The Protective Effect of Sheep Placental Extract on Concanavalin A-induced Liver Injury in Mice.

Though the biological effects of human placental extract have been widely studied, it has limited availability and its use poses ethical problems. Thus, domestic animal placental extracts are suggested as alternatives. In this study, the protective effect of sheep placental extract (SPE) on concanavalin A (Con A)-induced liver injury was investigated. BALB/c mice were randomly divided into six groups, including one normal group and five experimental groups, which received different oral doses of SPE (0, 5, 10 and 50 mg/kg) or a mixture of amino acids for 3 days before Con A injection. Compared with Con A-induced model group, the SPE administration significantly decreased serum aminotransaminase activity, alleviated pathological changes, recovered liver antioxidant capacity and prevented the increase of nitric oxide. Secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines in serum decreased and mRNA expression of hepatic intercellular adhesion molecule-1, interferon-inducible chemokine 10 and inducible nitric oxide synthase were downregulated, while B-cell lymphoma-2 expression increased. The administration of amino acids mixture had no significant effect in most measurements compared with the model group, which indicated proteins and peptides, rather than individual amino acid, were largely responsible for the bioactivity of SPE. The results indicate SPE has potential therapeutic effects against immune-mediated hepatitis.

Growth Performance and Post-Weaning Diarrhea in Piglets Fed a Diet Supplemented with Probiotic Complexes.

Weaning stress can affect the growth performance and intestinal health of piglets. Dietary alternatives to antibiotics, such as dietary probiotics, especially those containing multiple microbial species, are a preventive strategy for effectively controlling post-weaning diarrhea. In this study, we investigated forty-eight crossbred piglets in three treatment groups for 21 days: the control and experimental groups were supplemented with Enterococcus faecium DSM 7134, Bacillus subtilis AS1.836 plus Saccharomyces cerevisiae ATCC 28338 (EBS) or Lactobacillus paracasei L9 CGMCC No. 9800 (EBL). On day 21, weaned piglets supplemented with two kinds of probiotic complexes showed increased growth performance and significantly reduced post-weaning diarrhea (p ＜ 0.05). The EBS treatment increased acetic acid and propionic acid in the feces (p ＜ 0.05), and the EBL treatment increased fecal acetic acid, propionic acid, butyrate and valerate (p ＜ 0.05). Moreover, the fecal microbiota of the piglets changed markedly in EBL treatment. The addition of EBS and EBL may have similar effects on the prevention of diarrhea by improving the intestinal morphology and regulating the microbiota during the weaning period.

Effects of lairage time on welfare indicators, energy metabolism and meat quality of pigs in Beijing.

A total of forty Duroc-Landrace-Large White female pigs (90 ± 5 kg) were used to study the effects of different lairage times (0 h, 3h, 8 h, 24 h) on welfare, energy metabolism and meat quality. The results showed that lairage time of 3h led to a lower blood cortisol, a decreased drip loss and a delayed degradation of glycogen in muscles compared with pigs without rest, while lairage times of 8h and 24h resulted in a significant increase in pork toughness. It was concluded that three hours of lairage was appropriate to reduce pre-slaughter stress and obtain better meat quality for pigs transported for 4h in winter, under the most frequent commercial conditions in Beijing, China. No lairage, or excessively long lairage time, might compromise animal welfare and meat quality.

Changes in ffh, uvrA, groES and dnaK mRNA abundance as a function of acid-adaptation and growth phase in Bifidobacterium longum BBMN68 isolated from healthy centenarians.

The acid adaption is commonly used as a strategy to enhance the acid tolerance of bifidobacteria. However, the acid tolerance response (ATR) mechanism elicited by this method is unclear. Real-time relative-quantitative PCR was applied to analyze the changes in the expressions of ffh, uvrA, groES, and dnaK involved in the ATR after acid-adaptation in Bifidobacterium longum BBMN68 in different growth phases. BBMN68 was cultured at a constant neutral pH during the whole growth phase. Without acid-adaptation, the survival ratios at the lethal pH 3.0 were 0.25% and 17% in the exponential and stationary phases, respectively. The genes ffh, uvrA, groES, and dnaK were significantly higher in the stationary phase than in the exponential phase. The results indicated that although there was no acid stress, the acid tolerance of cells was elevated from the exponential phase into stationary phase. After acid-adaptation at pH 5.0 for 120 min, the survival ratios of BBMN68 in the exponential and stationary phases were increased to 2.5 and 31%, respectively. In the exponential phase, ffh, uvrA groES, and dnaK were significantly decreased after acid-adaptation. In the stationary phase, after acid-adaptation for 15, 60, and 120 min, the genes uvrA, groES, and dnaK were significantly decreased, whereas, ffh was significantly up-regulated at 15 min, and then suppressed at 60 and 120 min after acid-adaptation. The results represented that the ATR in B. longum was different from other bacteria, and ffh may be the transient acid gene.

[Purification and properties of manganese peroxidase from Trametes versicolor].

Two manganese peroxidase (MnP) active fractions D1 and D2 were got from the extracellular culture of Trametes versicolor by using ammonium sulfate precipitation, DEAE-cellulose DE52 chromatography. MnP1 was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity from the D2 by Phenyl Sepharose 6 Fast Flow chromatography and MnP2 was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity from the D1 by Sephacryl S-200HR chromatography and Phenyl Sepharose 6 Fast Flow chromatography. The specific activities of two MnP isozymes are 579.1U/mg and 425.0U/mg; purification folds are 17.51 and 12.85 and the yields are 6.17% and 2.47%, respectively. MnP1 and MnP2 have approximate molecular masses of 46.3kD and 43.0kD respectively, as determined by SDS-PAGE. The isoenzymes differed in optimum temperature (60degreesC and 65degreesC) and optimum pH(5.8 and 6.2) for oxidation of DMP (2,6-dimethoxyphenol). MnP1 and MnP2 are stable below 45degreesC and ranging from pH4.0 to pH7.0. DMP is the best substrate, the Km values of MnP1 and MnP2 for DMP are 13.43micromol/L and 12.45micromol/L respectively. Catalysis doesn't occur in the complete absence of Mn. EDTA inhibites the activities of MnP1 and MnP2 at the higher concentration and DTT inhibites the enzyme activities completely.