Viral Diseases in Water Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis): New Insights and Perspectives.

The water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) has great adaptability to rustic environments and more variable conditions than cattle, who generally share the habitat. Diseases carried by buffaloes are relatively unknown and ignored and could be transmissible; an imbalance occurs between pathogens, environment, and susceptible hosts, generating a severe animal health problem. Also relevant is the effect of climate change on the populations of vectors that transmit viral diseases. The discovery of new virus variants that can pass from bovine (Bos) to buffalo or vice versa or to humans has highlighted the relevance of viruses crossing the host barrier. This review discusses the clinical viral diseases most reported in the water buffalo, characteristics, epidemiology, and recent findings about disease behavior, interaction with other species, the host, vectors, and pathogens. Diseases reviewed include Foot and Mouth Disease, Rinderpest, Malignant Catarrhal Fever, Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis, Bovine Viral Diarrhea, and Rabies. Also, vector-borne diseases include Lumpy Skin Disease, Ephemeral Fever, and Blue Tongue. The review also considers emerging viruses such as Buffalo Pox and Schmallenberg and, finally, other viruses such as papillomatosis. The knowledge and epidemiology of buffalo viral diseases must be constantly reconsidered and updated for adequate prevention and control programs.

Antimicrobial potential of the Mayan medicine plant Matayba oppositifolia (A. Rich.) Britton against antibiotic-resistant priority pathogens.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The bark of Matayba oppositifolia (A. Rich.) Britton (commonly known as "huaya" or "palo huacax") is commonly utilized in traditional Mayan medicine for treating diarrhea and for canker and other sores. AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of this study was to investigate the in-vitro antimicrobial activity of M. oppositifolia bark extracts against drug-susceptible and -resistant ESKAPE-E pathogens. In addition, the phytochemical composition of the best antibacterial extract was analyzed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The bark extracts were prepared with different solvents, including water, n-hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol. These were tested against ESKAPE-E (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacter spp., including Escherichia coli) strains using Resazurin Microtiter Assay. In addition, the composition of the most active extract was analyzed by GC-MS. RESULTS: The aqueous and organic bark extracts showed activity on drug-susceptible and -resistant ESKAPE-E microbes (MIC = 1000-31.25 µg/mL). The n-hexane bark extract was more active against the superbugs carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae (MIC = 500-31.25 µg/mL) and A. baumannii (MIC = 250-125 µg/mL). The GC-MS analysis of this extract allowed the identification of 12 phytochemicals as the potential antibacterial compounds. The major compounds identified were palmitic acid (1), friedelan-3-one (2) and 7-dehydrodiosgenin (3). CONCLUSION: The present study reveals the strong in-vitro antibacterial activity of the n-hexane extract from the bark of M. oppositifolia and demonstrates the potential of natural products as a source of antibacterial compounds or phytomedicines that are specifically effective against drug-resistant ESKAPE-E bugs. Additionally, our investigation contributes to the ethnopharmacological knowledge and reappraisal of Mayan medicinal flora, as well as supports the traditional use of the bark of the medicinal plant M. oppositifolia for the treatment of infectious diseases.

Activity of Semi-Synthetic Mulinanes against MDR, Pre-XDR, and XDR Strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis causes more than 1.2 million deaths each year. Worldwide, it is the first cause of death by a single infectious agent. The emergence of drug-resistant strains has limited pharmacological treatment of the disease and today, new drugs are urgently needed. Semi-synthetic mulinanes have previously shown important activity against multidrug-resistant (MDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In this investigation, a new set of semi-synthetic mulinanes were synthetized, characterized, and evaluated for their in vitro activity against three drug-resistant clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis: MDR, pre-extensively Drug-Resistant (pre-XDR), and extensively Drug-Resistant (XDR), and against the drug-susceptible laboratory reference strain H37Rv. Derivative 1a showed the best anti-TB activity (minimum inhibitory concentration [MIC] = 5.4 µM) against the susceptible strain and was twice as potent (MIC = 2.7 µM) on the MDR, pre-XDR, and XDR strains and also possessed a bactericidal effect. Derivative 1a was also tested for its anti-TB activity in mice infected with the MDR strain. In this case, 1a produced a significant reduction of pulmonary bacilli loads, six times lower than the control, when tested at 0.2536 mg/Kg. In addition, 1a demonstrated an adjuvant effect by shortening second-line chemotherapy. Finally, the selectivity index of >15.64 shown by 1a when tested on Vero cells makes this derivative an important candidate for future studies in the development of novel antitubercular agents.

Brucella melitensis invA gene (BME_RS01060) transcription is promoted under acidic stress conditions.

The invA gene of Brucella melitensis codes for a NUDIX (nucleoside diphosphate linked to moiety X) hydrolase related to invasiveness. The objective of this work was to evaluate invA transcription under acidic conditions. The invA gene transcription was up regulated at pH 3 and pH 5 observed with semiquantitative real-time PCR in B. melitensis 133 strain. Results indicated that invA gene transcription at pH 3 showed a basal and decreased transcription compared to that of pH 5 incubation. Transcription levels of the dnaK gene were similar to those obtained with invA gene. The survival rates of wild type and invA mutant strains at pH 5 were above 90% in all post-incubation times. In contrast, at pH 3 there was a time-dependent reduction on both strains at 15 min (P < 0.05). These results suggest that invA gene transcription is promoted under acidic conditions in Brucella melitensis.

Parturition in Mammals: Animal Models, Pain and Distress.

Parturition is a complex physiological process and involves many hormonal, morphological, physiological, and behavioural changes. Labour is a crucial moment for numerous species and is usually the most painful experience in females. Contrary to the extensive research in humans, there are limited pain studies associated with the birth process in domestic animals. Nonetheless, awareness of parturition has increased among the public, owners, and the scientific community during recent years. Dystocia is a significant factor that increases the level of parturition pain. It is considered less common in polytocous species because newborns' number and small size might lead to the belief that the parturition process is less painful than in monotocous animal species and humans. This review aims to provide elements of the current knowledge about human labour pain (monotocous species), the relevant contribution of the rat model to human labour pain, and the current clinical and experimental knowledge of parturition pain mechanisms in domestic animals that support the fact that domestic polytocous species also experience pain. Moreover, both for women and domestic animal species, parturition's pain represents a potential welfare concern, and information on pain indicators and the appropriate analgesic therapy are discussed.

Pathophysiology of Fever and Application of Infrared Thermography (IRT) in the Detection of Sick Domestic Animals: Recent Advances.

Body-temperature elevations are multifactorial in origin and classified as hyperthermia as a rise in temperature due to alterations in the thermoregulation mechanism; the body loses the ability to control or regulate body temperature. In contrast, fever is a controlled state, since the body adjusts its stable temperature range to increase body temperature without losing the thermoregulation capacity. Fever refers to an acute phase response that confers a survival benefit on the body, raising core body temperature during infection or systemic inflammation processes to reduce the survival and proliferation of infectious pathogens by altering temperature, restriction of essential nutrients, and the activation of an immune reaction. However, once the infection resolves, the febrile response must be tightly regulated to avoid excessive tissue damage. During fever, neurological, endocrine, immunological, and metabolic changes occur that cause an increase in the stable temperature range, which allows the core body temperature to be considerably increased to stop the invasion of the offending agent and restrict the damage to the organism. There are different metabolic mechanisms of thermoregulation in the febrile response at the central and peripheral levels and cellular events. In response to cold or heat, the brain triggers thermoregulatory responses to coping with changes in body temperature, including autonomic effectors, such as thermogenesis, vasodilation, sweating, and behavioral mechanisms, that trigger flexible, goal-oriented actions, such as seeking heat or cold, nest building, and postural extension. Infrared thermography (IRT) has proven to be a reliable method for the early detection of pathologies affecting animal health and welfare that represent economic losses for farmers. However, the standardization of protocols for IRT use is still needed. Together with the complete understanding of the physiological and behavioral responses involved in the febrile process, it is possible to have timely solutions to serious problem situations. For this reason, the present review aims to analyze the new findings in pathophysiological mechanisms of the febrile process, the heat-loss mechanisms in an animal with fever, thermoregulation, the adverse effects of fever, and recent scientific findings related to different pathologies in farm animals through the use of IRT.

Multidrug Resistance of Escherichia coli Strains Isolated From Bovine Feces and Carcasses in Northeast Mexico.

In this work, the antimicrobial resistance profile of Escherichia coli strains (n = 248) isolated from bovine feces and carcass samples from Tamaulipas, Mexico, was evaluated. Susceptibility to 12 antibiotics conventionally used in human and veterinary treatments was determined according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. Genes encoding resistance to tetracycline (tetA and tetB), streptomycin (strA), aminoglycoside (aadA), and ß-lactamase (bla TEM and bla SHV) were investigated by PCR. Also, stx1, stx2, eae, bfp, and hlyA encoding virulence factors were determined. Of the isolates, 85.9% were confirmed as E. coli strains. Among the 213 E. coli isolates tested, 94.8% (202/213) showed resistance for at least one antimicrobial, mainly ampicillin (83.0%; 177/213), cephalothin (76.0%; 162/213), and tetracyclines (69.0%; 147/213). In all the other antibiotics tested, the resistance percentage was below 36%. A multidrug-resistant phenotype was found in 72.7% of the tested strains. The presence of the tet gene (tetA or tetB) was detected in 43.1% of the isolates, the strA gene in 17.3%, and aadA1 in 51.6%. The bla TEM and bla SHV genes were found in 10.3 and 0.4% of the isolates, respectively. stx1 was detected in 4.2% of isolates, stx2 in 7.0, and hlyA in 2.8%. The virulence genes, eae and bfp, were not detected in any strain. These results indicate that Tamaulipas food products of bovine origin can be a source of multiresistant E. coli strains for the environment and exposure for consumers.

Consumption of Maternal Placenta in Humans and Nonhuman Mammals: Beneficial and Adverse Effects.

Placentophagia is a common mammalian behavior, and the first scientific study of the potential effects of human maternal placentophagia on lactation was in 1917. More recently, in the 1970s, human placentophagia was reported in North America with a trend toward increased consumption. There are different hypotheses about the women and nonhuman mammals' motivation towards placentophagia, but few have been subject to hypotheses testing. In women, the controversy continues; on the one hand, researchers attribute benefits like increased breast milk, weight gain in newborns, decreased postpartum depression and fatigue, and improved mothers' mood. In contrast, bacterial or viral infections, hormonal, or trace elements that could become toxic for both the mother and baby are reported as possible health risks. Other reports argue a lack of scientific rigor to support the self-reported benefits of placentophagia. Also, the way the placenta is prepared (raw, cooked, dehydrated, processed, or encapsulated) alters its components, and thus the desired effects. This review provides relevant information and the different hypotheses and points of view around placentophagia. However, there are still questions to be resolved, and more studies are needed to confirm or reject the data generated so far about placentophagia in humans and nonhuman mammals.

Isolation and Histopathological Changes Associated with Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria in Lymph Nodes Condemned at a Bovine Slaughterhouse.

Background: non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infect humans and animals and have a critical confounding effect on the diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis. The Official Mexican Standard (Norma Oficial Mexicana, NOM-ZOO-031-1995) for food safety regulates Mycobacterium bovis in cattle, but not the NTM species. The study's objective was to isolate and identify the NTM present in condemned bovine lymph nodes in a slaughterhouse, characterize the histological lesions, and correlate bacteriological and microscopic findings with the antemortem tuberculin skin test. Methods: from 528 cattle, one or two pooled samples of lymph nodes from each animal were cultured for Mycobacteria spp. and processed for histopathology. Results: mycobacteria were isolated from 54/528 (10.2%) of the condemned lymph nodes; 25/54 (46.2%) of these isolates were NTM; 4 bacteriological cultures with fungal contamination were discarded. Granulomatous and pyogranulomatous inflammation were present in 6/21 (28.6%) and 7/21 (33.3%) of the NTM-positive lymph nodes, respectively. The species of NTM associated with granulomatous lymphadenitis were M. scrofulaceum, M. triviale, M. terrae, and M. szulgai, while those causing pyogranulomatous lesions were M. szulgai, M. kansasii, M. phlei, and M. scrofulaceum. Conclusions: the NTM infections can cause false-positive results in the tuberculin test because of cross immune reactivity and interference with the postmortem identification of M. bovis in cattle.

In vitro growth inhibition and bactericidal activity of spathulenol against drug-resistant clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

ABSTRACT Spathulenol was isolated from an extract of Azorella compacta Phil., Apiaceae, by various chromatographic method; identification of the chemical structure was confirmed by comparing its spectroscopic data with those reported in the literature. The anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis activity of spathulenol was evaluated on MDR, pre-XDR, and XDR clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis, as well as on the reference susceptible strain H37Rv and its cytotoxic activity was evaluated on the Vero Cell Line. The anti-M. tuberculosis activity of spathulenol was twice as potent against the MDR, pre-XDR, and XDR clinical isolates (6.25 µg/ml) than on the susceptible H37Rv strain (12.5 µg/ml). Additionally, the anti-M. tuberculosis activity shown by spathulenol was established as bactericidal on drug-resistant and susceptible strains of M. tuberculosis. Finally, cytotoxic activity on the Vero cell line (CC50 = 95.7 µg/ml) indicated that spathulenol is a selective anti-M. tuberculosis compound, with a selective index of 15.31 against drug-resistant clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis.

Maternal behaviour in domestic dogs.

Mammalian parental care, in most of the cases, is given by the female, who provides food, warmth, and protection. In domestic dogs, maternal behaviour shown by the dam mainly consists of contact, nursing, grooming/licking, play, punishment, thermoregulation, and motion. Peer-reviewed literature published between 1952 and 2018 was retrieved from CAB Abstracts, PubMed, ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus and book chapters. Keywords for this search included the following terms: behaviour, bonding, altricial, precocial, offspring, maternal, whelping, nursing, domestic dogs, female dog, aggression, puppies, anogenital licking. In this review, we reported and discussed scientific information about maternal behaviour in domestic bitches, comparing altricial vs precocial species; the importance of the bonding, grooming/licking and nursing, and their impacts on puppies' behaviour; altered maternal behaviours such as aggression, cannibalism, rejection, and also the relation between hormones and maternal care behaviours. We concluded that the level of interactions between the dam and the puppies influences the physiological, cognitive and behavioural development of the litter, and the main hormones in the bitch for inducing maternal care behaviours are estradiol, oxytocin, prolactin and progesterone.

Use of a colorimetric assay to measure differences in cytotoxicity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains.

Several techniques have been used to quantify the cytotoxicity produced by Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacilli on cell monolayers; however, they are semi-quantitative or time consuming. Herein, a method based on crystal violet (CV) uptake by THP-1 cell monolayers is described. This colorimetric method quantifies the cytotoxic effect as a function of the number of remaining cells after the infection with M. tuberculosis. Since this micro-organism is not stained by the dye, it does not produce a background that affects absorbance readings. As determined by CV assay (CVA), M. tuberculosis strain H37Rv destroyed 10.5 % of THP-1 cell monolayers at 24 h and 50.52 % at 72 h, while M. tuberculosis strains lacking the complete phospholipase C locus produced a reduced cytotoxic effect. The damage estimated by microscopy corresponded to the effect quantified by CVA. The results show that the use of CVA is a rapid, sensitive and reliable quantitative assay to measure the cytotoxicity of different M. tuberculosis strains.

Genetic characterization of Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates with deletions in the plcA-plcB-plcC locus.

SETTING: The basis for Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence is not completely understood. Analysis of the genomic structure of clinical isolates will give information that can be related to biological activities involved in virulence. OBJECTIVE: To determine the extension of the deletion in the plcA-plcB-plcC locus of selected M. tuberculosis isolates, as well as other changes in the chromosome. DESIGN: In the present work we characterized a group of M. tuberculosis isolates devoid of the plcA-plcB-plcC locus by PCR, sequencing and microarrays. RESULTS: PCR amplification of this region demonstrated a complete lack of plcA and plcB ORF's in all of the isolates. The plcC gene was completely deleted in one of the strains (DR-689) and the other three isolates still conserved part of this ORF. The loss of lateral DNA sequences ranged from 3723 to 7646bp. An IS6110 element was present in all tested strains cases, and some isolates presented the insertion of ORF's coding for proteins homologous to the ESAT-6 and QILSS families. Genomic DNA of all the strains was extracted and analyzed with an in-house microarray system to observe loss of other genes possibly implicated in attenuated virulence. Two of the strains presented novel deletions; the rest of the isolates showed deletions already reported for other M. tuberculosis strains. DR-689, a Beijing type M. tuberculosis strain isolated in Canada, showed an IS6110 RFLP and a genomic deletion pattern similar to a San Francisco family of strains, although completely unrelated epidemiologically. CONCLUSION: Genomic changes in M. tuberculosis seem to occur in a controlled manner and they are possibly related to changes in its pathogenic properties.