Serum level of hormone and metabolites in pregnant rabbit does

The aims of this study were to compare the hormones and metabolites serum levels and the reproductive performances of nulliparous (n=100) and primiparous pregnant does submitted to artificial insemination (AI) 11 days post-partum. On the day of AI, all the does were weighed and the sexual receptivity was evaluated. The kits were weaned at 26 day. Blood samples were collect by punc- ture of the marginal ear vein from one day before AI until few days before the kindling and assayed for hormones and metabolites. The higher sexual receptivity and the fertility in nulliparous than in primiparous does confirmed the negative effect of lactation. Nulliparous does showed higher blood con- centration of leptine than primiparous, and in both the groups such level lowered during pregnancy, probably reflecting the reduction of the fat reserve. The insuline level increased during pregnancy in either groups as a consequence of the growing of the foetuses. In nulliparous does the cortisol, NEFA and T3 concentrations were higher than primiparous does. The glucose levels were similar in both the groups probably due to the homeostatic mechanisms controlling the glycemia. Hormonal and metabo- lite analyses represent a good tool for understanding the physiological mechanisms required to meet higher reproductive performance

Natural additive (aqueous extract) in rabbit diet: effects on performance and oxidative and innate immunological status

Abstract - Natural antioxidants are receiving increased attention in human and animal nutrition because of their association with food quality characteristics and immune responses 1, 2. Aromatic plants and their essential oils are good sources of natural antioxidants, such as phenolic compounds, e.g., eugenol, thymol, carvacrol 3. Plant such as Oregano (Origanum vulgare) has attracted great interest as its essential oil is rich in the monoterpenes, thymol and carvacrol, which exhibit good antioxidant and antimicrobial activities in vitro and in vivo, together with stimulating animal digestion 4. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of dietary supplementation with an Oregano aqueous extract on performance and oxidative and innate immunological status of growing rabbits. The experimental protocol was planned according to University of Perugia Animal Committee guidelines and the trial was carried out at the experimental farm of the Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Science (University of Perugia, Italy). At weaning (30 days of age) 240 weaned New Zealand White rabbits of both sexes were randomly allocated to three dietary groups, homogeneous for live weight and gender (40 rabbits/group), and housed in single wire net cages (600 x 250 x 330 mm) until 80 days of age, when they were weighted and slaughtered. The study was replicated with identical experimental designs during two consecutive cycles, for a total of 80 animals/group. Dietary groups were: Standard diet - with no supplementation (S); Standard diet + 150 ppm Vit E - positive control (E); Standard diet + 0.2% oregano (Origanum vulgare) aqueous extract (O). All diets, provided by Mignini&Petrini (Petrignano di Assisi, Perugia, Italy) were isoproteic and isoenergetic and the main ingredients were alfalfa meal, sunflower seed meal, wheat bran, barley and sugar beet pulp. The oregano extract was provided by Phenbiox (Calderara di Reno, Bologna, Italy) after an enzyme-aided extraction from leaves using water as solvent. The extracts were added to the diets by spraying during the mixing of ingredients. Feed and water were available ad libitum. The temperature and lighting schedule in the rabbitry were 15–18 °C and 16L:8D, respectively. In order to calculate the feed conversion ratio (FCR) and average daily gain (ADG), feed consumption were recorded daily and rabbits weight weekly. At the slaughter, blood samples (2 mL for each rabbit) were collected from the marginal ear vein of 30 rabbits/group at 80 day of age and the natural immune responses were evaluated by analyzing lysozyme (Lys), Serum Bactericidal Activity (SBA) and Haemolytic Complement Assay (HCA) in serum 5. The oxidative status was evaluated using commercially available kits (Diacron International Srl, Grosseto, Italy) that evaluates the serum’s ability to oppose the massive oxidative action of a hypochlorous acid (HClO) solution (AOP values) or the reactive oxygen metabolite concentrations (ROMs). The extent of muscle lipid peroxidation of raw Longissimus dorsi muscles (LD) was evaluated by spectrophotometer as reported by some authors 6. Oxidation products were quantified as malondialdehyde equivalents (mg/kg of muscle). Muscles were obtained from eight rabbits/group at 80 days. The data were analyzed by SPSS Dietary treatments significantly affected the live weight (LW) and ADG at the end of the trial; particularly, O fed animals had higher LW (2344 g vs 2296 and 2277 g, respectively; P<0.05) and ADG (30.7 g/d vs 29.7 and 29.2 g/d, respectively; P<0.05) compared to E and S groups; whereas, FCR was not influenced by the experimental diet. The blood oxidative status (AOP and ROMs) did not significantly varied among the different animal groups, however, the oxidative stability (TBARs) of the LD meat for all supplemented diets led to a lower TBARs content compared to the control (S) group. Indeed, the inclusion of extra vitamin E reduced TBARs of LD meat, as did supplementation with oregano extract (0.17 and 0.18 vs 0.24 mg MDA/kg meat, respectively. P<0.05). A better natural immune response was observed in O and E vs S groups which showed significantly higher HCA (74.9 and 69.6 vs 45.4, respectively; P<0.05) and SBA (26.4 and 28.5 vs 15.8, respectively; P< 0.05) values. The HCA assay is very useful for assessing the onset risk of infections or the gravity of ongoing diseases [7]. SBA, in particular, expresses the serum capacity to counteract the GRAM- bacterial growth [8]. This study showed that an adequate phytogenic additive dietary supplementation in growing rabbits can exert a positive effect on productive performance, natural immune responses and give protection against meat lipid oxidation

Influence of Dietary Supplementation with Prebiotic, Oregano Extract, and Vitamin E on Fatty Acid Profile and Oxidative Status of Rabbit Meat

The effect of dietary supplementation with vitamin E, oregano, and prebiotic on fatty acids and oxidative profiles of rabbit meat (loin and hind leg) was evaluated. New Zealand white rabbits weaned at 30 days of age were fed with one of six diets until 80 days of age: standard diet includingω3 polyunsaturated fatty and conjugated linolenic acids sources (S) and five diets adding vitamin E (150 ppm, E), oregano water extract (2 g/kg feed diet, O), prebiotic (THEPAX® 1.5 g/kg feed diet, T), vitamin E plus prebiotic (TE), and oregano water extract plus prebiotic (TO), respectively. The lipid oxidative status (TBARS) showed lower values with respect to S, mainly when vitamin E was administered. In particular, all the experimental diets decreased TBARS values with respect to the control group in the loin, but no effect was found in the hind leg. In all feed samples, the amounts of fatty acid classes increased in the following order: polyunsaturated fatty acids > monounsaturated fatty acid > saturated fatty acid. The dietary supplementations did not affect the fatty acid composition of meat. The experimented diets compared to the control were not able to provide a selective increase of bioactive fatty acid in meat samples; however, the six nutritional strategies led to highly nutritional rabbit meat with an interesting value of theω6/ω3 ratio

S/confinare : I rapporti culturali italo-svizzeri tra associazionismo, editoria e propaganda (1935-1965)

Il presente volume affronta per la prima volta l’ambito dei rapporti italo-svizzeri da una prospettiva metodologica che fa riferimento agli studi culturali, alla storia delle idee e alla storia degli intellettuali. In una serie di saggi – basati su documenti spesso inediti scaturiti dallo scavo archivistico che le autrici e gli autori hanno condotto nell’ambito del progetto ricerca FNS «La gita a Chiasso. Trent’anni di sconfinamenti culturali tra Italia e Svizzera (1935-1965)» – si ricostruisce la complessa mappa delle relazioni che tra gli ultimi anni del regime fascista e l’immediato dopoguerra stava alla base della mediazione culturale tra i due paesi. Emergono così nodi e crocevia di una rete che attraversa i confini, in cui si intrecciano interessi culturali, economici e politici

Rearing Romagnola geese in vineyard: pasture and antioxidant intake, performance, carcass and meat quality

This study aimed to assess the effect of rearing system (intensive vs. free-range under vineyard) on the qualitative characteristics of goose meat. In particular, the integration of a goose raising system with an organic grape production was evaluated. Six hundred Romagnola geese of both sexes were divided into two groups at 21 d of age: Vineyard group (V) – 480 geese (120 geese/ha) pasturing in 4 ha of vineyard, and Control Group (C) – 120 geese of the same genotype in the experimental farm of Perugia, without any access to the pasture. Live weight, feed consumption and other performance were registered weekly on 30 selected and marked animals/group. At 160 days of age, 15 geese/group were slaughtered and characteristics of carcase, breast and drumstick (physical, chemical, oxidative status, fatty acids profile) were evaluated. The chemical analysis of diet and pasture and the ingestion of crude protein, digestible energy and bioactive compounds were also estimated. Vineyard geese, showed lower productive performance than the C ones (live and carcase weight), however, due to pasture availability, the intake of bioactive compounds (vitamin E, retinol, n-3 long-chain fatty acids) was higher and positively affected the antioxidant content of breast and drumstick. The higher kinetic activity of V geese reduced the fat amount of carcase and meat, whereas increased the development of drumstick muscle (higher meat/bone ratio) and worsened the oxidative status of meat. Concluding, the free-range vineyard geese resulted in a positive payoff on the geese meat quality viewpoint.Highlights Pasture enhance the amount of VIT E in goose muscle. Pasture reduce the amount of lipid in goose carcass and meat. Pasture enhance the amount of n-3 PUFA in goose meat

S/confinare

Il presente volume affronta per la prima volta l’ambito dei rapporti italo-svizzeri da una prospettiva metodologica che fa riferimento agli studi culturali, alla storia delle idee e alla storia degli intellettuali. In una serie di saggi – basati su documenti spesso inediti scaturiti dallo scavo archivistico che le autrici e gli autori hanno condotto nell’ambito del progetto ricerca FNS «La gita a Chiasso. Trent’anni di sconfinamenti culturali tra Italia e Svizzera (1935-1965)» – si ricostruisce la complessa mappa delle relazioni che tra gli ultimi anni del regime fascista e l’immediato dopoguerra stava alla base della mediazione culturale tra i due paesi. Emergono così nodi e crocevia di una rete che attraversa i confini, in cui si intrecciano interessi culturali, economici e politici

Effect of pasture availability and genotype on welfare, immune function, performance and meat characteristics of growing rabbits

[EN] To analyse the effect of pasture availability and genotype on innate immunological status,morphological organisation of lymphoid follicles, behaviour, performance and carcass and meat characteristics, 80 growing rabbits (40 Leprino of Viterbo and 40 New Zealand White, NZW) were reared in bicellular standard cages (control) or in a wired pen, provided with an external grass pasture (pasture). Blood samples and behaviour observations (10 rabbits per group) were performed at different ages (weaning, 49 and 89 d). At the end of the trial, 10 rabbits per group were slaughtered to study meat quality/composition and vermiform appendix structure. Leprino rabbits showed higher serum lysozyme values than NZW for all ages and rearing systems. Leprino rabbits showed the highest values in caged animals (29.6 and 32.4 mg/mL, respectively at 49 and 89 d of age), while NZW animals did so in the pen (2.2 and 0.00 g/mL, respectively at 49 and 89 d of age). Haemolytic Complement Assay increased with age in Leprino (43.7 vs. 48.6 and 51.2 μg/mL, respectively for cage and pen), but decreased in NZW (68.6 vs. 25.8 and 41.1 μg/mL, respectively for cage and pen). Plasma TBARs was always higher in Leprino rabbits (16.0 vs. 7.0 μmol malondialdehyde/L at 29 d of age; 17.9 vs. 8.0 μmol malondialdehyde/L at 49 d of age; 20.0 vs. 11.4 μmol malondialdehyde/L at 89 d of age), whereas plasma tocopherol showed an inverse trend (32.9 vs. 46.6 mg/L at 29 d of age; 32.5 vs. 44.4 mg/L at 49 d of age; 31.2 vs. 42.4 mg/L at 89 d of age). Mortality rate of Leprino rabbits was highest in the cage system, while mortality was highest in NZW housed in the pen. Productive performance, carcass traits and fatty acid composition of meat were strongly affected by genotype and rearing system. Regarding genotype effect, Leprino showed lower daily gains (31.9 and 29.6 vs. 44.2 and 40.0 g, respectively for cage and pen system), live (2563 and 2418 vs. 2902 and 2650, respectively for cage and pen system) and carcass weights (1561 and 1465 vs. 1763 and 1580, respectively for cage and pen system). Pasture availability improved the meat nutritional quality and, in particular, the n-6/n-3 ratio was optimal and the total tocopherol content was suitable to assure a good oxidative stability.Mugnai, C.; Dal Bosco, A.; Cardinali, R.; Rebollar, PG.; Moscati, L.; Castellini, C. (2014). Effect of pasture availability and genotype on welfare, immune function, performance and meat characteristics of growing rabbits. World Rabbit Science. 22(1):29-39. doi:10.4995/wrs.2014.1342SWORD293922

Identification of cis- and trans-acting elements regulating calretinin expression in mesothelioma cells

Calretinin (CALB2) is a diagnostic marker for epithelioid mesothelioma. It is also a prognostic marker since patients with tumors expressing high calretinin levels have better overall survival. Silencing of calretinin decreases viability of epithelioid mesothelioma cells. Our aim was to elucidate mechanisms regulating calretinin expression in mesothelioma. Analysis of calretinin transcript and protein suggested a control at the mRNA level. Treatment with 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine and analysis of TCGA data indicated that promoter methylation is not likely to be involved. Therefore, we investigated CALB2 promoter by analyzing ~1kb of genomic sequence surrounding the transcription start site (TSS) + 1 using promoter reporter assay. Deletion analysis of CALB2 proximal promoter showed that sequence spanning the –161/+80bp region sustained transcriptional activity. Site-directed analysis identified important cis- regulatory elements within this –161/+80bp CALB2 promoter. EMSA and ChIP assays confirmed binding of NRF-1 and E2F2 to the CALB2 promoter and siRNA knockdown of NRF-1 led to decreased expression of calretinin. Cell synchronization experiment showed that calretinin expression was cell cycle regulated with a peak of expression at G1/S phase. This study provides the first insight in the regulation of CALB2 expression in mesothelioma cells

Parvoviruses in Blood Donors and Transplant Patients, Italy

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In vivo/ex vivo efficacy of artemether-lumefantrine and artesunate-amodiaquine as first-line treatment for uncomplicated falciparum malaria in children: an open label randomized controlled trial in Burkina Faso.

BACKGROUND: Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) is recommended to improve malaria treatment efficacy and limit drug-resistant parasites selection in malaria endemic areas. 5 years after they were adopted, the efficacy and safety of artemether-lumefantrine (AL) and artesunate-amodiaquine (ASAQ), the first-line treatments for uncomplicated malaria were assessed in Burkina Faso. METHODS: In total, 440 children with uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria were randomized to receive either AL or ASAQ for 3 days and were followed up weekly for 42 days. Blood samples were collected to investigate the ex vivo susceptibility of P. falciparum isolates to lumefantrine, dihydroartemisinin (the active metabolite of artemisinin derivatives) and monodesethylamodiaquine (the active metabolite of amodiaquine). The modified isotopic micro test technique was used to determine the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) values. Primary endpoints were the risks of treatment failure at days 42. RESULTS: Out of the 440 patients enrolled, 420 (95.5%) completed the 42 days follow up. The results showed a significantly higher PCR unadjusted cure rate in ASAQ arm (71.0%) than that in the AL arm (49.8%) on day 42, and this trend was similar after correction by PCR, with ASAQ performing better (98.1%) than AL (91.1%). Overall adverse events incidence was low and not significantly different between the two treatment arms. Ex vivo results showed that 6.4% P. falciparum isolates were resistant to monodesthylamodiaquine. The coupled in vivo/ex vivo analysis showed increased IC50 values for lumefantrine and monodesethylamodiaquine at day of recurrent parasitaemia compared to baseline values while for artesunate, IC50 values remained stable at baseline and after treatment failure (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: These findings provide substantial evidence that AL and ASAQ are highly efficacious for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria in children in Burkina Faso. However, the result of P. falciparum susceptibility to the partner drugs advocates the need to regularly replicate such surveillance studies. This would be particularly indicated when amodiaquine is associated in seasonal malaria chemoprophylaxis (SMC) mass drug administration in children under 5 years in Burkina Faso. Trial registration clinicaltrials, NCT00808951. Registered 05 December 2008,https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00808951?cond=NCT00808951&rank=1