Efficacy of an herbal formula Guixiong Yimu San in preventing retained placenta and improving reproductive performance in cows.

Retained placenta is a common health issue, and appropriate prevention strategies are effective in postpartum health management. This study aimed to evaluate whether early intervention using GYS can prevent retained placenta and puerperal metritis, as well as enhance reproductive outcomes in cows. Each bovine in the GYS group (n = 591) received a single prophylactic dose of GYS (0.5 g/kg body weight) orally within 2 h after parturition, while those in the control group (n = 598) received no intervention. GYS treatment was associated with a decreased incidence of retained placenta (4.6% vs. 12.0%, P < 0.01, OR = 0.335), a lower puerperal metritis risk (8.8% vs. 20.1%, P < 0.01, OR = 0.369), and a reduced need for additional therapeutic antibiotics (11.2% vs. 26.1%, P < 0.01, OR = 0.342). We observed increases in the first service conception rate (59.7% vs. 49.1%, P < 0.01) and conception rate within 305 days postpartum (93.2% vs. 85.5%, P < 0.01) in the GYS group than in the control group. A significant decrease was observed in the number of services per conception (1.8 ± 1.1 vs. 2.1 ± 1.4, P < 0.01) and the calving-to-conception interval (83.6 ± 39.6 vs. 96.6 ± 52.5 days, P < 0.01) between the two groups. Additionally, GYS treatment increased milk yield on days 7, 14, and 28 postpartum without affecting milk fat, milk protein, somatic cell count (SCC), or milk urea nitrogen (MUN) on days 7 and 28 postpartum. Accordingly, the GYS was effective and safe in preventing retained placenta and to improve reproductive performance in cows. Therefore, it could be a prophylactic intervention for superior postpartum fertility in cows.

Battling Salmonella enteritidis infections: integrating proteomics and in vivo assessment of Galla Chinensis tannic acid.

Salmonella infections pose a significant threat to animal and human health. Phytochemicals present a potential alternative treatment. Galla chinensis tannic acid (GCTA), a hydrolyzable polyphenolic compound, inhibits bacterial growth and demonstrates potential as an alternative or supplement to antibiotics to prevent Salmonella infections. However, little is known about the antimicrobial mechanism of GCTA against Salmonella. Here, we revealed 456 differentially expressed proteins upon GCTA treatment, impacting pathways related to DNA replication, repair, genomic stability, cell wall biogenesis, and lipid metabolism using TMT-labeled proteomic analysis. TEM analysis suggested altered bacterial morphology and structure post-treatment. A Salmonella-infected-mouse model indicated that GCTA administration improved inflammatory markers, alleviated intestinal histopathological alterations, and reduced Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (S. Enteritidis) colonization in the liver and spleen of Salmonella-infected mice. The LD50 of GCTA was 4100 mg/kg with an oral single dose, vastly exceeding the therapeutic dose. Thus, GCTA exhibited antibacterial and anti-infective activity against S. Enteritidis. Our results provided insight into the molecular mechanisms of these antibacterial effects, and highlights the potential of GCTA as an alternative to antibiotics.

Acute and 28-Day Repeated-Dose Oral Toxicity of the Herbal Formula Guixiong Yimu San in Mice and Sprague-Dawley Rats.

To evaluate the acute and chronic 28-day repeated-dose oral toxicity of Guixiong Yimu San (GYS) in mice and rats, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to determine the stachydrine hydrochloride in GYS as the quality control. In the acute toxicity trial, the mice were administered orally at a dose rate of 30.0 g GYS/kg body weight (BW) three times a day. The general behavior, side effects, and death rate were noticed for 14 days following treatment. In the subacute toxicity trial, the rats were administered orally at a dose rates of30.0, 15.0, and 7.5 g GYS/kg BW once a day for 28 days. The rats were monitored every day for clinical signs and deaths; changes in body weight and relative organ weights (ROW) were recorded every week, hematological, biochemical, and pathological parameters were also examined at the end of treatment. The results showed that the level of stachydrine hydrochloride in GYS was 2.272 mg/g. In the acute toxicity trial, the maximum-tolerated dose of GYS was more than 90.0 g/kg BW, and no adverse effects or mortalities were noticed during the 14 days in the mice. At the given dose, there were no death or toxicity signs all through the 28-day subacute toxicity trial.The oral administration of GYS at a dose rate of 30.0 g/kg/day BW had no substantial effects on BW, ROW, blood hematology, gross pathology, histopathology, and biochemistry (except glucose), so 30.0 g/kg BW/day was determined as the no-observed-adverse-effect dosage.

Quercetin Reprograms Immunometabolism of Macrophages via the SIRT1/PGC-1α Signaling Pathway to Ameliorate Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Oxidative Damage.

The redox system is closely related to changes in cellular metabolism. Regulating immune cell metabolism and preventing abnormal activation by adding antioxidants may become an effective treatment for oxidative stress and inflammation-related diseases. Quercetin is a naturally sourced flavonoid with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. However, whether quercetin can inhibit LPS-induced oxidative stress in inflammatory macrophages by affecting immunometabolism has been rarely reported. Therefore, the present study combined cell biology and molecular biology methods to investigate the antioxidant effect and mechanism of quercetin in LPS-induced inflammatory macrophages at the RNA and protein levels. Firstly, quercetin was found to attenuate the effect of LPS on macrophage proliferation and reduce LPS-induced cell proliferation and pseudopodia formation by inhibiting cell differentiation, as measured by cell activity and proliferation. Subsequently, through the detection of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory factors and antioxidant enzyme activity, it was found that quercetin can improve the antioxidant enzyme activity of inflammatory macrophages and inhibit their ROS production and overexpression of inflammatory factors. In addition, the results of mitochondrial morphology and mitochondrial function assays showed that quercetin could upregulate the mitochondrial membrane potential, ATP production and ATP synthase content decrease induced by LPS, and reverse the mitochondrial morphology damage to a certain extent. Finally, Western blotting analysis demonstrated that quercetin significantly upregulated the protein expressions of SIRT1 and PGC-1α, that were inhibited by LPS. And the inhibitory effects of quercetin on LPS-induced ROS production in macrophages and the protective effects on mitochondrial morphology and membrane potential were significantly decreased by the addition of SIRT1 inhibitors. These results suggested that quercetin reprograms the mitochondria metabolism of macrophages through the SIRT1/PGC-1α signaling pathway, thereby exerting its effect of alleviating LPS-induced oxidative stress damage.

Screening of essential oils with acaricidal activity against Haemaphysalis longicornis (Acari: Ixodidae) and analysis of active components.

Haemaphysalis longicornis (Acari: Ixodidae) is an important vector of numerous pathogens and poses a great threat to veterinary and public health. Commercially available tick repellents are extensively used and primarily comprise synthetic molecules; however, there are concerns over their safety and environmental impacts. Biologically based acaricides, particularly the plant-derived essential oils (EOs), may constitute an appealing alternative. We screened 20 different EOs by packet tests of unfed H. longicornis nymphs, and found that EOs of cinnamon, clove and chamomile were the most toxic (mortality > 80 %). Cinnamon EO had the most competitive acaricidal activity, with lethal concentration 50 (LC50) rates of 0.4530 %, 0.2316 % and 0.0342 % (v/v) for unfed adults, nymphs and larvae, respectively. Furthermore, 5.00 % (v/v) cinnamon EO showed reproductive inhibition against H. longicornis, with significantly higher rates of oviposition reduction (53.19 %) and hatching reduction (46.21 %) compared with the negative control group. Composition analysis of cinnamon EO by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) revealed that the major chemical compounds were trans-cinnamaldehyde (72.21 %) and cinnamic acid (19.45 %), with the former showing similar levels of acaricidal activity and oviposition inhibition as cinnamon EO. This study has demonstrated the potential of cinnamon EO and trans-cinnamaldehyde as natural acaricides against H. longicornis, and is the first to characterize their oviposition inhibition activity.

The gut microbiota attenuate neuroinflammation in manganese exposure by inhibiting cerebral NLRP3 inflammasome.

Manganese (Mn) exposure has been reported to cause neurodegenerative disorders. ß-Amyloid (Aß) induced Tau pathology in an NLRP3-dependent manner is at the heart of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. The gut microbiota plays a crucial role in the bidirectional gut-brain axis that integrates the gut and central nervous system (CNS) activities. In this study, we found that Mn exposure increases Aß1-40 and Tau production in brain, and causes hippocampal degeneration and necrosis. Meanwhile, Mn exposure can stimulate neurotoxicity by increasing inflammation either in peripheral blood and CNS. Importantly, we found that transplantation of gut microbiota from normal rats into Mn exposure rats reduced Aß and Tau expression, and the cerebral expression of NLRP3 was downregulated, and the expression of neuroinflammatory factors was also downregulated. Therefore, improving the composition of gut microbiota in Mn exposure rats can attenuate neuroinflammation, which is considered as a novel therapeutic strategy for Mn exposure by remodelling the gut microbiota.

The coordinated regulation of Na+ and K+ in Hordeum brevisubulatum responding to time of salt stress.

Hordeum brevisubulatum, called as wild barley, is a useful monocotyledonous halophyte for soil improvement in northern China. Although previously studied, its main salt tolerance mechanism remained controversial. The current work showed that shoot Na+ concentration was increased rapidly with stress time and significantly higher than in wheat during 0-168h of 100mM NaCl treatment. Similar results were also found under 25 and 50mM NaCl treatments. Even K+ was increased from 0.01 to 50mM in the cultural solution, no significant effect was found on tissue Na+ concentrations. Interestingly, shoot growth was improved, and stronger root activity was maintained in H. brevisubulatum compared with wheat after 7days treatment of 100mM NaCl. To investigate the long-term stress impact on tissue Na+, 100mM NaCl was prolonged to 60 days. The maximum values of Na+ concentrations were observed at 7th in shoot and 14th day in roots, respectively, and then decreased gradually. Micro-electrode ion flux estimation was used and it was found that increasing Na+ efflux while maintaining K+ influx were the major strategies to reduce the Na+ concentration during long-term salt stress. Moreover, leaf Na+ secretions showed little contribution to the tissue Na+ decrease. Thereby, the physiological mechanism for H. brevisubulatum to survive from long-term salt stress was proposed that rapid Na+ accumulation occurred in the shoot to respond the initial salt shock, then Na+ efflux was triggered and K+ influx was activated to maintain a stable K+/Na+ ratio in tissues.