Aspergillus awamori: potential antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic activities in acetic acid-induced ulcerative colitis in rats.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic colonic inflammation with a significant health hazard. Aspergillus awamori (A. awamori) is a microorganism with various bioactive compounds with natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The present work aimed to elucidate the protective and therapeutic effects of varying concentrations of A. awamori against acetic acid (AA)-induced ulcerative colitis (UC) in rats. Nine groups of albino male rats were established: a control negative group (G1), a control positive group (G2,AA), and preventive protocol groups (including G3A, G4A, and G5A) that received 100 mg, 50 mg, and 25 mg/kg b.w, respectively, of A. awamori orally and daily from the 1st day of the experiment and for 7 consecutive days. Then, they were subjected to one dose of AA intrarectally on day 8th. G3B, G4B, and G5B were termed as curative protocol groups that received one dose of AA on day 8th and then administered 100 mg, 50 mg, and 25 mg/kg b.w. of A. awamori, respectively, on day 9th and continued receiving these doses daily until day 16th. Rats in the AA group exhibited marked histopathological alterations of the distal colon, with an exaggeration of the DAI. In addition, a remarkable increase in oxidative stress was represented by the elevation of MDA and NO levels with a decline in SOD and GPx activities. In addition, upregulation of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1ß mRNA expressions and downregulation of Muc2 and Nrf2 levels were detected. Unambiguously, a remarkable anti-inflammatory effect was noticed either in A. awamori prevented or treated groups expounded by reducing and regulating TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1ß with improved pathological lesion scoring. The Muc2, Nrf2, and bcl-2 gene levels were upregulated and restored also. In summary, the findings in this work reveal that A. awamori supplementation successfully alleviated the UC induced by AA, which had a better effect when administered before colitis induction.

Efficacy of Vaccination against Infection with Velogenic Newcastle Disease Virus Genotypes VI and VII 1.1 Strains in Japanese Quails.

Newcastle disease virus (NDV), a major pathogen of poultry worldwide, causes significant economic losses in the poultry industry. To characterize the ability of recently isolated virulent strains of NDV genotypes VI and VII to cause disease in quails, and to evaluate the efficacy of two NDV vaccines against such strains, Japanese quails were experimentally inoculated with either NDV genotype VI (Pigeon F-VI strain) or VII 1.1 (GHB-328 strain) with or without vaccination with inactivated NDV vaccine of genotype II (La Sota strain) or VII (KBNP strain). Mild to severe neurological signs developed in quails inoculated with the Pigeon F-VI strain from 3 to 14 days post infection (PI) and from 4 to 10 days PI in birds infected with the GHB-328 strain. The mortality rates were 46% and 33% for birds inoculated with NDV VI and NDV VII 1.1, respectively. The severity of histopathological changes depended on the viral isolates used. Vaccination with the La Sota or KBNP vaccine strain successfully protected quails against NDV-induced mortality and decreased the severity of clinical signs, pathological changes and cloacal viral shedding. This study showed that these virulent NDV isolates had mild to moderate pathogenicity in quails and that both vaccines protected against challenge with both virus strains. NDV vaccine genotype VII improved the level of protection against challenge with the VII 1.1 genotype compared with the classic vaccine, but failed to protect quails against challenge with the VI genotype.

Prognostic value of serum potassium level predicting the duration of recumbency in downer cows due to metabolic disorders.

Downer cows and variations in the treatment response are of great interest to farmers. Positively responded animals get up at different extended periods after receiving the same treatment protocol. The objective of this study is to determine if there is any association between the duration of recumbency and the level of serum biomarkers. Serum samples from 165 crossbred Holstein dairy cows (105 downer cows of metabolic causes only and 50 healthy) and from 65 cured cows after treatment were used for analysis of calcium (Ca), inorganic phosphorus (P), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), creatine phosphokinase (CPK), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), beta-hydroxybutyric acid (BHBA), non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA), and triglycerides (TG). Assessment of diagnostic performance of these biomarkers was performed using analysis of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC). Serum levels of Ca, P, K, and TG decreased significantly (P < 0.001), while CPK, AST, ALT, BHBA, and NEFA increased significantly (P < 0.001) in those downers compared with controls. They achieved high diagnostic performance in ROC curve analysis. Interestingly, 65 cows responded after treatment and stood up (cured cases) after a period of recumbency varying from 4 to 15 days and statistics revealed a significant association (P < 0.05) between those days of recumbency and only serum K levels. We concluded that only the serum potassium (K) level is a significant predictor of post-treatment recumbency period and that the serum P, CPK, and NEFA levels have the highest diagnostic performance.

Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of a virulent Marek's disease virus field strain in broiler chickens in Japan.

Marek's disease is a lymphoproliferative disease causing a serious threat in poultry production. Field strains of Marek's disease virus (MDVs) are continuously re-emerging, causing great economical losses to the poultry industry worldwide in spite of the intensive vaccination and restrictive management policy used. Histopathological and molecular characterizations of MDVs are essential for monitoring the changes of viruses and evaluating the effectiveness of existing vaccines. During 2016, 190 visceral tumour tissues representing 30 vaccinated chicken flocks from the Gifu prefecture, Japan, were analysed. A pathological examination revealed the presence of lymphoproliferative lesions in the visceral organs. Polymerase chain reaction screening of tissue specimens using specific primers for avian leucosis virus, reticuloendotheliosis virus, and MDV was positive only for MDV. The polymerase chain reaction products of meq, pp38, virus-induced IL-8 homology, and glycoprotein MDV genes were sequenced and used for homology, phylogenetic, and similarity level analysis with the published reference of MDVs in the database. The results revealed high similarity between the field isolates, vv and vv+ strains of MDV from the USA and China. Several point mutations in the nucleotide sequence of the field isolates and their deduced amino acid sequences were detected in those genes. The present molecular analyses indicated that nucleotide and amino acid changes could be valuable criteria for differentiation and determination of the pathogenicity and oncogenicity of MDVs according to the Avian Disease and Oncology Laboratory pathotyping in vivo studies. Furthermore, the results suggest that development of a new vaccine must be considered to overcome this devastating avian oncogenic viral disease.