Clostridium butyricum alleviates LPS-induced acute immune stress in goats by regulating bacterial communities and blood metabolites.

The mitigation and prevention of acute immune stress are essential for livestock production. Clostridium butyricum (C. butyricum) has shown positive effects in stabilizing intestinal microbiota disorders, improving immune function and inhibiting disease development, but its effects on ruminants are unclear. Therefore, the current trial hypothesized that C. butyricum could improve goats' immune function and antioxidant capacity by regulating bacterial communities and blood metabolism and effectively alleviating the acute immune stress induced by Lipopolysaccharides (LPS). Sixteen healthy goats were fed C. butyricum for 70 days, and the goats were challenged with LPS on day 71. Blood and feces were collected at 0 h and 6 h after the challenge to evaluate the effects of C. butyricum on their intestinal microbiota, immune function, antioxidant function, and plasma metabolites. The results showed that C. butyricum had no significant effect on plasma biochemical parameters at the beginning of the LPS challenge. However, supplementation with C. butyricum increased plasma levels of IgA, IgG, T-SOD, and T-AOC (P < 0.05), but TNF-α, IL-6, and MDA were decreased (P < 0.05). In contrast, IL-10 showed an increasing trend (P < 0.10). Rectal microbiota analysis showed that C. butyricum significantly increased the relative abundance of Epsilonbacteraeota at the phylum level of goats; at the genus level, the relative abundances of Campylobacter and Anaerorhabdus]_furcosa_group were also significantly increased (P < 0.05). Christensenellaceae_R-7_group as the dominant microbiota also showed a significant increase in their abundance values, while Clostridium and Lachnospiraceae_UCG-001 were significantly lower (P < 0.05). When the LPS challenge continued up to 6 h, dietary supplementation with C. butyricum still resulted in significantly higher plasma concentrations of IgA, IL-10, and T-SOD in goats than in the control group, reducing TNF-α levels (P < 0.05). In addition, plasma levels of T-CHOL and LDL were significantly reduced, and the expression of d-proline was significantly upregulated according to metabolomic analysis (P < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary supplementation with C. butyricum helped optimize the expression of bacterial communities and plasma metabolites to enhance the ability of goats to alleviate acute immune stress.

Pastoral subsistence and mounted fighting in the Eastern Tianshan Mountain region: New insights from the Shirenzigou worked bone assemblage.

Situated at a geographic crossroads, the eastern Tianshan Mountain region in northwest China is crucial to understanding various economic, social, and cultural developments on the Eurasian Steppes. One promising way to gain a better knowledge of ancient subsistence economy, craft production, and social change in the eastern Tianshan Mountain region is to study the artifact assemblages from archaeological contexts. Here, we present an analysis of 488 worked animal bones from the large site of Shirenzigou (ca. 1300-1 BCE), to date the largest assemblage of this kind uncovered in the eastern Tianshan Mountain region. We classified these worked bones into six categories, including "ritual objects", "ornaments", "tools", "worked astragali", "warfare and mobility", and "indeterminate". The identification of animal species and skeletal elements indicates that worked bones from Shirenzigou are characterized by a predominance of caprine products, particularly worked astragali, which is consistent with the large proportion of caprine fragments found in animal remains associated with food consumption. This demonstrates the contribution of caprine pastoralism to bone working activities at Shirenzigou. The making of most worked bones does not appear to have required advanced or specialized skills. Considering the absence of dedicated bone working space, alongside the variability in raw material selection and in dimensions of certain types of artifacts, we infer that worked bone production at Shirenzigou was not standardized. In terms of raw material selection and mode of production, Shirenzigou differed from their settled, farming counterparts in the Yellow River valley of northern China. In addition, along with the evidence for violence and horseback riding, the increasing use of bone artifacts associated with warfare and mobility during the late occupation phase of Shirenzigou reflects growing social instability and implies the likely emergence of single mounted horsemen, equipped with light armors, in the region during the late first millennium BCE. Our results provide new insights into animal resource exploitation and changing lifeways of early pastoral societies in the eastern Tianshan Mountain region, expanding our knowledge of the economic, social, and political milieu of late Bronze Age and early Iron Age eastern Eurasia.

Effects of 25-Hydroxyvitamin D3 and Oral Calcium Bolus on Lactation Performance, Ca Homeostasis, and Health of Multiparous Dairy Cows.

Little information is available regarding the effect of supplementing 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 during the transition period combined with a postpartum oral calcium bolus on Ca homeostasis. The objectives of the current study were to evaluate the effects of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 combined with postpartum oral calcium bolus on lactation performance, serum minerals and vitamin D3 metabolites, blood biochemistry, and antioxidant and immune function in multiparous dairy cows. To evaluate the effects of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 combined with oral calcium, 48 multiparous Holstein cows were randomly assigned to one of four treatments: (1) supplementing 240 mg/day vitamin D3 without a postpartum oral Ca bolus (control), (2) supplementing 240 mg/day vitamin D3 with an oral Ca bolus containing 90 g of Ca immediately post-calving (Ca + VitD), (3) supplementing 6 g/day 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 without an oral Ca bolus (25D), and (4) supplementing 6 g/day 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 with an oral Ca bolus containing 90 g of Ca immediately post-calving (Ca + 25D). Lactation performance during the first 21 days was measured. Blood was collected at the initiation of calving and then 1, 2, 7, 14, and 21 days relative to the calving date. The yield of milk (0.05 < p < 0.10), energy-corrected milk (p < 0.05), 3.5% fat-corrected milk (p < 0.05), and milk protein (p < 0.05) were significantly higher in 25-hydroxyvitamin D3-treated groups within 3 weeks of lactation than in vitamin D3-treated cows. The iCa (p < 0.05) and tCa (p < 0.05) were higher in both Ca and 25D + Ca cows than in the control and 25D groups within 48 h. The concentrations of serum tCa (p < 0.05), tP (p < 0.05), and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (p < 0.05) in 25D and 25D + Ca cows were higher than those in control and Ca cows within 21 days postpartum. Feeding 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 also showed a lower concentration of malondialdehyde (p < 0.05), interleukin 6 (p < 0.05), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) (p < 0.05), as well as a higher concentration of alkaline phosphatase (p < 0.05), total antioxidant capacity (p < 0.05), and immunoglobulin G (p < 0.05) than vitamin D3. Supplementing Ca bolus also showed lower concentrations of alanine transaminase (p < 0.05) and TNF-α (p < 0.05). In conclusion, supplementing 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 during the transition period combined with a postpartum oral calcium bolus improved lactation performance, Ca homeostasis, and antioxidant and immune function of medium-production dairy cows within 21 days postpartum.

Possible clues for camptothecin biosynthesis from the metabolites in camptothecin-producing plants.

The plant derived camptothecin (CPT) is a pentacyclic pyrroloquinoline alkaloid with unique antitumor activity. Successive discoveries of new CPT-producing plants occurred in recent years due to market demands. The scattered distribution among angiosperms drew researchers' attention. The aim of this review is to appraise the literature available to date for CPT distribution and the phytochemistry of these CPT-producing plants. Metabolite comparative analyses between the plants were also conducted for tracking of possible clues for CPT biosynthesis. Forty-three plant species in total were reported to possess CPT-producing capability, and one hundred twenty-five alkaloids classified into three major categories are summarized herein. Metabolite comparative analysis between these plants suggests the probability that the formation of the central intermediate for CPT biosynthesis has multiple origins. A more complete biogenetic reasoning for CPT and its structural homolog was delineated based on this fragmentary phytochemical evidence from a chemical point of view. Furthermore, an in-house compound database was constructed for further metabolomic analysis.