A. marginale and rMSP1a. The MSP1a antibody response to all these immunogens was directed primarily against the N-terminal region of MSP1a that contains tandemly repeated peptides, whereas low antibody levels were detected against the C-terminal portion. Linear B-cell epitopes of MSP1a were mapped using synthetic peptides representing the entire sequence of the protein that were prepared by SPOT synthesis technology. Only two peptides in the N-terminal repeats were recognized by sera from immunized cattle. These peptides shared the sequence SSAGGQQQESS, which is likely to contain the linear B-cell epitope that was recognized by the pools of bovine sera. The average differential of antibody titers against MSP1a minus those against MSP1b correlated with lower percent reductions in PCV. A preferential antibody response to MSP1a was observed in cattle immunized with erythrocyte-derived, cell culture-derived plus rMSP1a or rMSP1a alone, and the percent reduction PCV was significantly lower in these cattle as compared with the other immunization groups. These results provide insight into the bovine antibody response against A. marginale and the role of MSP1a in protection of cattle against A. marginale infection.  相似文献   

Echocardiography in the chinchilla     

Linde A  Summerfield NJ  Johnston M  Melgarejo T  Keffer A  Ivey E 《Journal of veterinary internal medicine / American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine》2004,18(5):772-774

Heart disease has been described in the chinchilla and, with increasing popularity as a pet, the demand for diagnostic evaluation and treatment has increased. The goal of this study was to determine reference values for echocardiographic measurements in chinchillas and the effect of anesthesia on these measurements. Seventeen clinically healthy adult chinchillas were studied. All animals were anesthetized with isoflurane by mask. Standard echocardiographic views were used. A difference was seen in the echocardiographic measurements for left ventricular systolic dimension, fractional shortening, aortic (Ao) diameter, left atrial (LA) diameter, ratio of LA diameter to Ao diameter, and peak flow velocities and ejection times for Ao and pulmonary artery flows between awake and anesthetized chinchillas.  相似文献   

Plasma renin activity and plasma concentrations of aldosterone, cortisol, adrenocorticotropic hormone, and alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone in healthy cats     

Javadi S  Slingerland LI  van de Beek MG  Boer P  Boer WH  Mol JA  Rijnberk A  Kooistra HS 《Journal of veterinary internal medicine / American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine》2004,18(5):625-631

A pathogenetic role of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system has been implicated in cats in both systemic arterial hypertension and hypokalemic myopathy. Yet, measurement of plasma aldosterone concentrations (PACs) and plasma renin activity (PRA) has not unequivocally pointed to hyperaldosteronism as a cause of these conditions. To obtain appropriate reference ranges, this study included a large number (130) of healthy house cats of different breeds without a history of recent illness and plasma concentrations of urea and creatinine below the upper limit of the respective reference ranges. In addition, the pituitary-adrenocortical axis was studied by measuring plasma concentrations of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH), and cortisol. Reference ranges for PACs (110-540 pmol/L; 40-195 pg/mL), PRA (60-630 fmol/L/s; 0.3-3 ng/mL/h), and the aldosterone to renin ratio (ARR) (0.3-3.8) were very similar to those established in the same laboratory for humans in a supine position. No breed differences were found. The ARRs in neutered cats were significantly higher than in intact cats, primarily because of low PRA in neutered cats. The ARRs of cats > or = 5 years of age were significantly higher than those of cats < 5 years of age. The plasma concentrations of ACTH, alpha-MSH, and cortisol did not correlate significantly with PAC. Thus, although blood sampling was performed in cats in nonstandardized positions and was associated with a wide variation of stress responses, the references ranges of PAC, PRA, and ARR were similar to the relatively narrow limits established for humans under standardized conditions. The effects of neutering and aging on PRA and ARR warrant further investigation.  相似文献   

An experimental infection (II) to investigate the importance of indirect classical swine fever virus transmission by excretions and secretions of infected weaner pigs     

Ribbens S  Dewulf J  Koenen F  Laevens H  Mintiens K  de Kruif A 《Journal of veterinary medicine. B, Infectious diseases and veterinary public health》2004,51(10):438-442

An experiment was set up to investigate the role of excretions and secretions in the indirect transmission of classical swine fever virus (CSFV). In five small pens, 10 weaner pigs (two pigs per pen) were housed and inoculated with CSFV. Experimental infection was successful in all pigs. The infected pigs were kept in the pens for a period of 15 days after which the pens were depopulated and pigs were killed. At the moment of depopulation, all inoculated pigs were visibly clinically diseased and had high fever. Ten hours later the same pens were repopulated with five pairs of susceptible pigs. From inoculation onwards and especially between depopulation and restocking, the pens were neither cleaned nor disinfected. Four days post-repopulation, three of the susceptible pigs were detected positive on virus isolation. A fourth pig was detected positive 2 days later. Later on, the remaining pigs also became infected, most probably due to contact and between pen infections. It can be concluded that transmission of the virus via excretions and secretions succeeded in four of 10 pigs. This result indicates that transmission of CSFV via excretions and secretions can be of importance in a late, clinical stage of disease.  相似文献   

Chemopreventive activity of polyphenolics from black Jamapa bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) on HeLa and HaCaT cells     

Aparicio-Fernández X  García-Gasca T  Yousef GG  Lila MA  González de Mejia E  Loarca-Pina G 《Journal of agricultural and food chemistry》2006,54(6):2116-2122

The antiproliferative effects of 100% methanol crude extract and of Toyopearl and silica gel fractions from the seed coats of black Jamapa beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) were evaluated using HeLa, human adenocarcinoma cells, and HaCaT, human premalignant keratinocytes. The 100% methanol crude extract [172.2 microM equiv of (+)-catechin] increased adhesion of HeLa cells; however, 3- and 5-fold higher concentrations decreased the number of cells attached as a function of the treatment time. The highest concentration tested diminished the cell adhesion until 40% (after 24 h) to almost 80% (after 72 h). The IC50 values showed that the 100% methanol crude extract was the most effective inhibitor of HeLa cell proliferation, even when it was dissolved in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) [34.5 microM equiv of (+)-catechin] or in medium [97.7 microM equiv of (+)-catechin]. The Toyopearl 5 (TP5) fraction and silica gel 2 (SG2) fraction inhibited 60% of the HeLa cell proliferation. The IC50 was 154 microM equiv of (+)-catechin of the 100% methanol crude extract on HaCaT cells. Toyopearl fractions TP4 and TP6 significantly inhibited HaCaT cell proliferation, but the silica gel fractions did not have a significant effect. The 100% methanol crude extract (35 microg of dry material/mL) decreased the number of HeLa cells in the G0/G1 phase from 68.9% (for control cells) to 51.4% (for treated cells) and increased apoptosis (2.9 and 21.2% for control and treated cells, respectively). The results indicated that black Jamapa beans could be a source of polyphenolic compounds, which have an inhibitory effect toward HeLa cancer cells but are less aggressive on HaCaT premalignant cells.  相似文献   

Molecular characterization of a stable antisense chalcone synthase phenotype in strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa)     

Lunkenbein S  Coiner H  de Vos CH  Schaart JG  Boone MJ  Krens FA  Schwab W  Salentijn EM 《Journal of agricultural and food chemistry》2006,54(6):2145-2153

An octaploid (Fragaria x ananassa cv. Calypso) genotype of strawberry was transformed with an antisense chalcone synthase (CHS) gene construct using a ripening related CHS cDNA from Fragaria x ananassa cv. Elsanta under the control of the constitutive CaMV 35S promoter via Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Out of 25 transgenic lines, nine lines showed a reduction in CHS mRNA accumulation of more than 50% as compared to the untransformed cv. Calypso control. The antisense CHS construct was found to be integrated into the genome, with a copy number ranging from one to four. The pigmentation of the fruit was only affected when less than 5% of the control CHS expression level was detected. A stable antisense phenotype over a period of 4 years was obtained in the primary transgenic lines at a rate of 1:20. As a consequence of the reduced activity of CHS, the levels of anthocyanins, flavonols, and proanthocyanidins were downregulated and precursors of the flavonoid pathway were shunted to the phenylpropanoid pathway leading to highly increased levels of cinnamoyl glucose (520% of control), caffeoyl glucose (816% of control), and feruloyl glucose (1092% of control) as well as p-coumaryl alcohol (363% of control) and p-coumaryl-1-acetate (1079% of control), which occur only as trace components in untransformed control fruits. These results demonstrate that the introduction of an antisense CHS construct in strawberry results in an unpredictable biochemical phenotype, thereby confirming that CHS function is an important regulatory point of substrate flow between the flavonoid and the phenylpropanoid pathways.  相似文献   

A structural equation model for describing relationships between somatic cell score and milk yield in dairy goats   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

de los Campos G  Gianola D  Boettcher P  Moroni P 《Journal of animal science》2006,84(11):2934-2941

The relationship between milk yield and somatic cell score (log-transformed somatic cell count) in dairy goats may involve complex pathways with recursive or simultaneous effects. Structural equation models were fitted to longitudinal data on milk yield and on somatic cell scores. Data consisted of 4 repeated records of milk production and of somatic cell score from left and right halves of the udder in each of 47 dairy goats; infection status of each of the halves at each test day was also available. Results strongly suggest the existence of a within-half, first-order autoregressive process and of simultaneity of effects between somatic cell scores from the left and right halves of the udder. This indicates that the immune response to an infection is not restricted to the half of the udder in which the infection takes place and that it tends to propagate over time. The existence of a negative effect of somatic cell score on milk yield was also supported by the results; however, evidence in favor of an effect in the opposite direction, a dilution effect, was not strong.  相似文献   

Efficiency of utilizing ileal digestible lysine and threonine for whole body protein deposition in growing pigs is reduced when dietary casein is replaced by wheat shorts     

Libao-Mercado AJ  Leeson S  Langer S  Marty BJ  de Lange CF 《Journal of animal science》2006,84(6):1362-1374

To determine the effect of dietary inclusion level of wheat shorts (WS; a high nonstarch poly-saccharide-containing feed ingredient) and casein (CS; a control) on the efficiency of utilizing ileal digestible Lys (kLys) and Thr (kThr) for whole body protein deposition (PD) in the growing pig, 2 separate N-balance studies were conducted with either Lys or Thr as first-limiting AA in cornstarch-based diets. For the Lys study, a basal diet (L-basal) was formulated to contain 0.24 g of standardized ileal digestible (SID) Lys per MJ of DE, to which 0.095 or 0.19 g of SID Lys per MJ of DE were added using either CS (L-CS2 or L-CS3, respectively) or WS (L-WS2 or L-WS3, respectively). A sixth diet was evaluated that was similar to L-CS3 but to which 6% pectin (L-pectin) was added as a source of soluble nonstarch polysaccharides. For the Thr study, the basal diet (T-basal) was formulated to contain 0.14 g of SID Thr per MJ of DE, to which 0.055 or 0.11 g of SID Thr per MJ of DE were added from CS (T-CS2 or T-CS3, respectively) or from WS (T-WS2 and T-WS3, respectively). A sixth diet was evaluated that was similar to T-CS3 but to which 6% pectin was added (T-pectin). Increasing SID Lys intake from CS did not influence kLys for PD (P > 0.10), whereas increasing SID Lys intake from WS reduced kLys for PD (P = 0.001; 89 vs. 79%). Inclusion of 6% pectin had no effect on kLys for PD (P > 0.10). Increasing SID Thr intake from CS also did not influence kThr for PD (P > 0.10), whereas kThr for PD was reduced at the greatest dietary inclusion level of WS (P < 0.001; 90 vs. 77%). Pectin inclusion had no effect on kThr for PD (P > 0.10). The inefficiency of utilizing ileal digestible Lys intake for PD may be attributed to nonreactive Lys in WS. The negative impact of including high levels of WS in the diet of pigs on kThr seems to be associated with fiber content of WS; it was not related to increased endogenous ileal AA losses at the distal ileum. The impact of dietary AA source on the use of ileal digestible Lys and Thr for PD, or other body functions, is substantial and should be considered in the formulation of pig diets. Further research is warranted to elucidate the mechanisms contributing to substantial dietary effects on Thr use for PD.  相似文献   

True ileal amino acid digestibility and endogenous ileal amino acid losses in growing pigs fed wheat shorts- or casein-based diets     

Libao-Mercado AJ  Yin Y  van Eys J  de Lange CF 《Journal of animal science》2006,84(6):1351-1361

Use of dietary AA in growing pigs reflects digestion and use of digested AA for various body functions. Before evaluating dietary effects on use of digestible AA intake for body protein deposition, a digestibility study was conducted to investigate true ileal AA digestibility and endogenous ileal AA losses in growing pigs fed graded levels of wheat shorts (WS) or casein (CS; control). A casein-based basal diet (basal) was formulated to contain 0.27 g of standardized ileal digestible (SID) Lys per MJ of DE, to which extra Lys was added from WS (WS2, +0.10 g of SID Lys per MJ of DE; WS3, +0.20 g of SID Lys per MJ of DE) or casein (CS3, +0.20 g of SID Lys per MJ of DE). A fifth diet was formulated to be similar in CP level and source as CS3 but in which 6% pectin, a source of soluble non-starch polysaccharides (NSP), was included at the expense of cornstarch (CS3 + pectin). Five Yorkshire barrows (17.5 +/- 1.5 kg of BW) were fitted with a T-cannula at the distal ileum and randomly assigned to 1 of the 5 experimental diets in a 5 x 5 Latin Square design. Apparent ileal digestibility (AID), true ileal digestibility (TID), and endogenous ileal protein losses (EPL) were determined using the homoarginine method. Diet CS level did not influence (P > or = 0.10) TID of most essential AA or EPL (10.4 g/kg of DM intake). Including pectin in the diet did not influence TID of AA (P > or = 0.10) but increased EPL (15.6 g/kg of DM intake; P > or = 0.01). Inclusion of WS in the diet reduced TID of most essential AA (P < 0.01). The TID values for most essential AA, however, were the same (P > or = 0.10) for both dietary WS levels, except for Lys and Met, which were further reduced at the greatest dietary WS level. Increased EPL (P < 0.01) was only observed for WS3 (16 g/kg of DMI). We concluded that (1) the effects of dietary protein source on AID of AA can be attributed both to reduced TID of AA and increased EPL, (2) the impact of dietary WS level on TID of AA and EPL does not seem to be linear, (3) soluble NSP from pectin or WS exerts a greater effect on EPL than insoluble NSP, and (4) because of the metabolic cost associated with EPL and the impacts of feed composition on microbial fermentation in the gut lumen, the effects of feed ingredients on the use of ileal digestible AA for protein deposition should be investigated further.  相似文献   

Prevalence of fetal resorption in stray dogs in Yucatan, Mexico     

Ortega-Pacheco A  Rodriguez-Buenfil JC  Segura-Correa JC  Montes de Oca-González AR  Jiménez-Coello M 《The Journal of small animal practice》2006,47(5):266-269

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of fetal resorption in 77 pregnant bitches and its association with the age, size and body condition score of the bitch and to determine the frequency of transuterine migration of embryos. METHODS: The number and position of embryos or fetuses and placental zones were registered postmortem. The prevalence of fetal losses was determined by comparing the number of corpora lutea with the number of embryos or fetuses in each bitch. The prevalence of transuterine migration of embryos was determined by correlating the number of fetuses in each horn and the number of corpora lutea in the ipsilateral ovary. RESULTS: Fetal resorption zones were demonstrated in 42.9 per cent of the bitches. However, pregnancy continued in 84.9 per cent of cases. Of the fetal losses, 25.9 per cent were determined by counting the number of corpora lutea and viable embryos or fetuses. Young bitches tended to have a higher probability of fetal resorption than adult bitches (P<0.06). The presence of fetal resorption zones was not associated with size or body condition. Transuterine migration of embryos had occurred in 15.8 per cent of the bitches. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: This study demonstrated that embryo resorption is a normal event in the bitches, with a higher prevalence than previously thought.  相似文献