Behavior, synaptic mitochondria, and microglia are differentially impacted by chronic adolescent stress and repeated endotoxin exposure in male and female rats.

Early life adversity and chronic inflammation have both been associated with cognitive impairment and neural compromise. In this study, we investigated the interactions between a history of chronic adolescent stress (CAS) and repeated endotoxin exposure on behavior, synaptic mitochondria, and microglia in adult male and female Wistar rats. Adult rats from chronic stress and control conditions were exposed to either repeated endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide; LPS) or saline injections every 3 days for 9 weeks. In both sexes, repeated LPS, regardless of stress history, impaired working memory in the Y maze. Regarding spatial memory, LPS impaired function for females; whereas, CAS altered function in males. Although males had an increase in anxiety-like behavior shortly after CAS, there were no long-term effects on anxiety-like behavior or social interaction observed in males or females. Stress did not alter synaptic mitochondrial function in either sex. Repeated LPS altered synaptic mitochondrial function such that ATP production was increased in females only. There were no observed increases in IBA-1 positive cells within the hippocampus for either sex. However, LPS and CAS altered microglia morphology in females. Impact of repeated LPS was evident at the terminal endpoint with increased spleen weight in both sexes and decreased adrenal weight in males only. Circulating cytokines were not impacted by repeated LPS at the terminal endpoint, but evidence of CAS effects on cytokines in females were evident. These data suggest a long-term impact of chronic stress and an impact of repeated endotoxin challenge in adulthood; however, not all physiological and behavioral metrics examined were impacted by the paradigm employed in this study and the two environmental challenges rarely interacted.

Evaluation of pregnancy per artificial insemination of dairy animals detected in estrus during the synchronization protocol and assigned to conventional or sexed semen.

Three experiments were designed to evaluate the effects of conventional and sexed-semen on reproductive performance of dairy females detected in estrus. In Exp. 1, 978 lactating Holstein cows and 116 Holstein heifers were used. Cows or heifers were randomly assigned to receive conventional (CONV) or sexed (SEXD) semen on day 0 of a TAI protocol. The TAI was performed using commercial CONV or SEXD frozen-thawed semen from the same 6 Holstein bulls, and SEXD semen was sexed through fluorescence cytometry. In Exp. 2, 390 lactating Holstein × Gir dairy cows and 344 Holstein × Gir heifers were used. Cows and heifers were randomly assigned to receive CONV or SEXD semen on day 0 with frozen-thawed semen from 5 Holstein × Gir bulls. The SEXD was sorted through the Sexcel™ methodology. In Exp. 3, 789 primiparous lactating Holstein cows were enrolled. Cows were randomly assigned to receive CONV or SEXD semen from 5 Holstein bulls, and the SEXD semen was sexed using the same semen allocation methodology described in Exp. 2. All data were analyzed using SAS. Regardless of the experiment, no treatment × bull interaction was observed for any of the variables analyzed herein (P ≥ 0.20). In Exp. 1, multiparous cows assigned to CONV had a greater P/AI vs. cohorts assigned to SEXD (P < 0.01) and a similar response tended to be observed for secundiparous cows (P = 0.10). No treatment effects were further observed when the effects of semen on day 60 P/AI were stratified by heat stress, milk yield, and CL at the beginning of the protocol. In Exp. 2, no P/AI differences between treatment were detected either on days 32 (P = 0.32) or 60 of pregnancy (P = 0.20). In Exp. 3, cows assigned to SEXD had reduced P/AI on day 32 (P = 0.03) and tended to have a reduced P/AI on day 60 of pregnancy (P = 0.06). No further treatment effects or interactions were observed herein (P ≥ 0.13). Overall P/AI of SEXD semen was 78% of the CONV (P < 0.01), but the variation of these results requires some attention. Moreover, an additional analysis was performed considering the median value of P/AI in bulls assigned to CONV and SEXD, and bulls that had a greater P/AI in CONV also had a greater P/AI in SEXD (P = 0.03). In summary, although not directly comparable, the sexing technologies herein provided similar results in heifers, but not in other categories (primiparous, secundiparous, and multiparous cows). Additionally, the P/AI of a sexed semen is associated to its performance on the conventional semen counterpart. Moreover, in the present experiment, no other parameters were shown to impact fertility of dairy females assigned to conventional or sexed-semen.

The long-term efficacy of hydrocele treatment with aspiration and sclerotherapy with polidocanol compared to placebo: a prospective, double-blind, randomized study.

PURPOSE: We evaluate whether aspiration and sclerosing of hydrocele testis is an effective treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Men with symptomatic hydrocele testis were included in this prospective, double-blind, randomized study with polidocanol and placebo. Patients were randomized to active treatment or placebo at the first treatment. Depending on hydrocele testis size (less than 100, 100 to 200 and greater than 200 ml), the patients were treated with 1, 3 or 4 ml polidocanol after aspiration. Patients with recurrence at the 5-week followup received active treatment. RESULTS: A total of 77 patients were included in the study. In group 1 (active treatment) there were 36 patients with a median age of 63 years (range 34 to 92). In group 2, comprised of 41 patients, the median age was 59 years (range 26 to 82). Median followup was 72 months. A significant difference between the groups was observed after the first and second treatments. Recurrence after the first treatment was seen in 16 (44%) patients from group 1 and in 32 (78%) from group 2 (p <0.05). Recurrence after re-treatment with the active drug in both groups was seen in 4 (25%) patients in group 1 and in 14 (44%) in the former placebo group (p <0.05). The overall success rate of treatment in the active group was 89%. There was no difference between the 2 groups in terms of volume of fluid aspirated, symptoms or complications. CONCLUSIONS: This long-term efficacy randomized study with placebo showed that polidocanol is effective for the treatment of hydrocele testis with a low recurrence rate.

Diet and genotype effects on the quality index of beef produced in the Argentine Pampeana region.

Steers of varying genotypes (Aberdeen Angus, Charolais x AA and Argentine Holstein) in four feeding systems were evaluated. Feeding systems were: S1=a diet based on pastures only; S2=a similar forage base as S1 plus a daily supplementation with cracked corn, at 0.7% of l.w./head/day; S3=a similar forage base as S1 plus a daily supplementation with cracked corn, at 1.0% of l.w./head/day; and S4=a regular feedlot diet. Tenderness and marbling were not affected by the feeding system. Feedlot meat showed an n-6/n-3 ratio significantly higher than meat produced with the diets based on pastures (S1=2.1; S2=3.1; S3=4.5; S4=14.2) (P<0.05), whereas CLA content had an inverse behavior, showing S1 (0.67%) and S2 (0.64%) higher concentrations than S3 (0.55%) and S4 (0.28%) (P<0.05). Diet based on pastures plus a low level of supplementation produced meat with better nutritional characteristics than other productive alternatives, without significant effects of the biotypes.

Beef lipids in relation to animal breed and nutrition in Argentina.

Fatty acid (FA) composition of intramuscular fat (IMF) in M. Longissimus dorsi (LD) was measured in 72 steers from Angus (A), Charolais×Angus (CHA×A) and Holstein Argentine (HA) breeds. The steers were allotted to four dietary treatments of six animals each: T1, steers grazed on pasture; T2, steers supplemented with cracked corn grain (0.7% of live-weight) daily and free access to pasture; T3, steers supplemented with cracked corn grain (1% of live-weight) daily and free access to pasture; and T4, feedlot (concentrate based on corn, alfalfa hay and soybean meal without access to pasture). At slaughter weight, samples of LD at the 11th rib were used for intramuscular lipid analysis. The diet was shown to be more important than breed in determining FA composition. Pasture beef had higher percentages of saturated fatty acids (SFA), n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and lower percentages of IMF, monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), n-6 PUFA and n-6/n-3 ratios than feedlot beef. HA beef presented lower percentages of SFA and more MUFA with a higher n-6/n-3 ratio than A and CHA×A. Comparing grass and feedlot beef the amounts of FA in muscle (mg/100g) were, respectively 18:3 n-3 (44 vs. 11mg), CLA (20 vs. 12mg), 20:5 n-3 (20 vs. 11mg), 22:5 n-5 (20 vs. 11mg), 22:6 n-3 (12 vs. 6mg) and n-3 PUFA (84 vs. 32mg). Feedlot beef has more SFA (1372 vs. 1081mg), MUFA (1574 vs. 1078mg), PUFA (350 vs. 227mg) and n-6 PUFA (318 vs.143mg).

Effect of highly active antiretroviral therapy and thymic transplantation on immunoreconstitution in HIV infection.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether thymic transplantation in addition to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) will restore T cell function in HIV infection. Eight treatment-naive HIV-infected patients with CD4+ T cell counts of 200-500/mm3 were randomized into thymic transplantation and control arms. All patients received HAART (zidovudine, lamivudine, and ritonavir) for 6 weeks prior to transplantation. Thymic transplantation was done without immunosuppression, using postnatal HLA-unmatched cultured allogeneic thymus tissue. Patients were immunized every 6 months with the neoantigen keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) and the recall antigen tetanus toxoid (TT). T cell phenotype and function and T cell receptor rearrangement excision circles (TRECs) were assessed. Thymic allografts were biopsied at 2 months. Six HIV-infected patients completed the study. Four patients received cultured allogeneic postnatal thymic grafts, two others were controls. CD4+ T cell counts increased and T cell-proliferative responses to Candida antigen and TT normalized in all patients. Proliferative responses to KLH developed in three of four transplant recipients and one of two controls. Patients responding to KLH after secondary immunization had greater TREC increases compared with the patients who did not respond. All thymic allografts were rejected within 2 months. In summary, four of six patients developed T cell-proliferative responses to the neoantigen KLH over the first 2 years of HAART. The transplanted thymus tissue, however, was rejected. There was no clear difference in restoration of T cell function in the transplant recipients compared with the controls. Increases in TRECs after initiation of HAART may correlate with improved immune function.

Transplantation of thymus tissue in complete DiGeorge syndrome.

BACKGROUND: The DiGeorge syndrome is a congenital disorder that affects the heart, parathyroid glands, and thymus. In complete DiGeorge syndrome, patients have severely reduced T-cell function. METHODS: We treated five infants (age, one to four months) with complete DiGeorge syndrome by transplantation of cultured postnatal thymus tissue. Follow-up evaluations included immune phenotyping and proliferative studies of peripheral-blood mononuclear cells plus biopsy of the thymus allograft. Thymic production of new T cells was assessed in peripheral blood by tests for T-cell-receptor recombination excision circles, which are formed from excised DNA during the rearrangement of T-cell-receptor genes. RESULTS: After the transplantation of thymus tissue, T-cell proliferative responses to mitogens developed in four of the five patients. Two of the patients survived with restoration of immune function; three patients died from infection or abnormalities unrelated to transplantation. Biopsies of grafted thymus in the surviving patients showed normal morphologic features and active T-cell production. In three patients, donor T cells could be detected about four weeks after transplantation, although there was no evidence of graft-versus-host disease on biopsy or at autopsy. In one patient, the T-cell development within the graft was demonstrated to accompany the appearance of recently developed T cells in the periphery and coincided with the onset of normal T-cell function. In one patient, there was evidence of thymus function and CD45RA+CD62L+ T cells more than five years after transplantation. CONCLUSIONS: In some infants with profound immunodeficiency and complete DiGeorge syndrome, the transplantation of thymus tissue can restore normal immune function. Early thymus transplantation - before the development of infectious complications - may promote successful immune reconstitution.