Clinical cases of zoonotic Cryptosporidium parvum (subtype IIdA15G1) infections in Korean goats.

Cryptosporidium parvum is an enteric protozoan, which causes severe diarrhoea in a wide range of vertebrate hosts including ruminants and humans. C. parvum infections are responsible for immense economic losses to the livestock industry; furthermore, the zoonotic spread of the infection may lead to mortality in immunosuppressed humans. In the present study, we report two cases of severe cryptosporidiosis in goat kids in the Republic of Korea. Both cases were afflicted with severe diarrhoea upon presentation; the histopathological examinations revealed atrophied and fused intestinal villi and numerous circular basophilic organisms in the jejunum and ileum. Both cases were diagnosed with cryptosporidiosis based on the results of the histopathological analysis, amplification of the C. parvum gp60 gene, modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining, and C. parvum antigen ELISA. According to the phylogenetic analysis using the C. parvum gp60 gene for the genetic subtypes, the C. parvum isolates were identified as subtype IIdA15G1 with zoonotic potential. This is the first pathological report of caprine cryptosporidiosis induced by C. parvum subtype IId in the Republic of Korea. Considering the clinical manifestations associated with the pathological lesions and the zoonotic significance of these findings, the continuous monitoring and prevention of C. parvum infections in goats are essential for minimising the economic losses in ruminant farms and in maintaining public health safety standards.

Laboratory investigation of causes of bovine abortion and stillbirth in the Republic of Korea, 2014-2020.

Bovine abortion is a critical problem in the cattle industry. Identifying causes of abortion is key to establishing appropriate herd management and prevention strategies. We used pathology examinations, detection of etiologic agents, and serology to determine the cause of bovine abortions in Korea. We analyzed 360 abortion and stillbirth cases submitted to the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency from December 2014 to January 2020. The putative cause of abortion was identified in 140 of 360 (38.9%) cases; 124 of the 140 (88.6%) cases were attributed to infections. The most common etiologic agents detected were bovine viral diarrhea virus (65 of 360; 18.1%), Coxiella burnetii (19 of 360; 5.3%), Leptospira spp. (13 of 360; 3.6%), Listeria monocytogenes (9 of 360; 2.5%), and Neospora caninum (8 of 360; 2.2%). Minor abortifacient pathogens included Brucella abortus (2 of 360; 0.6%), bovine alphaherpesvirus 1 (2 of 360; 0.6%), Akabane virus (2 of 360, 0.6%), and bovine ephemeral fever virus (1 of 360; 0.3%). Non-infectious conditions included congenital anomalies (7 of 360; 1.9%), goiter (7 of 360; 1.9%), and vitamin A deficiency (2 of 360; 0.6%). Our diagnostic rate in cases with placenta submitted (42 of 86; 48.8%) was significantly higher than in cases without placenta (98 of 274; 35.8%), which highlights the value of submitting placentas. Our results confirm the status of the large variety of causative agents associated with abortions in cattle in Korea.

A micro-fragmented collagen gel as a cell-assembling platform for critical limb ischemia repair.

Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is a devastating disease characterized by the progressive blockage of blood vessels. Although the paracrine effect of growth factors in stem cell therapy made it a promising angiogenic therapy for CLI, poor cell survival in the harsh ischemic microenvironment limited its efficacy. Thus, an imperative need exists for a stem-cell delivery method that enhances cell survival. Here, a collagen microgel (CMG) cell-delivery scaffold (40 × 20 µm) was fabricated via micro-fragmentation from collagen-hyaluronic acid polyionic complex to improve transplantation efficiency. Culturing human adipose-derived stem cells (hASCs) with CMG enabled integrin receptors to interact with CMG to form injectable 3-dimensional constructs (CMG-hASCs) with a microporous microarchitecture and enhanced mass transfer. CMG-hASCs exhibited higher cell survival (p < 0.0001) and angiogenic potential in tube formation and aortic ring angiogenesis assays than cell aggregates. Injection of CMG-hASCs intramuscularly into CLI mice increased blood perfusion and limb salvage ratios by 40 % and 60 %, respectively, compared to cell aggregate-treated mice. Further immunofluorescent analysis revealed that transplanted CMG-hASCs have greater muscle regenerative and angiogenic potential, with enhanced cell survival than cell aggregates (p < 0.05). Collectively, we propose CMG as a cell-assembling platform and CMG-hASCs as promising therapeutics to treat CLI.

A Retrospective Multicenter Study of Risk Factors, Stratification, and Prognosis of Lymph Node Metastasis in T1 and T2 Colorectal Cancer.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to compare the long-term prognosis of patients with T1 and T2 colorectal cancer (CRC) according to lymph node metastasis (LNM) and to identify risk factors for LNM. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent curative resection for T1 or T2 CRC at five University-affiliated hospitals between January 2012 and December 2021. The patients were divided into several groups depending on the presence of LNM or the number of risk factors. RESULTS: Of the total 765 patients, 87 (11.3%) patients had LNM. These patients had poorer recurrence-free survival (RFS) than patients without LNM (72.6% vs. 88.6%). The multivariable analysis showed that high-grade tumors (p = 0.003), lymphovascular invasion (p < 0.001), and rectal location (p = 0.049) were independent predictors of LNM. When divided into groups according to the number of the three risk factors, the risk of LNM increased from 5.4% (ultralow-risk group; no risk factor) to 60.0% (high-risk group; all three risk factors) and the 5-year RFS rate decreased from 96.3% in the ultralow-risk group to 60% in the high-risk group (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Radical surgery should be considered for T1 and T2 CRC patients with these risk factors.

Anomalous branching patterns of the axillary artery / Patrones de ramificación anómalos de la arteria axilar

Arterial variations in the upper limbs can cause iatrogenic injury during invasive procedures. During educational dissection of countered uncommon branching patterns of the axillary artery which have not yet been reported yet, to our knowledge. First, the second part of the axillary artery was divided into three trunks. The lateral trunk ran downward as a superficial brachioradial artery. The medial trunk raised the lateral thoracic artery, and was divided into the subscapular artery and the posterior circumflex humeral artery. The intermediate trunk branched off the anterior circumflex humeral artery as expected for an axillary artery. Second, in the other cadaver, we found a common trunk containing the thoracoacromial artery and a bulk artery dividing into three branches, the subscapular, posterior circumflex humeral, and lateral thoracic arteries. Taken together, we discuss the clinical implications and possible developmental origins of variations in the axillary artery branching and course.

Las variaciones arteriales en los miembros superiores pueden causar lesiones iatrogénicas al realizarse procedimientos invasivos. Durante una disección de rutina de los patrones de ramificación de la arteria axilar, se encontró una disposición aún no informada. En primer lugar, la segunda porción de la arteria axilar se presentó dividida en tres troncos. El tronco lateral se desplazó hacia abajo como una arteria braquiorradial superficial (arteria radial originándose de la arteria axilar). El tronco medial dio origen a la arteria torácica lateral, y se dividió en arteria subescapular y arteria circunfleja humeral posterior. El tronco intermedio dio origen a la arteria circunfleja humeral anterior como se espera para una arteria axilar. En un segundo cadáver, encontramos un tronco común entre la arteria toracoacromial y una arteria de mayor tamaño que se dividió en tres arterias: subescapular, circunfleja humeral posterior y torácica lateral. Consideradas estas variaciones arteriales en conjunto, se discuten las implicaciones clínicas y posibles orígenes del desarrollo de las variaciones en la ramificación de la arteria axilar y su trayecto.

Recombinant expression and refolding of the c-type lysozyme from Spodoptera litura in E. coli

The chicken-type lysozyme of the insect Spodoptera litura (SLLyz) is a polypeptide of 121 amino acids containing four disulfide bridges and 17 rare codons and participates in innate defense as an anti-bacterial enzyme. The recombinant S. litura lysozyme (rSLLyz) expressed as a C-terminal fusion protein with glutathione S-transferase (GST) in Rosetta(DE3) Singles. The protein was produced as an inclusion body which was solubilized in 8 M urea, renatured by on-column refolding, and purified by reversed-phase chromatography to 95 percent purity. The purified rSLLyz demonstrated antibacterial activity against B. megaterium confirmed by inhibition zone assay. The overexpression and refolding strategy described in this study will provide a reliable technique for maximizing production and purification of proteins expressed as inclusion bodies in E. coli.