Effects of organic acids supplement on performance, egg traits, blood serum biochemical parameters and gut microflora in female Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of acetic acid, lactic acid, and butyric acid on the production performance, egg parameters (quality and quantity traits), blood and liver serum biochemical parameters and gastrointestinal tract microorganism on female Japanese quails. A total of 640 female Japanese quails aged 35-84 days were housedfor eight treatments with four replicates. They were arranged in completely randomized design (CRD) to evaluate the effects of basal diet (BD) with a supplement of acetic acid (AA), lactic acid (LA) and butyric acid (BA). The performance parameters to study this effect are feed intake, feed conversion ratio, egg traits such as egg weight, egg production, and egg mass along with specific gravity, internal quality unit (IQU), yolk and albumen indexes, and eggshell traits such as weight, thickness, and surface. It also includes blood serum biochemical parameters such as cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL, LDL, albumin, globulin, glucose, and gastrointestinal tract microflora (E.Coli and Salmonella). Eight dietary treatments were formulated by addition of organic acids such as BD without organic acids additive, BD with 124 mg/kg AA additive, BD with 104 mg/kg LA additive, BD with 113 mg/kg BA additive, BD with 63.5 mg/kg AA+53.5 mg/kg LA additive, BD with 63.5 mg/kg AA+57 mg/kg BA additive, BD with 53.5 mg/kg LA+57 mg/kg BA additive and BD with 41.6 mg/kg AA+35 mg/kg LA+37 mg/kg BA additive. The results showed that the diets containing BD+LA+BA+AA and BD+AA alone considerably increased feed intake, feed conversion ratio, egg weight, egg production and egg mass (p<0.01). The diets containing BD+AA and BD+LA significantly affected some quality traits such as eggshell thickness, eggshell weight (p<0.01), shell surface, and IQU (p<0.05). The diets containing BD+AA and BD+LA alone increased serum cholesterol, HDL, albumin, globulin and total protein significantly (p<0.01)...(AU)

Effects of organic acids supplement on performance, egg traits, blood serum biochemical parameters and gut microflora in female Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of acetic acid, lactic acid, and butyric acid on the production performance, egg parameters (quality and quantity traits), blood and liver serum biochemical parameters and gastrointestinal tract microorganism on female Japanese quails. A total of 640 female Japanese quails aged 35-84 days were housedfor eight treatments with four replicates. They were arranged in completely randomized design (CRD) to evaluate the effects of basal diet (BD) with a supplement of acetic acid (AA), lactic acid (LA) and butyric acid (BA). The performance parameters to study this effect are feed intake, feed conversion ratio, egg traits such as egg weight, egg production, and egg mass along with specific gravity, internal quality unit (IQU), yolk and albumen indexes, and eggshell traits such as weight, thickness, and surface. It also includes blood serum biochemical parameters such as cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL, LDL, albumin, globulin, glucose, and gastrointestinal tract microflora (E.Coli and Salmonella). Eight dietary treatments were formulated by addition of organic acids such as BD without organic acids additive, BD with 124 mg/kg AA additive, BD with 104 mg/kg LA additive, BD with 113 mg/kg BA additive, BD with 63.5 mg/kg AA+53.5 mg/kg LA additive, BD with 63.5 mg/kg AA+57 mg/kg BA additive, BD with 53.5 mg/kg LA+57 mg/kg BA additive and BD with 41.6 mg/kg AA+35 mg/kg LA+37 mg/kg BA additive. The results showed that the diets containing BD+LA+BA+AA and BD+AA alone considerably increased feed intake, feed conversion ratio, egg weight, egg production and egg mass (p<0.01). The diets containing BD+AA and BD+LA significantly affected some quality traits such as eggshell thickness, eggshell weight (p<0.01), shell surface, and IQU (p<0.05). The diets containing BD+AA and BD+LA alone increased serum cholesterol, HDL, albumin, globulin and total protein significantly (p<0.01)...

Signaling and molecular basis of bone marrow niche angiogenesis in leukemia.

Angiogenesis, the process of blood vessel formation, is necessary for tissue survival in normal and pathologic conditions. Increased angiogenesis in BM niche is correlated with leukemia progression and resistance to treatment. Angiogenesis can interfere with disease progression and several angiogenic (such as vascular growth factors) as well as anti-angiogenic factors (i.e. angiostatin) can affect angiogenesis. Furthermore, miRs can affect the angiogenic process by inhibiting angiogenesis or increasing the expression of growth factors. Given the importance of angiogenesis in BM for maintenance of leukemic clones, recognition of angiogenic and anti-angiogenic factors and miRs as well as drug resistance mechanisms of leukemic blasts can improve the therapeutic strategies. We highlight the changes in angiogenic balance within the BM niche in different leukemia types. Moreover, we explored the pathways leading to drug resistance in relation to angiogenesis and attempted to assign interesting candidates for future research.

Central nervous system niche involvement in the leukemia.

Central nervous system (CNS) impairment is commonly involved in leukemia, as it can be observed upon onset or relapse of the disease. It is associated with poor prognosis and is a challenging clinical problem. The objective of this paper was to provide a characterization of the CNS niche in leukemia, to elucidate the culprits of CNS involvement, including diagnostic micro RNAs (miRs) and early leukemia prognosis. CNS niche is a proper location for homing of leukemic stem cells, thus representing a candidate target in the treatment of leukemia. Recent advances in the study of leukemia hallmarks have enlightened miRs as novel biomarkers for diagnosis and detection of CNS involvement in leukemia, thus providing the opportunity to develop novel therapeutic approaches. Given the importance of prognosis and early diagnosis of CNS involvement in leukemias as well as the severe side effects of current treatments, diagnostic and therapeutic approaches should focus on identification and inhibition of the factors contributing to CNS involvement, including CXCR3, P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 and MCP1. MiRs such as miR-221 and miR-222 are emerging as potential tools for an innovative non-invasive therapy of CNS in leukemia affected patients.

Twist as a new prognostic marker in hematological malignancies.

Twist proteins are members of basic helix-loop-helix family and are major regulators of embryogenesis. In adult humans, Twist proteins are mainly expressed in precursor cells, including myogenic, osteoblastic, chondroblastic and myelomonocytic lineages, maintaining their undifferentiated state. In addition, they play important roles in lymphocyte function and maturation. Recently, several studies have reported regulatory roles for Twist in the function and development of hematopoietic cells as well as in survival and development of numerous hematological malignancies. It is activated by numerous signal transduction pathways, including Akt, nuclear factor κB, Wnt, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3, mitogen-activated protein kinase and Ras signaling. Activated Twist has an anti-apoptotic role and protects cancer cells from apoptotic cell death. In addition, overexpression of Twist promotes the process of epithelial-mesenchymal transition, which has an essential role in cancer metastasis. Hereby, we review the aberrant expression of Twist in hematopoietic malignancies such as leukemias, lymphomas and myelodysplastic syndrome, which is related with poor prognosis and drug resistance in these disorders. Inactivation of Twist by small RNAs technology or chemotherapeutic inhibitors targeting Twist and upstream or downstream molecules of Twist signaling pathways may be helpful in management of disease to improve treatment strategies in malignancies.