Three daily intraperitoneal injections of sub-anesthetic ketamine ameliorate activity-based anorexia vulnerability of adult female mice.

OBJECTIVE: To identify ketamine's dosing schedule that ameliorates voluntary food restriction, hyperactivity and body weight loss of adult mice undergoing activity-based anorexia (ABA), an animal model of anorexia nervosa. METHOD: Female and male C57BL6 mice underwent three cycles of ABA, starting from mid-adolescence. ABA vulnerability was compared within and across two groups of animals: those injected intraperitoneally with 30 mg/kg ketamine for three consecutive days (30mgKetx3) during the second ABA in late adolescence (ABA2) or with vehicle only (Vx3). RESULTS: Vx3 females and males exhibited individual differences in wheel running and weight retention during first ABA in mid-adolescence (ABA1), ABA2, and third ABA in adulthood (ABA3). Their wheel running correlated with anxiety-like behavior. During ABA1 and ABA3, weight gain of Vx3 females (but not males) after food consumption correlated negatively with food-anticipatory activity (FAA) preceding the feeding hours, indicating that females with higher levels of running restrict feeding more and persistently. This paradoxical relationship confirms earlier findings of ABA females without ketamine treatment, capturing the maladaptive behaviors exhibited by individuals diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. By contrast, 30mgKetx3 had an effect on both sexes of reducing hyperactivity during the feeding hours acutely and reducing anxiety-like behavior's contribution to running. For females, only, 30mgKetx3 acutely improved the extent of compensatory food consumption relative to FAA and improved weight retention during ABA3, 12 days post ketamine in adulthood. DISCUSSION: Sub-anesthetic ketamine evokes behavior-specific ameliorative effects for adult mice re-experiencing ABA, supporting the notion that multiple doses of ketamine may be helpful in reducing relapse among adults with anorexia nervosa. PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: This study examined whether ketamine reduces anorexia-like behaviors in adult mice. Three daily sub-anesthetic ketamine injections suppress wheel running during and leading up to the hours of food availability and enable animals to compensate better for weight loss associated with excessive exercise by eating more. These findings suggest that ketamine may help adult females diagnosed with anorexia nervosa but also point to sex- and age-related differences in the action of ketamine.

Comparing different environmental enrichments for improving the welfare and walking ability of male turkeys.

This study investigated age-related changes in turkey welfare measures (wounds, feather quality (FQ), feather cleanliness, and footpad condition (FCON)) and walking ability (gait) as influenced by different types of environmental enrichment (EE). Tom turkeys (n = 420) were randomly assigned to: straw bale (S), platform (P), platform + straw bale (PS), pecking block (B), tunnel (T) or control (C; no enrichment) group. Welfare measures and gait were assessed at 8, 12, 16 and 19 wk and analyzed using PROC LOGISTIC with Firth bias-correction. Better wing FQ with age was observed in turkeys in S and T groups. Turkeys in the S group had better wing FQ at 16 (P = 0.028) and 19 wk (P = 0.011) vs. 8 wk. Wing FQ (P = 0.008) was better at 19 vs. 8 wk for T turkeys. FCON worsened over time for turkeys in all treatment groups except for the S group. FCON was worse at 19 vs.8 wk for P (P = 0.024), PS (P = 0.039), B (P = 0.011), T (P = 0.004) and C (P = 0.014) turkeys and was worse at 19 vs. 12 wk for B (P = 0.038), T (P = 0.015) and C (P = 0.045) turkeys. FCON was worse at 19 vs. 16 wk for T (P = 0.007) and C (P = 0.048) turkeys. FCON was also worse at 16 vs. 8 wk for B (P = 0.046) turkeys. Gait worsened with increasing age in all treatment groups. Gait was worse at 19 wk for S (P < 0.001), P (P < 0.001), PS (P < 0.001) and B turkeys (P < 0.001) vs. earlier ages, while gait in T (P < 0.001) and C turkeys (P < 0.001) worsened starting at 16 wk.

Investigating the bio-toxicity of coking wastewater using Zea mays L. assay.

With an increasing focus on the risk of pollution resulting from coking wastewater, it is important to check its toxic effects on organisms. For this reason, several physiological changes of Zea mays L. (maize) after exposure to coking wastewater were investigated in the present study, including growth, fresh biomass, mitotic index (MI), micronucleus (MCN) frequency, oxidative stress, and antioxidant capacity. The results show that coking wastewater affected the growth, fresh biomass and cell division, and induced obvious increase of MCN frequency in root tips. Moreover, coking wastewater elevated the levels of lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation in leaf tissues, accompanied by changes in heredity and antioxidant status. Also, the above-mentioned physiological responses varied as a function of sample concentration, and polluting risk was higher for the more concentrated samples, which contained higher level pollutants. It is therefore implicated that coking wastewater could cause toxic effects on organisms, and the possible mechanism involved is the generation of reactive oxygen species and subsequent injuries.

Testing the genotoxicity of coking wastewater using Vicia faba and Hordeum vulgare bioassays.

The coking wastewater induces severe environmental problems in China, however, its toxicity has not been well known. In the present study, the genotoxicity of coking wastewater was studied using Vicia faba and Hordeum vulgare root tip cytogenetic bioassays. Results show that the tested coking wastewater decreased the mitotic index, and significantly enhanced the frequencies of micronucleus, sister chromatid exchange and pycnotic cell in concentration-dependent manners. Exposure to the same concentration wastewater, the increasing ratios of above genetic injuries were higher in V. faba than that in H. vulgare. The results imply that coking wastewater is a genotoxic agent in plant cells and exposure to the wastewater in environment may pose a potential genotoxic risk to organisms. It also suggests that both bioassays can be used for testing the genotoxicity of coking wastewater, but the V. faba assay is more sensitive than H. vulgare assay during the process.

[Toxicity of Soil Leachate from Coal Gangue and Its Surrounding Village of Barley(Hordeum vulgare)].

Coal gangue is a harmful solid waste product of coal mining. When it accumulates for a long time, it becomes harmful to the surroundings. To investigate the adverse effect of coal gangue on the surrounding environment, this study investigated the effects of coal gangue and its downstream village on the growth toxicity and genotoxicity of barley at different dilution concentrations (1：27, 1：9, 1：3, and 1：1) via hydroponic experiments. As a result, low concentration coal gangue showed a slight promotion effect on the growth of roots and shoots of barley, while coal gangue and village soil, which have a high concentration, could seriously inhibit their germination and growth. At the same time, with the increase of the concentration of coal gangue, malondialdehyde (MDA) in barley leaves increased, and chlorophyll (Chl) increased first and then decreased, while the village soil showed a lower toxic effect. In addition, our results showed that higher concentrations of coal gangue and village soil could decrease the mitotic index and increase the micronucleus rate in root tip cells, indicating that the toxicity mechanism of coal gangue to barley may be involved in genotoxicity. These results provide experimental evidence for the ecological risk assessment of the coal gangue and its surrounding environment.