Major environmental characteristics of swine husbandry that affect exposure to dust and airborne endotoxins.

Inhalation of organic dust or endotoxin in the dust is considered a major risk factor for occupational respiratory illnesses. Eighteen environmental characteristics associated with animal husbandry were surveyed at 36 swine farms in seven provinces throughout South Korea. Association of these factors with levels of indoor inhalable or respirable dust or endotoxin in each type of dust was analyzed using backward stepwise multiple linear regression models. Mean levels of inhalable and respirable dust were 0.5 ± 0.35 and 0.13 ± 0.12 mg/m3 air, respectively, and mean endotoxin levels were 676 ± 463 and 48.4 ± 68.2 EU/m3, respectively, in each dust. Factors negatively associated with inhalable dust levels included pig age, indoor farm temperature, number of pigs in the building, hr/week of indoor farm work, and partly slatted floor. Factors positively associated with inhalable dust levels included floor cleaning by manual scraping and slurry deposit duration. Factors negatively associated with the level of endotoxin in inhalable dust included pig age, temperature, number of pigs, hr/week of indoor farm work, and partly slatted floor. Factors negatively associated with respirable dust level included area of the confinement building, whereas factors positively associated with respirable dust level included the number of pigs and stocking density. Endotoxin levels in respirable dust were negatively associated with h/week of indoor farm work and partly slatted floor. Overall, data suggest that husbandry variables may be adjusted to control dust and airborne endotoxin levels in swine farms.

Preventive Effect of Mebicar and Ginsenoside Rg1 on Neurobehavioral and Immunological Disruptions Caused by Intermittent Unpredictable Stress in Mice.

OBJECTIVES: Ginsenoside Rg1 and mebicar have been reported to have broad efficacy spectrum, including anti-anxiety and anti-stress. These drugs have been used not only for treatment but also for the purpose of increasing resistance from disease. A specific aim of this study was to investigate whether mebicar or ginsenoside Rg1 can prevent physiological changes resulting from intermittent unpredictable stress (IUS). METHODS: Seven week-old Balb/cByJ mice were administered orally with mebicar (10 mg/kg) or ginsenoside Rg1 (10 mg/kg) starting from a week before they were exposed to IUS until the end of the experiment. IUS, which consists of psychological stress and physical fatigue, was set as 3 bouts (24 h/bout) exposure in a 2-week period. RESULTS: IUS caused hyperactivity and anxiety-like behavior, which were not inhibited by mebicar or ginsenoside Rg1. IUS mice treated with mebicar or ginsenoside Rg1 recovered rapidly from anxiety-like behavior induced by the multiplexed stress compared to the mice not orally treated with mebicar or ginsenoside Rg1. Mebicar or ginsenoside Rg1 could not prevent the decrease of brain-derived neurotropic factor by IUS exposure. However, mebicar or ginsenoside Rg1 prevented elevation of serum corticosterone and secretion of proinflammatory cytokines from splenocytes due to IUS exposure. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that mebicar or ginsenoside Rg1 may have little preventive effect on neurobehavioral disruption by IUS exposure, but mebicar or ginsenoside Rg1 shortened the lasting duration of the anxiety caused by exposure to a novel environment. The anti-stress effect of mebicar and ginsenoside Rg1 may be restricted in peripheral stress responses.

Data resource profile: the Korean Community Health Status Indicators (K-CHSI) database.

Korean Community Health Status Indicators (K-CHSI) is a model-based database containing annual data on health outcomes and determinants at the municipal level (si/gun/gu-level regions, including mid-sized cities, counties, and districts). K-CHSI's health outcomes include overall mortality, disease incidence, prevalence rates, and self-reported health. Health determinants were measured in 5 domains: socio-demographic factors, health behaviors, social environment, physical environment, and the healthcare system. The data sources are 71 public databases, including Causes of Death Statistics, Cancer Registration Statistics, Community Health Survey, Population Census, and Census on Establishments and Statistics of Urban Plans. This dataset covers Korea's 17 metropolitan cities and provinces, with data from approximately 250 municipal regions (si/gun/gu). The current version of the database (DB version 1.3) was built using 12 years of data from 2008 to 2019. All data included in K-CHSI may be downloaded via the Korea Community Health Survey site, with no login requirement (https://chs.kdca.go.kr/chs/recsRoom/dataBaseMain.do). K-CHSI covers extensive health outcomes and health determinants at the municipal level over a period of more than 10 years, which enables ecological and time-series analyses of the relationships among various health outcomes and related factors.

Extramedullary plasmacytoma of the oral cavity metastasising to both kidneys in a dog.

BACKGROUND: Most extramedullary plasmacytomas (EMPs) aresolitary and located in the head and neck region. They may also occur in the visceral parts of the body. OBJECTIVES: Here, we report a case of oral EMP followed by neoplastic plasma cell metastasis to both kidneys in a neutered male Pomeranian. METHODS: Oral plasmacytoma recurred 11 months aftersurgical removal of an oral mass and partial maxillectomy was performed. Eighteen months after partial maxillectomy, neoplastic masses were detected in both kidneys on computed tomography. The dog died 12 months after detection of bilateral kidney neoplasms. The resected neoplastic masses were routinely processed for histopathological observation and immunohistochemistry against pan-cytokeratin, desmin, CD3, and MUM-1. RESULTS: The recurred mass mainly consisted of well-differentiated plasma cells and contained a small portion of aggressive cells with malignant features. Monoclonal gammopathy was not observed on serumelectrophoresis performed to exclude multiple myeloma. The mass was composed of plasma cells with high nuclear pleomorphism and abundant mitotic figures. The neoplasm stained positive for MUM-1 with a more aggressive morphology than in oral EMP. CONCLUSION: Based on serum biomarker and pathological observations, a diagnosis of recurrence and metastasis of oral-to-renal EMP was established. To the best of our knowledge, metastasis of oral EMP into the bilateral kidneys, as described in the current case, has not been previously reported in dogs.

Development of a Column-Switching HPLC-MS/MS Method and Clinical Application for Determination of Ethyl Glucuronide in Hair in Conjunction with AUDIT for Detecting High-Risk Alcohol Consumption.

It is critical to assess the severity of alcohol consumption in certain diseases such as alcohol liver disease and alcohol addiction. Ethyl glucuronide (EtG) is a highly stable metabolite of ethanol in hair; thus, it was proposed as a long-term monitoring marker for alcohol consumption. Therefore, an HPLC-MS/MS method for EtG in hair was developed and applied to a clinical setting to assess the relevance of the EtG concentration and/or the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) score to high-risk alcohol consumption. EtG was extracted from 10 mg of hair using water and analyzed using on-line sample purification coupled to HPLC-MS/MS. The diagnostic performances of the EtG concentration and/or the AUDIT score for detecting high-risk alcohol consumption were statistically evaluated between alcohol addicts (n = 44) and average alcohol users (n = 19). The on-line sample purification resulted in labor-saving with smaller sample amount. Both the EtG concentrations (4.0⁻587.4 pg/mg vs. 12.9⁻74.9 pg/mg) and the AUDIT scores (4⁻40 vs. 5⁻28) obtained from the alcohol addicts were significantly higher than those from the average alcohol users. The performance evaluation demonstrated that the integration score of the EtG concentration and the AUDIT score increased diagnostic performance for high-risk alcohol consumption.

Association between endotoxin levels in dust from indoor swine housing environments and the immune responses of pigs.

Indoor animal husbandry environments are inevitably contaminated with endotoxins. Endotoxin exposure is associated with various inflammatory illnesses in animals. This cross-sectional study evaluated the relationship between the degree of endotoxin exposure and the cellular and humoral immune profiles of fattening pigs. Blood samples were taken from the jugular vein of 47 pigs from ten pig farms in Korea. Whole blood cell counts and plasma immunoglobulin (Ig) classes were determined. Peripheral-blood mononuclear cells were stimulated in vitro with concanavalin A for 48 h, and cytokines released into culture supernatants were measured. The barns in which the pigs lived were assessed for endotoxin levels in the total and respirable dust by using the limulus amebocyte lysate kinetic QCL method. Low and high endotoxin exposures were defined as ≤ 30 and ＞ 30 EU/m³, respectively. Compared to pigs with low endotoxin exposure (n = 19), highly exposed pigs (n = 28) had higher circulating neutrophil and lymphocyte (particularly B cells) counts, IgG and IgE levels, interferon-gamma (IFNγ) and interleukin (IL)-4 productions, and lower IgA levels and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα) production. The IL-4, IFNγ, and TNFα levels significantly correlated with endotoxin level and/or pig age. Constant exposure of pigs to high levels of airborne endotoxins can lead to aberrant immune profiles.