Interactive effects of vitamins A and K3 on laying performance, egg quality, tibia attributes and antioxidative status of aged Roman Pink laying hens.

Extending laying cycle is a tendency in hen breeding, but egg quality declines as laying hens age. The present study was conducted to investigate the interactive effects of vitamins A and K3 on laying performance, egg and tibia quality, and antioxidative status of aged Roman Pink laying hens. In a 3 × 3 factorial arrangement, 1 080 87-week-old laying hens were allocated to nine groups with eight replicates in each group. Deficient, adequate and excess vitamins A (0, 7 000 and 14 000 IU/kg) and K3 (0, 2.0 and 4.0 mg/kg) were supplemented into a basal diet with 1 320 IU/kg of vitamin A and 0.5 mg/kg of vitamin K3. After 2 weeks of adaption to basal diet, hens were fed corresponding diets for 8 weeks. Vitamins A and K3 did not significantly affect the laying performance. However, they showed interactive effects on yolk ratio at week 93 as well as tibia weight and diameter (P < 0.05), and hens fed deficient vitamins A and K3 had the highest yolk ratio and tibia weight, but the lowest tibia diameter. Compared with deficient addition, adequate or excess vitamins A and K3 increased yolk color at weeks 93 and 97 (P < 0.05). Compared with hens fed deficient or excess vitamins, hens fed adequate vitamins A and K3 had higher eggshell strength at week 93 or 97 (P < 0.05). Increasing vitamin A elevated plasma total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) activity and decreased hepatic glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity (P < 0.05). Excess vitamin K3 increased hepatic T-SOD activity (P < 0.05). Vitamins A and K3 exhibited interaction on the activities of antioxidative enzymes in eggshell gland (P < 0.05), and adequate or excess vitamins A and K3 increased the activities of GSH-Px, T-SOD and catalase (CAT). Adequate and excess vitamin A up-regulated the mRNA expression of GSH-Px1, GSH-Px3 and SOD1 in eggshell gland (P < 0.05). Vitamins A and K3 showed interactive effects on CAT mRNA expression in eggshell gland (P < 0.05) and hens fed adequate vitamins A and K3 had the highest CAT mRNA levels. In conclusion, dietary addition of vitamins A and K3 improved the eggshell quality and yolk color as well as antioxidative status in eggshell gland of aged laying hens. Adequate vitamins A and K3 showed beneficial effects and excess levels did not exhibit superior effects.

[Effects of maxillary growth of Wistar rats with bilateral artificial cleft palate after premaxillary orthopedic treatment on expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA)].

OBJECTIVE: Being based on the principle of Latham's appliance, this experiment is designed to detect activity of osteoblasts in the maxillary sutures of Wistar rats with bilateral artificial cleft palate by immunohistochemistry technique, and evaluate the effects of this appliance on the growth and development of the maxilla. METHODS: The animal models of male infant Wistar rats with bilateral cleft palate were made by removing some palatal bones, splitting a "V" gap of 1.5 cm wide at the line between premaxilla and segments of maxilla. A sort of appliances, which could be fixed in the mouth of Wistar rats with bilateral cleft palate for correcting protrusion premaxilla was constructed basing on the principle of Latham's appliance. Then the diferent pathological changes of osteoblast proliferation between the experimental group and the two controlled groups were examined. The jugomaxillary sutrues, temporomalar sutures and sphenoipalatine suture were harvested 7, 14 days after premaxillar orthopedic treatment, followed by 4% paraformaldehyde fixing about 1 hour, demineralization with 15% EDTA and 0.5% paraformaldehyde for 48 hours, distilled water washing for a night, dimethylbenzene transparant dealing, and paraffin wax embeding. Proliferating Osteoblasts in all these sutures were investigated using immunohiostochemical technique with monoclonal antibodies of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). RESULTS: Seven days after orthopedic treatment, no significant difference was observed between the experimental group and the two controlled groups. While after fourteen days, obvious PCNA-positive expression were observed in cells of all these sutures of the experimental group. CONCLUSION: The distribution of proliferating cells and the degree of cell proliferation change after premaxillary orthopedic treatment. And significant cell proliferation is observed in the experimental group, but there are no significant differences between the two controlled groups.

[Reinforcing qi and promoting blood circulation to prevent hepatic fibrosis due to bovine serum albumin immunologic injury].

44 Wistar female rats were divided randomly into 4 groups--normal control(I), case control (II), reinforcing Qi and promoting blood circulation(III) and nourishing Yin and promoting blood circulation(IV). After 4 times of bovine serum albumin (BSA) shock injection, the group III and the group IV were medicated through gastric intubation for 40 days respectively with 300% mixture of reinforcing Qi and promoting blood circulation and 300% mixture of nourishing Yin and promoting blood circulation. The results suggest the mixture of reinforcing Qi and promoting blood circulation has the function of alleviating pathological changes of liver, reducing the content of liver collagen, improving erythrocytic function of clearing away immune complexes and regulating humoral immune response.