Detection of haptoglobin and serum amyloid A as biomarkers in naturally infected Mycoplasma bovis calves.

The livestock sector of Pakistan is increasing rapidly and it plays important role both for rural community and national economy. It is estimated that almost 8 million rural people are involved in livestock rearing and earning about 35-40 % of their income from the livestock sector. Mycoplasma bovis (M. bovis) infection causes significant economic losses in dairy animals especially young calf in the form of clinical illnesses such as pneumonia, poly-arthritis, respiratory distress and mortality. M. bovis is hard to diagnose and control because of uneven disease appearance and it is usually noticed in asymptomatic animals. For the identification of M. bovis in sub-clinical and clinical samples, determination of acute phase proteins i.e., haptoglobin (Hp) and serum amyloid A (SAA) are important tools for the timely diagnosis of disease. Therefore, early diagnosis of disease and hemato-biochemical changes are considered beneficial tools to control the infectious agent to uplift the economy of the dairy farmers. For this purpose, blood samples were collected from 200 calves of Bovidae family. Serum was separated from blood samples to determine the concentration of Hp and SAA, while blood samples were processed to determine hematological changes in blood from calves by using hematological analyzer. The blood plasma obtained from the blood samples was processed to measure oxidative stress factors. Lungs tissues from slaughterhouses/ morbid calves were collected to observe histopathological changes. The results of present study indicated that level of SAA and Hp remarkably increased (P < 0.05) in M. bovis infected calves in comparison to healthy calves. The oxidative stress markers indicated that nitric oxide and MDA levels in the infected calves increased significantly (P < 0.05), while infected claves had considerably lower levels of superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione. These findings indicate that oxidative stress play role to increase the level of APPs, while monitoring of APPs levels may serve as a valuable addition to the clinical evaluation of naturally infected calves with M. bovis. The hematological parameters were decreased significantly (P < 0.05). Altogether, this study suggests that Hp and SAA are proposed as promising biomarkers for detecting naturally occurring M. bovis infection in calves.

Molecular mechanism of miR-203a targeting Runx2 to regulate thiram induced-chondrocyte development.

Thiram is a kind of organic compound, which is commonly used for sterilization, insecticidal and deodorization in daily life. Its toxicology has been broadly studied. Recently, more and more microRNAs have been shown to participate in the regulation of cartilage development. However, the potential mechanism by which microRNA regulates chondrocyte growth is still unclear. Our experiments have demonstrated that thiram can hamper chondrocytes development and cause a significant increase in miR-203a content in vitro and in vivo trials. miR-203a mimic significantly decrease in mRNA and protein expression of Wnt4, Runx2, COL2A1, ß-catenin and ALP, and significantly enhance the mRNA and protein levels of GSK-3ß. It has been observed that overexpression of miR-203a hindered chondrocytes development. In addition, Runx2 was confirmed to be a direct target of miR-203a by dual luciferase report gene assay. Transfection of si-Runx2 into chondrocytes reveals that significant downregulation of genes is associated with cartilage development. Overall, these results suggest that overexpression of miR-203a inhibits the expression of Runx2. These findings are conducive to elucidate the mechanism of chondrocytes dysplasia induced by thiram and provide new research ideas for the toxicology of thiram.

Comparative Study of the Outcome of Buccal Mucosa Graft Urethroplasty and Preputial Flap Urethroplasty for Anterior Urethral Stricture: A Prospective Randomized Study.

BACKGROUND: Urethroplasty using a buccal mucosa graft (BMG) and a preputial skin flap (PSF) are two common techniques used for the treatment of anterior urethral stricture. The present study compared the efficacy of these two techniques on the basis of success rate, preservation of sexual function, and complications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective, randomized, interventional study was conducted on adult male patients diagnosed with non-obliterative anterior urethral strictures of length >2 cm from August 2021 to December 2022. Pre-operative and post-operative work-up done included assessment of the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), Quality of Life (QOL), International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) Score, Male Sexual Health Questionnaire for Ejaculatory Dysfunction (MSHQ-EJD), Bother score, Urethral Stricture Surgery-Patient-Related Outcome Measure (USS-PROM), and peak urinary flow rate (Qmax) for each patient. Post-operative values for each score were compared with pre-operative values. RESULTS: Out of 31 patients, 16 underwent BMG urethroplasty, and 15 underwent PSF urethroplasty. The most common cause of stricture in both groups was idiopathic (35.5% and 53.3%). A statistically significant increase in IIEF score was observed in the BMG group in comparison to the PSF group (P<0.0001). The mean IPPS score in USS-PROM has shown a significant drop in BMG (19.6 vs. 17.3; P = 0.020). Hemoglobin drop was significantly higher in PSF than in BMG (2.6 vs. 1.9; P = 0.011). A higher incidence of surgical site infection was reported in the PSF group than in the BMG group (46.7% vs. 12.5%). The average operative time for surgery was higher in PSF than in BMG (154.8 min vs. 145.0 min), respectively. Each group had one patient with a recurrence. CONCLUSION: Both techniques are equally good for urethral reconstruction (UR); however, improvement of sexual function is more in favor of the BMG urethroplasty group.

Turning Lemons into Lemonade: Social Support as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Technostress and Quality of Life Among University Students.

Purpose: The overuse of internet-based technologies as a means of coping with the stress they generate has resulted in an alarming level of addiction, adversely impacting the quality of life and overall health of younger individuals. This social detachment, in turn, contributes to both physical and mental health deterioration. The potential remedy for this predicament lies in the application of social support as an antidote to internet addiction. In this context, our present study employs the Stress-Strain-Outcome model to explore the indirect effects of internet addiction and the moderating role of social support in relation to the influence of technostress on the quality of life of adults. Methods: We adopted a time-lagged design to collect data from university graduates and evaluated our study hypotheses using Mplus. Results: Our empirical findings highlight the significant influence of technostress on internet addiction, with the latter significantly mediating the relationship between technostress and quality of life. Furthermore, our results reveal that social support effectively moderates the indirect effects of technostress on quality of life through its impact on internet addiction. Conclusion: These findings can help researchers and educators better understand the underlying mechanisms between technostress and quality of life with social support as the silver lining. This form of social support holds the potential not only to alleviate internet addiction but also to positively enhance the quality of life and overall wellbeing of individuals facing these challenges. The implications of these findings and avenues for future research are also discussed.

Inorganic carbon is overlooked in global soil carbon research: A bibliometric analysis.

Soils are a major player in the global carbon (C) cycle and climate change by functioning as a sink or a source of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). The largest terrestrial C reservoir in soils comprises two main pools: organic (SOC) and inorganic C (SIC), each having distinct fates and functions but with a large disparity in global research attention. This study quantified global soil C research trends and the proportional focus on SOC and SIC pools based on a bibliometric analysis and raise the importance of SIC pools fully underrepresented in research, applications, and modeling. Studies on soil C pools started in 1905 and has produced over 47,000 publications (>1.7 million citations). Although the global C stocks down to 2 m depth are nearly the same for SOC and SIC, the research has dominantly examined SOC (>96 % of publications and citations) with a minimal share on SIC (<4%). Approximately 40 % of the soil C research was related to climate change. Despite poor coverage and publications, the climate change-related research impact (citations per document) of SIC studies was higher than that of SOC. Mineral associated organic carbon, machine learning, soil health, and biochar were the recent top trend topics for SOC research (2020-2023), whereas digital soil mapping, soil properties, soil acidification, and calcite were recent top trend topics for SIC. SOC research was contributed by 151 countries compared to 88 for SIC. As assessed by publications, soil C research was mainly concentrated in a few countries, with only 9 countries accounting for 70 % of the research. China and the USA were the major producers (45 %), collaborators (37 %), and funders of soil C research. SIC is a long-lived soil C pool with a turnover rate (leaching and recrystallization) of more than 1000 years in natural ecosystems, but intensive agricultural practices have accelerated SIC losses, making SIC an important player in global C cycle and climate change. The lack of attention and investment towards SIC research could jeopardize the ongoing efforts to mitigate climate change impacts to meet the 1.5-2.0 °C targets under the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015. This bibliographic study calls to expand the research focus on SIC and including SIC fluxes in C budgets and models, without which the representation of the global C cycle is incomplete.

Synthesis of CuSe/PVP/GO and CuSe/MWCNTs for their applications as nonenzymatic electrochemical glucose biosensors.

Copper selenide (CuSe) is an inorganic binary compound which exhibits metallic behavior with zero band gap. CuSe has multiple applications in electrocatalysis, photothermal therapy, flexible electronic and solar cells. In the current study, copper selenide based nanocomposites CuSe/PVP/GO and CuSe/MWCNTs were synthesized by using the sol-gel method for application as a non-enzymatic glucose biosensor. Different characterization methods were employed, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence (PL), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, and photoluminescence for determining various aspects of CuSe/PVP/GO and CuSe/MWCNTs nanocomposites including phase formation, functional group analysis, band gaps and morphology. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) showed that the resistances of modified electrode/bare electrode were 12.3 kΩ/17.3 kΩ and 6.3 kΩ/17.3 kΩ for CuSe/PVP/GO and CuSe/MWCNTs nanocomposites, respectively. Cyclic voltammetry showed that both CuSe/PVP/GO and CuSe/MWCNTs nanocomposites are promising biosensors for detection and monitoring of the glucose level in an analyte. The sensitivity and limit of detection are 2328 µA mM-1 cm-2/0.2 µM and 4157 µA mM-1 cm-2/0.3 µM for CuSe/PVP/GO and CuSe/MWCNTs, respectively. Chronoamperometry confirmed that our nanocomposite was the best sensor for glucose even in the presence of other interferents like ascorbic acid (AA), uric acid (UA) and dopamine (DA).

THEILERIA EQUI INFECTION IN WORKING HORSES OF PAKISTAN: EPIDEMIOLOGY, MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION, AND HEMATOBIOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS.

Theileria equi is 1 of the emerging and prevailing tick-borne hemoprotozoans adversely affecting the equids worldwide, including Pakistan. The current study aimed to investigate the prevalence and molecular characterization of T. equi in working horses (n = 194), the comparative efficacy of different diagnostic tests, associated risk factors, and hematobiochemical analysis. The blood samples of horses were subjected to microscopic examination, cELISA, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the results revealed a prevalence of 9.79, 21.13, and 13.40%, respectively, for T. equi in working horses. The comparison of microscopy and cELISA results with PCR showed that cELISA had higher sensitivity (84.62%), but lower specificity (88.69%) and accuracy (88.14%) in comparison to microscopy (57.69, 97.62, and 92.27%). Molecular characterization of T. equi by phylogenetic analysis revealed a 61% resemblance of study isolates with each other OL662926, OL662925, and 82% similarity with isolate OL662924 while also showing homology with T. equi isolates of South Africa, South Korea, India, Pakistan, and Brazil. The risk factor analysis revealed a significant association (P < 0.05) of tick control status, previous tick history, tick infestation, house hygiene, deworming/vaccination, and the presence of other livestock species with T. equi infection in horses. The hematobiochemical profile revealed a significant (P < 0.05) decrease in red blood cells (RBCs), hemoglobin (Hb), packed cell volume (PCV), white blood cells (WBCs), platelet (PLT), phosphorus, and an increase in lymphocytes, granulocytes, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), glucose, bilirubin, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and creatinine in T. equi-infected horses. The current study is the first comprehensive report for comparative evaluation of microscopy, cELISA, and PCR, assessment of epidemiological risk factors as well as hematobiochemical variations due to T. equi infection in Pakistan.

COVID-19 and Spontaneous Resolution of Lumbar Disk Prolapse: A Retrospective Cohort Study of Patients Awaiting Microdiscectomy.

BACKGROUND: Between individual patients with lumbar disk prolapse (LDP), the natural course of disease is significantly variable. Spontaneous resolution is reported to occur in up to 70% of cases. However, we currently cannot predict for whom and when this will occur. Neurosurgical intervention is indicated for LDP patients with nontolerable pain after at least 8 to 12 weeks of conservative management, or significant neurologic deficit. Channeling essential resources in the National Health Service (NHS) to fight the COVID-19 pandemic led to the postponement of most elective operations, including microdiskectomy. This left many LDP patients previously considered to be surgical candidates with conservative-only options in the interim. To our knowledge, we are the first center to report the specific impact of the peri- and postpandemic period on waiting list times, delayed elective microdiskectomy, and the incidence of spontaneous LDP resolution. METHODS: Retrospective case series of a prospectively collected electronic departmental database identified LDP patients who would have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic at some point in their care pathway (March 2020-February 2022). Further information was obtained from electronic patient records. RESULTS: In total, 139 LDP patients were listed for elective microdiskectomy at the time of postponement of elective surgery. Over a third of LDP patients (n = 47, 33.8%), in shared decision with the responsible neurosurgeon, had their rescheduled microdiskectomy canceled due to clinical improvement (14.1%), radiologic regression (6.5%), or both (12.2%). CONCLUSION: Our single-center retrospective analysis revealed that for over a third of LDP patients, the prolonged postpandemic waiting list times for elective microdiskectomy resulted in their surgery not taking place either due to spontaneous clinical improvement or proven radiologic regression. Considering this, a prolonged conservative approach to LDP may be appropriate in some patients, allowing time for natural resolution, while avoiding perioperative risks.

Inhalation of ammonia promotes apoptosis and induces autophagy in hepatocytes via Bax/BCl-2 and m-TOR/ATG5/LC-3bII axes.

Ammonia (NH3) is an irritating gas and atmospheric pollutant that endangers the health of humans and animals by stimulating respiratory tract's mucosa and causing liver damage. However, physiological role of ammonia gas in hepatotoxicity remains unclear. To investigate the hepatotoxic effects of inhaled ammonia gas, experiments were conducted using mouse model exposed to 100 ppm of ammonia gas for 21 days. The exposed mice exhibited signs of depression, emaciation, and reduced growth. This study revealed that inhalation of ammonia led to significant decrease in water (P < 0.0001) and food intake (P < 0.05), resulting in slower growth. Histopathological analysis showed that ammonia stress alters the microstructure of the liver by enlarging the gap between hepatic lobule and fibrosis. Moreover, ammonia-induced stress significantly reduces the expression of the anti-apoptotic protein BCl-2 (P < 0.001), while elevates the mRNA expression of the pro-apoptotic gene Bax (P < 0.001). Furthermore, ammonia inhalation significantly increases the protein expression of LC-3bII (P < 0.05) and the mRNA expression of autophagy-related gene 5 (ATG5) (P < 0.05) and p62 (P < 0.05) while remarkably decreases the mRNA expression of mammalian target of rapamycin (m-TOR) (P < 0.05). In conclusion, this study demonstrates that inhalation of ammonia gas causes liver damage and suggests autophagy happening via m-TOR/p62/LC-3bII and pro-apoptosis effect mediated by Bax/BCl-2 in the liver damage caused by ammonia inhalation. Our study provides a new perspective on ammonia-induced hepatotoxicity.

Effect of Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench and its extracts on the immunization outcome of avian influenza vaccine in broilers.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench (EP) is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant with immunomodulatory effects. However, the immunomodulatory effects of EP on broilers after vaccination are still unclear. AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim is to study the effect of EP and Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench extracts(EE) on avian influenza virus (AIV) immunity, and further explore the potential mechanism of immune regulation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Broilers were fed with feed additives containing 2% EP or 0.5% EE, and vaccinated against avian influenza. The samples were collected on the 7th, 21st, and 35th day after vaccination, and the feed conversion ratio (FCR) was calculated. Blood antibody titer, jejunal sIgA content, tight junction protein, gene and protein expression of TLR4-MAPK signaling pathway were also detected. RESULTS: The results showed that vaccination could cause immune stress, weight loss, increase sIgA content, and up-regulate the expression of tight junction proteins, including zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), Occludin, and Claudin-1, as well as the genes of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), myeloid differentiation primary response 88 (MyD88), receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6), activator protein 1 (AP-1) protein gene expression on TLR4-mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway, and the protein expression of MyD88, extracellular regulated protein kinases (ERK), and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). EP and EE could increase the body weight of broilers, further improve antibody titers, decrease FCR, increase sIgA levels, up-regulate the expression of tight junction proteins, including ZO-1, Occludin, and Claudin-1, as well as the genes of TLR4, MyD88, TRAF6, and AP-1 and the protein expression of MyD88, ERK, and JNK in the TLR4-MAPK signaling pathway. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, EP and EE can increase the broiler's production performance and improve vaccine immune effect through the TLR4-MAPK signaling pathway.

miR-181b-1-3p affects the proliferation and differentiation of chondrocytes in TD broilers through the WIF1/Wnt/ß-catenin pathway.

Thiram is a plant fungicide, its excessive use has exceeded the required environmental standards. It causes tibial dyschondroplasia (TD) in broilers which is a common metabolic disease that affects the growth plate of tibia bone. It has been studied that many microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in the differentiation of chondrocytes however, their specific roles and mechanisms have not been fully investigated. The selected features of tibial chondrocytes of broilers were studied in this experiment which included the expression of miR-181b-1-3p and the genes related to WIF1/Wnt/ß-catenin pathway in chondrocytes through qRT-PCR, western blot and immunofluorescence. The correlation between miR-181b-1-3p and WIF1 was determined by dual luciferase reporter gene assay whereas, the role of miR-181b-1-3p and WIF1/Wnt/ß-catenin in chondrocyte differentiation was determined by mimics and inhibitor transfection experiments. Results revealed that thiram exposure resulted in decreased expression of miR-181b-1-3p and increased expression of WIF1 in chondrocytes. A negative correlation was also observed between miR-181b-1-3p and WIF1. After overexpression of miR-181b-1-3p, the expression of ACAN, ß-catenin and Col2a1 increased but the expression of GSK-3ß decreased. It was observed that inhibition of WIF1 increased the expression of ALP, ß-catenin, Col2a1 and ACAN but decreased the expression of GSK-3ß. It is concluded that miR-181b-1-3p can reverse the inhibitory effect of thiram on cartilage proliferation and differentiation by inhibiting WIF1 expression and activating Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway. This study provides a new molecular target for the early diagnosis and possible treatment of TD in broilers.

Effect of Different Feeds on the Fungi Microbiome of Suffolk Crossed with Tibetan Sheep.

The gut microbiome plays an important role in the metabolism, nutrient absorption and immunocompetency of animals. The dynamics of the microbiota can be influenced by modulatory factors that involve nutrition, environment, health, diseases, etc. Few reports have been documented regarding the effects of different feeds on the fungi microbiome of Suffolk crossed with Tibetan sheep. A total of 30 Suffolk crossed with Tibetan sheep (ST sheep) were selected for the study and randomly divided into five equal groups (n = 6): AZ, BZ, CZ, DZ and EZ. Group AZ was fed with alfalfa and oat grass, whereas group BZ was fed with mixture of concentrated feed, alfalfa and oat grass. Groups CZ, DZ and EZ were fed with concentrated feed #1, #2 and #3, respectively. All experimental animals were fed twice a day for four months, and rectum samples were collected for microbiota analysis. Results revealed that 2,781,461 raw reads and 2,333,239 clean reads were achieved in the ST sheep. When compared with the sheep of groups AZ and BZ (164), the shared amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) between AZ and CZ (109), AZ (113) and DZ (118) as well as AZ along with EZ were fewer. Conspicuous different phyla (8) and genera (56) were examined and compared with free-range sheep in AZ. Genera including Xeromyces, Kazachstania, Cordyceps, Rhodotorula, Pichia, Spor, etc. were found higher in animals in the CZ, DZ and EZ groups. The results of this study provide new insights regarding the effects of different feeds on the fungi microbiome of sheep farmed on the plateau. We concluded that the differences in feed in Suffolk crossed with Tibetan sheep altered their gut microbiota.

Baicalin inhibits apoptosis and enhances chondrocyte proliferation in thiram-induced tibial dyschondroplasia in chickens by regulating Bcl-2/Caspase-9 and Sox-9/Collagen-II expressions.

Avian tibial dyschondroplasia (TD) is a skeletal disease affecting fast growing chickens, resulting in non-mineralized avascular cartilage. This metabolic disorder is characterized by lameness and reduced growth performance causing economic losses. The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effects of baicalin against TD caused by thiram exposure. A total of two hundred and forty (n = 240) one day-old broiler chickens were uniformly and randomly allocated into three different groups (n = 80) viz. control, TD, and baicalin groups. All chickens received standard feed, however, to induce TD, the TD and baicalin groups received thiram (tetramethylthiuram disulfide) at a rate of 50 mg/kg feed from days 4-7. The thiram induction in TD and baicalin groups resulted in lameness, high mortality, and enlarged growth-plate, poor production performance, reduction in ALP, GSH-Px, SOD, and T-AOC levels, and increased AST and ALT, and MDA levels. Furthermore, histopathological results showed less vascularization, and mRNA and protein expression levels of Sox-9, Col-II, and Bcl-2 showed significant downward trend, while caspase-9 displayed significant up-regulation in TD-affected chickens. After the TD induction, the baicalin group was orally administered with baicalin at a rate of 200 mg/kg from days 8-18. Baicalin administration increased the vascularization, and chondrocytes with intact nuclei, alleviated lameness, decreased GP size, increased productive capacity, and restored the liver antioxidant enzymes and serum biochemical levels. Furthermore, baicalin significantly up-regulated the gene and protein expressions of Sox-9, Col-II, and Bcl-2, and significantly down-regulated the expression of caspase-9 (p < 0.05). Therefore, the obtained results suggest that baicalin could be a possible choice in thiram toxicity alleviation by regulating apoptosis and chondrocyte proliferation in thiram-induced tibial dyschondroplasia.

The molecular mechanisms of glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis regulating chondrogenesis and endochondral ossification.

Disorders of chondrocyte differentiation and endochondral osteogenesis are major underlying factors in skeletal developmental disorders, including tibial dysplasia (TD), osteoarthritis (OA), chondrodysplasia (ACH), and multiple epiphyseal dysplasia (MED). Understanding the cellular and molecular pathogenesis of these disorders is crucial for addressing orthopedic diseases resulting from impaired glycosaminoglycan synthesis. Glycosaminoglycan is a broad term that refers to the glycan component of proteoglycan macromolecules. It is an essential component of the cartilage extracellular matrix and plays a vital role in various biological processes, including gene transcription, signal transduction, and chondrocyte differentiation. Recent studies have demonstrated that glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis plays a regulatory role in chondrocyte differentiation and endochondral osteogenesis by modulating various growth factors and signaling molecules. For instance, glycosaminoglycan is involved in mediating pathways such as Wnt, TGF-ß, FGF, Ihh-PTHrP, and O-GlcNAc glycosylation, interacting with transcription factors SOX9, BMPs, TGF-ß, and Runx2 to regulate chondrocyte differentiation and endochondral osteogenesis. To propose innovative approaches for addressing orthopedic diseases caused by impaired glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis, we conducted a comprehensive review of the molecular mechanisms underlying chondrocyte glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis, which regulates chondrocyte differentiation and endochondral osteogenesis. Our analysis considers the role of genes, glycoproteins, and associated signaling pathways during chondrogenesis and endochondral ossification.

Leg disorders in broiler chickens: a review of current knowledge.

Ensuring improved leg health is an important prerequisite for broilers to achieve optimal production performance and welfare status. Broiler leg disease is characterized by leg muscle weakness, leg bone deformation, joint cysts, arthritis, femoral head necrosis, and other symptoms that result in lameness or paralysis. These conditions significantly affect movement, feeding and broiler growth performance. Nowadays, the high incidence of leg abnormalities in broiler chickens has become an important issue that hampers the development of broiler farming. Therefore, it is imperative to prevent leg diseases and improve the health of broiler legs. This review mainly discusses the current prevalence of broiler leg diseases and describes the risk factors, diagnosis, and prevention of leg diseases to provide a scientific basis for addressing broiler leg health problems.

The effect of Abrus cantoniensis Hance on liver damage in mice.

The liver is a well-known organ contributing to digestion, hemostasis and detoxification, while liver injury is a world-widely distributed health problem with limited treatment choices. We detected the protective effect of Abrus cantoniensis Hance (ACH) on Carbon tetrachloride-induced (CCl4) liver injury in mice. Fifty ICR (Institute of Cancer Research) animals were grouped into five groups of control (a), CCl4 (d), ACH (25 mg/kg) treated group (c), ACH (50 mg/kg) treated group (b), and ACH (100 mg/kg) treated group (e). Mice in groups d, c, b, and e were given CCl4 every four days, and treated animals received daily ACH supplementation. The results showed that the daily body weights in CCl4-induced animals were slightly lower; however, the weight of ACH-treated mice increased, particularly in the higher dose group. Treatment with CCl4 led to increased liver weight and liver indices in mice, whereas supplementation with ACH reduced both liver weights and liver indices in animals. Histo-pathological analysis indicated that CCl4 led to inflammatory cell infiltration and hepatocellular degeneration, with collagenous fibers proliferation in ICR animals. In contrast, supplementation with ACH prominently decreased inflammatory cells and degeneration of hepatocytes and inhibited collagen fiber hyperplasia. Furthermore, the levels or concentrations of AST (p < 0.0001), ALT (p < 0.0001), MDA (p < 0.0001), IL-1ß (p < 0.01), TNF-α (p < 0.01) and IL-6 (p < 0.01) were significantly higher in CCl4 induced ICR animals in group d. However, mice treated with ACH showed lower levels or concentrations of those indices in dose dependent manner. The levels of GSH-px (p < 0.0001), CAT (p < 0.0001) and SOD (p < 0.0001) were significantly reduced in CCl4 group; however, all these three enzymes exhibited significant (p < 0.05) increase in animals supplemented with ACH in dose dependent manner. The microbiome sequencing generated 1,168,327 filtered reads in the mice samples. A notable difference was observed in the composition of 6 phyla and 37 genera among the five ICR animal groups. Supplementation with ACH increased the abundance of beneficial genera of Coprococcus, Blautia and Clostridium, while concurrently decreased the presence of pathogenic genera of Mycoplasma and Helicobacter. In conclusion, we revealed that Abrus cantoniensis Hance has the potential to relieve liver damage induced by CCl4, through the reduction of inflammation, enhancement of antioxidant capacity, and regulation of intestinal microbiota.

Environmental Microplastic Exposure Changes Gut Microbiota in Chickens.

As novel environmental contaminants, MPs exist widely in the environment and accumulate in organisms, which has become a global ecological problem. MP perturbations of organismal physiology and behavior have been extensively recorded in aquatic animals, but the potential effects of MPs on poultry are not well characterized. Here, we explored the adverse effects of MP exposure on the growth performance and gut microbiota of chickens. Results showed that the growth performance of chickens decreased significantly during MP exposure. Additionally, Firmicutes, Bacteroidota, and Proteobacteria were found to be dominant in the gut microbiota of MP-exposed chickens, regardless of health status. Although the types of dominant bacteria did not change, the abundances of some bacteria and the structure of the gut microbiota changed significantly. Compared with the controls, the alpha diversity of gut microbiota in chickens exposed to MPs showed a significant decrease. The results of comparative analyses of bacteria between groups showed that the levels of 1 phyla (Proteobacteria) and 18 genera dramatically decreased, whereas the levels of 1 phyla (Cyanobacteria) and 12 genera dramatically increased, during MP exposure. In summary, this study provides evidence that exposure to MPs has a significant impact on the growth performance and gut microbial composition and structure of chickens, leading to a gut microbial imbalance. This may raise widespread public concern about the health threat caused by MP contamination, which is relevant to the maintenance of environmental quality and protection of poultry health.

Effects of Cryptosporidium parvum infection on intestinal fungal microbiota in yaks (Bos grunniens).

During the last decade, researchers had started to focus on the relationship between intestinal parasitic infection and variation of intestinal microflora. Cryptosporidium is a widely known opportunistic and zoonotic pathogen. Several studies have shown that Cryptosporidium infection has impact to alter the gut microflora. However, there are only few studies referring to the fungal microflora changes in response to Cryptosporidium infection in highland ruminants. Therefore, the present study was performed for exploring the alternations of intestinal fungal microbiota in yaks after exposure to Cryptosporidium infection. In present study, Amplicon sequencing of ITS regions was used to study the variations of fungal microflora in yaks. After filtering the raw data, over 45 000 and 62 000 clean data were obtained in uninfected and infected yaks, respectively. By using alpha diversity analysis, it was found that there is no significant difference in the richness and evenness when positive samples were compared with negative ones, whereas intestinal fungal communities in different taxa in yaks were changed. The results of present study depicted that 2-phyla and 21-genera in the infected animals had significantly (P < 0.05) changed. These genera were Septoria, Coniothyrium, Cleistothelebolus, Bensingtonia, Cystobasidium, Filobasidium, Coprotus, Carex, Blumeria, Coprinellus, Leucosporidium, Phialophora, Isolepis, Ascobolus, Thecaphora, Mortierella, Urocystis, Symmetrospora and Lasiobolus. In addition, we found variations in 28 enzymes suggesting that the function of microbiota was also affected. It is concluded that there are drastic changes in the fungal microflora and microbiota functions after exposure to Cryptosporidium infection in yak. Our results help to focus on the prompt way for the development of new therapies to control Cryptosporidiosis.