Passive Oral Immunization by Egg Yolk Immunoglobulin (IgY) to Vibrio cholerae Effectively Prevents Cholera

In an attempt to prepare egg yolk immunoglobulin (IgY) to treat and prevent cholera, hens were immunized by a mixture of heat- or formalin-killed Vibrio cholerae O1 and O139 organisms, or by the recombinant cholera toxin B subunit (CTB). The IgYs were partially purified from egg yolk and orally administered to suckling mice before or after challenge with live O1 or O139 cells. The anti-O1 and O139 IgYs and the mixture of either IgY with anti-CTB IgY significantly protected the occurrence of cholera caused by both O1 and O139 infection. Since large amounts of IgY can be prepared very easily and at low cost, this seems to be a useful procedure for preventing and treating cholera

The East Asian Journal of British History, vol. 1

The East Asian Journal of British History is produced by the East Asian Society of British History, and supported by the Institute for Historical Research. The Institute of Historical Research is pleased and proud to be supporting this recent addition to British history scholarship. Developing out of the IHR’s long-standing collaborative partnership with Japanese universities, and now in its fourth year, the East Asian Journal of British History features some of the best emergent scholarship from Anglophone historians working in China, Japan, and South Korea. Divided between an articles section and one devoted to reviews, the journal’s remit wide-ranging covering all fields and periods of British history. It complements the triennial Anglo-Japanese Conference organised by the IHR and Japanese historians based at the universities of Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, and the conference of the East Asian Society of British history, in which we are joined by our colleagues from South Korea. In future, we hope that more contributions will be featured in the journal from the Chinese mainland and from Taiwan

Ice slurry ingestion reduces human brain temperature measured using non-invasive magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Abstract We previously reported that ice slurry ingestion reduced forehead skin temperature, thereby potentially reducing brain temperature (Tbrain). Therefore, in the current study, we investigated the effect of ice slurry ingestion on Tbrain using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy, which is a robust, non-invasive method. Eight male participants ingested 7.5 g/kg of either a thermoneutral drink (37 °C; CON) or ice slurry (−1 °C; ICE) for about 5 min following a 15-min baseline period. Then, participants remained at rest for 30 min. As physiological indices, Tbrain, rectal temperature (Tre), mean skin temperature, nude body mass, and urine specific gravity were measured. Subjective thermal sensation (TS) and thermal comfort (TC) were measured before and after the experiment. Tbrain and Tre significantly reduced after ingestion of ICE compared with after ingestion of CON, and there was a significant correlation between Tbrain and Tre. The other physiological indices were not significantly different between beverage conditions. TS and TC were significantly lower with ICE than with CON (p < 0.05). These results indicate that ice slurry ingestion can cool the brain, as well as the body’s core

Simple Method for Shiga Toxin 2e Purification by Affinity Chromatography via Binding to the Divinyl Sulfone Group

<div><p>Here we describe a simple affinity purification method for Shiga toxin 2e (Stx2e), a major causative factor of edema disease in swine. <i>Escherichia coli</i> strain MV1184 transformed with the expression plasmid pBSK-Stx2e produced Stx2e when cultivated in CAYE broth containing lincomycin. Stx2e bound to commercial D-galactose gel, containing α-D-galactose immobilized on agarose resin via a divinyl sulfone linker, and was eluted with phosphate-buffered saline containing 4.5 M MgCl₂. A small amount of Stx2e bound to another commercial α-galactose-immobilized agarose resin, but not to β-galactose-immobilized resin. In addition, Stx2e bound to thiophilic adsorbent resin containing β-mercaptoethanol immobilized on agarose resin via a divinyl sulfone, and was purified in the same manner as from D-galactose gel, but the Stx2e sample contained some contamination. These results indicate that Stx2e bound to D-galactose gel mainly through the divinyl sulfone group on the resin and to a lesser extent through α-D-galactose. With these methods, the yields of Stx2e and attenuated mutant Stx2e (mStx2e) from 1 L of culture were approximately 36 mg and 27.7 mg, respectively, and the binding capacity of the D-galactose gel and thiophilic adsorbent resin for Stx2e was at least 20 mg per 1 ml of resin. In addition, using chimeric toxins with prototype Stx2 which did not bind to thiophilic adsorbent resin and some types of mutant Stx2e and Stx2 which contained inserted mutations in the B subunits, we found that, at the least, asparagine (amino acid 17 of the B subunits) was associated with Stx2e binding to the divinyl sulfone group. The mStx2e that was isolated exhibited vaccine effects in ICR mice, indicating that these methods are beneficial for large-scale preparation of Stx2e toxoid, which protects swine from edema disease.</p> </div

Vaccine effects of attenuated mStx2e in mice.

<div><p>A) Stx2e-specific serum IgG titer in mice immunized with 1 μg of mStx2e (solid column, n=15) and adjuvant only (open column, n=5) determined by ELISA. Data are represented as mean ± SEM values. * Significantly different from adjuvant control group, p < 0.05. </p> <p>B) Survival rate of vaccinated mice against lethal doses of Stx2e challenge. Each mouse was immunized with 1 μg of mStx2e (open symbols, n=15) and intraperitoneally inoculated with 20- (open circle, n=5), 200- (open triangle, n=5), or 2,000-fold (open square, n=5) LD₅₀ of Stx2e on day 0. Mice immunized with adjuvant alone (closed circle, n=5) were inoculated with 20-fold LD₅₀ of Stx2e.</p></div