Arginine vasopressin-induced glucagon release: interaction with glucose and cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase

The first study purpose was to investigate the glucose dependency of arginine vasopressin (AVP)-induced insulin, glucagon and somatostatin release from the perfused rat pancreas. AVP (30 or 300 pmol/L) was tested in the presence of glucose concentrations of 0, 1.4, 5.5 (basal level), or 20 mmol/L. The findings from this study suggested that AVP may increase insulin and glucagon release by a direct action on beta- and alpha-cells, respectively. These increases are glucose-dependent; the higher the glucose concentration, the greater the enhancement of AVP-induced insulin release. In contrast, the lower the glucose concentration, the greater the enhancement of AVP-induced glucagon release. AVP not only can enhance glucose-induced insulin release, but also can initiate insulin release. alpha-cells are much more sensitive to AVP than beta-cells in hormone release. Furthermore, our results confirmed the previous findings that hypoglycemia directly increases glucagon and decreases insulin release.;The second study purpose was to characterize the mechanisms by which cAMP/PKA enhances AVP-induced glucagon release and provide further details in the intracellular molecular components involved in this enhancement, particularly at the level of exocytosis. Increasing intracellular cAMP levels by forskolin or IBMX enhanced AVP-induced glucagon release from the perfused rat pancreas and the clonal alpha-cells InR1G9. cAMP/PKA did not increase [Ca 2+]i nor did it;enhance AVP-induced [Ca2+]i increase. Forskolin and IBMX enhanced AVP-induced glucagon release in Ca2+-containing but not in Ca2+-free medium. InR1G9 cells were loaded with styryl dye FM1-43 to measure the size of readily releasable pool (RRP). The combination of AVP and forskolin induced higher increase in fluorescence intensity than AVP or forskolin alone, which reflects an increase in the size of the RRP. Secretory granules in the reserve pool (RP) are thought to be reversibly connected to the actin-based cytoskeleton by synapsin I. Pretreatment with antisynapsin I antibody abolished the effect of forskolin/AVP-induced glucagon release. In addition, FM1-43 loading experiments showed that synapsin I is involved in recruitment of secretory granules from RP to RRP. Our results suggested that cAMP, acting through PKA, increases the number of secretory granules in the RRP by mobilization of granules from the RP, an action mediated by synapsin I

Risk Factors for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Infection among Camel Populations, Southern Jordan, 2014-2018.

After the first detection of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in camels in Jordan in 2013, we conducted 2 consecutive surveys in 2014-2015 and 2017-2018 investigating risk factors for MERS-CoV infection among camel populations in southern Jordan. Multivariate analysis to control for confounding demonstrated that borrowing of camels, particularly males, for breeding purposes was associated with increased MERS-CoV seroprevalence among receiving herds, suggesting a potential route of viral transmission between herds. Increasing age, herd size, and use of water troughs within herds were also associated with increased seroprevalence. Closed herd management practices were found to be protective. Future vaccination strategies among camel populations in Jordan could potentially prioritize breeding males, which are likely to be shared between herds. In addition, targeted management interventions with the potential to reduce transmission between herds should be considered; voluntary closed herd schemes offer a possible route to achieving disease-free herds

Socializing One Health: an innovative strategy to investigate social and behavioral risks of emerging viral threats

In an effort to strengthen global capacity to prevent, detect, and control infectious diseases in animals and people, the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) PREDICT project funded development of regional, national, and local One Health capacities for early disease detection, rapid response, disease control, and risk reduction. From the outset, the EPT approach was inclusive of social science research methods designed to understand the contexts and behaviors of communities living and working at human-animal-environment interfaces considered high-risk for virus emergence. Using qualitative and quantitative approaches, PREDICT behavioral research aimed to identify and assess a range of socio-cultural behaviors that could be influential in zoonotic disease emergence, amplification, and transmission. This broad approach to behavioral risk characterization enabled us to identify and characterize human activities that could be linked to the transmission dynamics of new and emerging viruses. This paper provides a discussion of implementation of a social science approach within a zoonotic surveillance framework. We conducted in-depth ethnographic interviews and focus groups to better understand the individual- and community-level knowledge, attitudes, and practices that potentially put participants at risk for zoonotic disease transmission from the animals they live and work with, across 6 interface domains. When we asked highly-exposed individuals (ie. bushmeat hunters, wildlife or guano farmers) about the risk they perceived in their occupational activities, most did not perceive it to be risky, whether because it was normalized by years (or generations) of doing such an activity, or due to lack of information about potential risks. Integrating the social sciences allows investigations of the specific human activities that are hypothesized to drive disease emergence, amplification, and transmission, in order to better substantiate behavioral disease drivers, along with the social dimensions of infection and transmission dynamics. Understanding these dynamics is critical to achieving health security--the protection from threats to health-- which requires investments in both collective and individual health security. Involving behavioral sciences into zoonotic disease surveillance allowed us to push toward fuller community integration and engagement and toward dialogue and implementation of recommendations for disease prevention and improved health security

Arginine vasopressin-induced glucagon release: interaction with glucose and cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase

The first study purpose was to investigate the glucose dependency of arginine vasopressin (AVP)-induced insulin, glucagon and somatostatin release from the perfused rat pancreas. AVP (30 or 300 pmol/L) was tested in the presence of glucose concentrations of 0, 1.4, 5.5 (basal level), or 20 mmol/L. The findings from this study suggested that AVP may increase insulin and glucagon release by a direct action on beta- and alpha-cells, respectively. These increases are glucose-dependent; the higher the glucose concentration, the greater the enhancement of AVP-induced insulin release. In contrast, the lower the glucose concentration, the greater the enhancement of AVP-induced glucagon release. AVP not only can enhance glucose-induced insulin release, but also can initiate insulin release. alpha-cells are much more sensitive to AVP than beta-cells in hormone release. Furthermore, our results confirmed the previous findings that hypoglycemia directly increases glucagon and decreases insulin release.;The second study purpose was to characterize the mechanisms by which cAMP/PKA enhances AVP-induced glucagon release and provide further details in the intracellular molecular components involved in this enhancement, particularly at the level of exocytosis. Increasing intracellular cAMP levels by forskolin or IBMX enhanced AVP-induced glucagon release from the perfused rat pancreas and the clonal alpha-cells InR1G9. cAMP/PKA did not increase [Ca 2+]i nor did it;enhance AVP-induced [Ca2+]i increase. Forskolin and IBMX enhanced AVP-induced glucagon release in Ca2+-containing but not in Ca2+-free medium. InR1G9 cells were loaded with styryl dye FM1-43 to measure the size of readily releasable pool (RRP). The combination of AVP and forskolin induced higher increase in fluorescence intensity than AVP or forskolin alone, which reflects an increase in the size of the RRP. Secretory granules in the reserve pool (RP) are thought to be reversibly connected to the actin-based cytoskeleton by synapsin I. Pretreatment with antisynapsin I antibody abolished the effect of forskolin/AVP-induced glucagon release. In addition, FM1-43 loading experiments showed that synapsin I is involved in recruitment of secretory granules from RP to RRP. Our results suggested that cAMP, acting through PKA, increases the number of secretory granules in the RRP by mobilization of granules from the RP, an action mediated by synapsin I.</p

The effect of dry cow therapy using systemic tylosin in combination with common intramammary medications on mastitis rate, cull rate, somatic cell count, and milk production in dairy cows affected with subclinical mastitis

Aim: This study was performed to evaluate the effect of systemic tylosin on mastitis rates, cull rates because of mastitis, and quality and quantity of milk production in dairy cows affected with subclinical mastitis. Materials and Methods: A total of 130 California mastitis test (CMT)-positive cows were randomly selected and divided into four different treatment groups. All treatments were performed on the day of drying off. Cows in Group 1 (n=34) received 12 g of tylosin intramuscularly (IM) and intramammary (IMM) 400 mg novobiocin sodium and 200,000IU penicillin G procaine. Group 2 (n=33) received 12 g tylosin IM and IMM 280 mg benethamine penicillin, 100 mg penethamate hydriodide, and 100 mg framycetin sulfate. Group 3 (n=33) received IMM alone with 400 mg novobiocin sodium and 200,000 IU penicillin G procaine. Group 4 (n=30) received IMM alone with 280 mg benethamine penicillin, 100 mg penethamate hydriodide, and 100 mg framycetin sulfate. The incidence and severity of clinical mastitis (CM), incidence of chronic mastitis, and cow cull rate because of mastitis were recorded during the first 100 days in milk (DIM). In addition, somatic cell count (SCC) and milk production parameters including the average days to peak milk yield, the average milk yield at peak, the average milk yield during the first 100 DIM, and the average 305-corrected milk yield were reported. Results: The rate of CM was significantly (p≤0.05) less in Group 2 when compared between the current and previous lactations (30% vs. 64%). In Group 1 and 4, the rate of CM was decreased but not significant between the two lactations (59% vs. 79% and 63% vs. 77%, respectively) while in Group 3, the rate of CM was slightly increased (82% vs. 91%). When compared between the four groups in the current lactation, CM rate was significantly (p≤0.05) less in Group 2 compared to the other groups. A significant (p≤0.05) percentage of CM cases in Group 2 was classified as mild. In Groups 1 and 3, a significant (p≤0.05) percentage of CM cases was classified as moderate while severe clinical signs were recorded more significantly (p≤0.05) in Groups 3 and 4. The rate of chronic mastitis was significantly less in Group 1 and Group 2 in the current lactation compared to that in the previous lactation (6% vs. 12% and 0% vs. 6%, respectively). In Groups 3 and 4, the rate of chronic mastitis was not changed significantly when compared between the current and previous lactations. No cows were culled because of mastitis in Groups 1 and 3 while one cow was culled in each of Groups 2 and 4 during the first 100 DIM in the current lactation. The average milk yield during the first 100 DIM and the 305-corrected milk yield were significantly (p≤0.05) increased in Group 2 when compared between the previous and current lactations. Furthermore, cows in Group 2 produced significantly (p≤0.05) more milk during the first 100 DIM and significantly (p≤0.05) more 305-corrected milk yield compared to the other groups. In Group 2, the average SCC dropped significantly (p≤0.05) from 1,600,000 cells/ml at the start of the study to <200,000 cells/ml at 100 DIM. Conclusion: In dairy herds with subclinical mastitis, dry cow therapy of CMT-positive cows using a combination of tylosin (12 g, IM) and IMM administration of benethamine penicillin, penethamate hydriodide, and framycetin sulfate (Ubrostar; Boehringer Ingelheim, Germany) may result in a significant reduction of the rate and severity of acute and chronic mastitis and cull rates due to mastitis within the first 100 DIM. Furthermore, treated cows may produce significantly more milk with less SCC during the first 100 DIM and therefore produce significantly more 305-corrected milk in the lactation following treatment

Global Lessons in Shifting to Online Veterinary Education

Council on International Veterinary Medical Education (CIVME). Ehab Abu-Basha, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Jordan. Elpida Artemiou, Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, St. Kitts, West Indies. Kimberly Carney, Lincoln Memorial University, College of Veterinary Medicine, TN, USA. Jennifer Hammond, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom

In vitro and in vivo efficacy study of cefepime, doripenem, tigecycline, and tetracycline against extended-spectrum beta-lactamases Escherichia coli in chickens

Background and Aim: At present, there are no data about the efficacy of some recent antibiotics on Escherichia coli in broiler chickens in the study area. This study was designed to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo efficacy of cefepime, doripenem, tigecycline, and tetracycline against multidrug-resistant-extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (MDR-ESBLs) producing E. coli in broiler chicks. Materials and Methods: A total of 34 MDR-ESBLs E. coli isolates were used in this study. In vitro evaluation of the antibacterial efficacy of cefepime, doripenem, tigecycline, and tetracycline were performed using disk diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assays. In vivo evaluation of the efficacy of the antibiotics was perfumed using 180, 2-week-old chicks challenged with MDR-ESBL-producing E. coli strain O78. Chicks were divided into six groups (30 chicks each) according to the treatment regimen. Treatment was administered to chicks in Groups 3-6 intravenously, twice per day for 1 week using one antibiotic per group at concentration 10 times the determined MIC. Chicks in the positive control (Group 1) were challenged and received 0.2 ml of sterile Tryptone Soy Broth (TSB), while those in the negative control (Group 2) were not challenged and received 0.2 ml of sterile TSB. The severity of clinical signs, gross lesions, and mortality rate was scored and compared between groups. Results: All E. coli isolates were sensitive to doripenem and tigecycline, while 88% were sensitive to cefepime and only 23% were sensitive to tetracycline. In vivo antibiotic efficacy evaluation in challenged chicks revealed a significant reduction in the severity of clinical signs, gross lesions, and mortality (3%) in chicks treated with cefepime compared to non-treated chicks (55%). There was no significant effect on the severity of clinical signs, gross lesions, and mortality in chicks treated with doripenem, tigecycline, and tetracycline compared to non-treated chicks. The mortality rates of chicks treated with doripenem, tigecycline, and tetracycline were 57%, 50%, and 90%, respectively. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that most MDR-ESBLs producing E. coli isolates were sensitive to doripenem, tigecycline, and cefepime. However, in vivo study indicated that only cefepime was effective and resulted in a significant reduction in clinical signs, gross lesions, and mortality in infected chicks. Therefore, cefepime could be used to treat naturally infected chickens with MDR-ESBLs producing strains of E. coli