The problems with forbidding science.

Scientific research is subject to a number of regulations which impose incidental (time, place), rather than substantive (type of research), restrictions on scientific research and the knowledge created through such research. In recent years, however, the premise that scientific research and knowledge should be free from substantive regulation has increasingly been called into question. Some have suggested that the law should be used as a tool to substantively restrict research which is dual-use in nature or which raises moral objections. There are, however, some problems with using law to restrict or prohibit certain types of scientific research, including (i) the inherent imprecision of law for regulating complex and rapidly evolving scientific research; (ii) the difficulties of enforcing legal restrictions on an activity that is international in scope; (iii) the limited predictability of the consequences of restricting specific branches of scientific research; (iv) inertia in the legislative process; and (v) the susceptibility of legislators and regulators to inappropriate factors and influence. Rather than using law to restrict scientific research, it may be more appropriate and effective to use a combination of non-traditional legal tools including norms, codes of conduct, restrictions on publication, and scientist-developed voluntary standards to regulate problematic scientific research.

Fructan supplementation and infection affect food intake, fever, and epithelial sloughing from Salmonella challenge in weanling puppies.

Our objective was to examine the effects of fructan supplementation on the immune response of weanling puppies subjected to bacterial challenge. Previous studies in bacterial challenged neonatal piglets have reported benefits of fructan supplementation. Thirty hound-cross puppies (12 wk of age) were used in a 2 x 3 factorial randomized complete block design. Following a 7-d baseline period, puppies were assigned to diets containing: 1) no prebiotic, 2) 1% short-chain fructooligosaccharides (scFOS), or 3) 1% inulin. After 14 d on treatment diet, dogs received an oral gavage of: 1) Salmonella typhimurium DT104 (5 x 10(8) colony forming units) or 2) 0.9% saline. Food intake, fecal and activity scores, body temperature, body weight, blood chemistry, intestinal nutrient transport, intestinal morphology and pathology, and gut microbiota were measured. Food intake decreased (P < 0.01) and body temperature increased (P < 0.05) in infected puppies. However, the decrease in food intake was less (P < 0.05) in those consuming fructans. Infected puppies consuming fructans also had decreased (P = 0.05) severity of enterocyte sloughing than those fed the control diet. Ileal Na+-dependent glucose transport was decreased (P = 0.02) in infected vs. noninfected puppies consuming CON, whereas no changes occurred in fructan-supplemented animals. Puppies consuming inulin also had increased fecal acetate (P = 0.03) and total short-chain fatty acid (P = 0.06) concentrations than scFOS-fed puppies and controls. Finally, puppies fed inulin had an increase (P = 0.05) in Lactobacillus concentrations compared with scFOS and CON. In summary, fructan supplementation appeared to attenuate some of the negative responses associated with Salmonella challenge and may provide protection against infection in weanling puppies.

Effects of lactoferrin supplementation on ileal and total tract nutrient digestibility, gastrointestinal microbial populations, and immune characteristics of ileal cannulated, healthy, adult dogs.

Orally supplemented lactoferrin derived from bovine milk is purported to have beneficial effects on gut health of animals. Bovine lactoferrin (0, 60, or 120 mg/d) was fed to ileal cannulated, adult dogs in a replicated 3 x 3 Latin square design with 14 d periods. Control dogs tended (p = 0.06) to have higher fecal DM concentrations compared with dogs supplemented with 120 mg/d lactoferrin (34.5 vs. 32.9%). Fecal scores ranged from 3.0 - 3.3, suggesting that feces of all dogs was near the desired consistency, with dogs supplemented with 120 mg/d lactoferrin tending (p = 0.08) to have higher fecal scores. Ileal azoreductase activity tended (p < 0.10) to be higher in dogs supplemented with 60 or 120 mg/d lactoferrin (609 vs. 592 nmol/h per g ileal DM, respectively) as compared with unsupplemented dogs (272 nmol/h per g ileal DM). The following bacterial groups were measured: bifidobacteria, Campylobacter spp., Clostridium spp., eubacteria, Escherichia coli, Lactobacillus spp., Staphylococcus spp., and Streptococcus spp. Fecal streptococci concentrations were lower (p < 0.05) for dogs receiving 60 mg/d lactoferrin (8.60 log10 cfu/g fecal DM) as compared with unsupplemented dogs (9.19 log10 cfu/g fecal DM) or dogs receiving 120mg lactoferrin/d (9.43 log10 cfu/g fecal DM). Dogs supplemented with 120mg/d lactoferrin tended (p = 0.08) to have higher fecal indole concentrations as compared to unsupplemented dogs (1.80 vs. 1.46 micromol/g fecal DM). Because most bacterial groups measured were unaffected, it appears that lactoferrin did not exhibit prebiotic activity, and based on the data collected, lactoferrin also did not appear to have major effects on indices of health in the dog.