Intestinal morpho-physiology and innate immune status of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) in response to diets including a blend of two marine microalgae, Tisochrysis lutea and Tetraselmis suecica

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of replacing graded levels of dietary fish meal by a blend of two marine microalgae Tisochrysis lutea and Tetraselmis suecica on intestinal morpho-physiology and innate immune response in European sea bass. Two complete diets were formulated to be iso-nitrogenous and isolipidic and prepared by including a blend of the two microalgae, to replace approximately 15 and 45% fish meal protein of the control diet. A fourth diet, where the microalgae mix was substituted by soybean meal, was also prepared. Each diet was offered until visual satiety over 105 days to triplicated groups of European sea bass (204 \ub1 12.7 g), kept in a recirculating marine water system. The humoral and cellular innate immune parameters of E. sea bass were affected by the dietary treatment. Fish fed the microalgae-containing or the soybean rich diets, showed a significantly greater villi height, while the thickness of intestinal epithelium was significantly reduced in fish fed the soybean meal-rich diet. The activity of the brush border membrane enzymes, maltase, sucrase-isomaltase, \u3b3-glutamil transferase and alkaline phosphatase was not affected by dietary treatment but changed in different intestinal tracts. The genes sucrase-isomaltase, peptide transporter 1, sodium/potassium-transporting ATPase and aminopeptidase N were overexpressed in the pyloric and proximal region of the intestine of fish fed the microalgae-including diets. In conclusion, a blend of dried marine microalgae Tisochrysis lutea and Tetraselmis suecica as alternative ingredients to dietary fish meal did not hamper gut digestive-absorptive functions of E. sea bass. Moreover, it resulted in enhanced non-specific immune response, suggesting an effective role as an immunostimulant ingredien

Aplicación de osteotécnicas no invasivas en la preparación del esqueleto del Macá Grande (Podicpeos major major)

Fil: Porcari, C. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina.Fil: Carabajal Vera, M. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina.Fil: Bulfon, M. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina.Fil: Bee de Speroni, N. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina.La preparación y exhibición de piezas esqueléticas de diferentes vertebrados adquieren importancia en disciplinas científicas y representan un excelente recurso didáctico en los diferentes niveles educativos.Fil: Porcari, C. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina.Fil: Carabajal Vera, M. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina.Fil: Bulfon, M. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina.Fil: Bee de Speroni, N. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina.Zoología, Ornitología, Entomología, Etologí

Immune profiling of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) exposed to Lactococcus garvieae: Evidence in asymptomatic versus symptomatic or vaccinated fish

Lactococcosis, caused by the Gram-positive bacterium Lactococcus garvieae, is a major concern in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) farms, which are regularly affected by outbreaks especially during the summer/fall months. In these farms, unvaccinated healthy and symptomatic fish can coexist with vaccinated fish. In the present study, innate (leukogram, serum lysozyme activity, peroxidase activity, antiprotease activity, bactericidal activity, total IgM and total proteins), and specific immune parameters (serum antibodies to L. garvieae) were assessed in unvaccinated adult rainbow trout naturally exposed to the pathogen, with or without evidence of clinical signs, or subjected to vaccination. Blood was drawn from all three groups, and blood smears were prepared. Bacteria were found in the blood smears of 70% of the symptomatic fish but not in any of the asymptomatic fish. Symptomatic fish showed lower blood lymphocytes and higher thrombocytes than asymptomatic fish (p ≤.05). Serum lysozyme and bactericidal activity did not vary substantially among groups; however, serum antiprotease and peroxidase activity were significantly lower in the unvaccinated symptomatic group than in the unvaccinated and vaccinated asymptomatic groups (p ≤.05). Serum total proteins and total immunoglobulin (IgM) levels in vaccinated asymptomatic rainbow trout were significantly higher than in unvaccinated asymptomatic and symptomatic groups (p ≤.05). Similarly, vaccinated asymptomatic fish produced more specific IgM against L. garvieae than unvaccinated asymptomatic and symptomatic fish (p ≤.05). This preliminary study provides basic knowledge on the immunological relationship occurring between the rainbow trout and L. garvieae, potentially predicting health outcomes. The approach we proposed could facilitate infield diagnostics, and several non-specific immunological markers could serve as reliable indicators of the trout's innate ability to fight infection

The Consensus from the Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP) Conference 2017.

On March 24 and 25, 2017 researchers and clinicians from around the world met at Temple University in Philadelphia to discuss the current knowledge of Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP) and its relationship to human disease. The conference was held because of shared concern that MAP is a zoonotic bacterium that poses a threat not only to animal health but also human health. In order to further study this problem, the conferees discussed ways to improve MAP diagnostic tests and discussed potential future anti-MAP clinical trials. The conference proceedings may be viewed on the www.Humanpara.org website. A summary of the salient work in this field is followed by recommendations from a majority of the conferees

CUORE-0 detector: design, construction and operation

The CUORE experiment will search for neutrinoless double-beta decay of$^{130}$Te with an array of 988 TeO$_2$ bolometers arranged in 19 towers.CUORE-0, the first tower assembled according to the CUORE procedures, was builtand commissioned at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, and took data fromMarch 2013 to March 2015. In this paper we describe the design, constructionand operation of the CUORE-0 experiment, with an emphasis on the improvementsmade over a predecessor experiment, Cuoricino. In particular, we demonstratewith CUORE-0 data that the design goals of CUORE are within reach

ESTRATTI DI ALOE, CURCUMA, ECHINACEA, GINSENG, LAVANDA, ORIGANO E RABARBARO MODULANO IL RILASCIO DI ROS E LA PROLIFERAZIONE DEI LEUCOCITI DI TROTA IRIDEA (ONCORHYNCHUS MYKISS)

L'impiego di piante medicinali \ue8 oggetto di una crescente attenzione sia in medicina umana che veterinaria per le loro propriet\ue0 antiossidanti e immunostimolanti. Anche in acquacoltura la possibile applicazione di immunostimolanti naturali a base di erbe sta suscitando notevole interesse, allo scopo di ridurre l'impiego di antibiotici nel trattamento delle malattie infettive, garantendo al tempo stesso produzioni ecocompatibili e sicure per il consumatore. Peraltro la Comunit\ue0 Europea ha vietato l\u2019uso di antibiotici di sintesi come promotori della crescita nell'alimentazione degli animali (1831/2003 CE), quindi approcci alternativi vengono studiati anche in questo campo. Numerose prove sperimentali in vivo sono state effettuate per indagare l\u2019effetto della somministrazione di prodotti ottenuti da piante su risposta immunitaria e resistenza alle malattie di diverse specie ittiche (Bulfon et al., 2014), mentre sono limitati gli studi in vitro dedicati alla valutazione delle propriet\ue0 immunomodulanti di fitoestratti o composti bioattivi sulle cellule immunitarie dei pesci. Le recenti linee guida comunitarie (2010/63/UE) e nazionali (D.L. n. 26 del 4 marzo 2014) impongono di limitare l'uso di animali a fini scientifici, di conseguenza un approccio preliminare in vitro viene sempre pi\uf9 raccomandato. L'obiettivo di questo studio \ue8 stato quello di indagare in vitro gli effetti degli estratti di Aloe vera, Curcuma longa, Echinacea purpurea, Lavandula officinalis, Origanum vulgare, Panax ginseng e Rheum officinale (E.P.O. srl, Milano) sul rilascio di specie reattive dell\u2019ossigeno (ROS) e sulla proliferazione dei leucociti di trota iridea (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Sei soggetti adulti sani sono stati selezionati e utilizzati per l\u2019analisi di ciascun parametro. Le cellule sono state purificate da rene anteriore e incubate a 18\ub0C in terreno L-15 con dosi crescenti di estratto per 2 h o 72 h, quindi \ue8 stata misurata l\u2019attivit\ue0 di \u201cburst respiratorio\u201d dopo stimolazione con PMA, mediante chemiluminescenza, e la proliferazione in presenza e assenza del mitogeno PHA, mediante saggio con MTT. Gli estratti di L. officinalis, O. vulgare e R. officinale hanno fortemente ridotto il rilascio di ROS dei leucociti PMA-stimolati, in modo dose-dipendente. Anche gli estratti di A. vera, C. longa, E. purpurea e P. ginseng hanno mostrato effetti inibitori, ma meno evidenti e inversamente proporzionali alla dose. La pi\uf9 alta concentrazione di estratto di ginseng ha invece stimolato il rilascio di ROS dei leucociti. Le propriet\ue0 antiossidanti dimostrate da origano, lavanda e rabarbaro sono dovute probabilmente al loro contenuto di composti fenolici, che penetrano nelle cellule e interferiscono con l'attivazione di molecole coinvolte nella trasduzione del segnale o alternativamente esplicano un\u2019azione di \u201cscavenging\u201d intra-cellulare. Gli estratti di aloe, curcuma, echinacea e ginseng contengono una variet\ue0 di composti chimici bioattivi, che plausibilmente interferiscono in modi diversi sull'attivit\ue0 di \u201cburst respiratorio\u201d. Gli estratti di C. longa, E. purpurea, P. ginseng, L. officinalis e R. officinale hanno mostrato, inoltre, un evidente effetto stimolante, dose-dipendente, la proliferazione dei leucociti. Tale propriet\ue0 potrebbe essere attribuita a componenti di tipo polisaccaridico, la cui presenza \ue8 nota in alcune delle specie vegetali utilizzate. I risultati suggeriscono che queste piante medicinali sono in grado di modulare alcune attivit\ue0 dei leucociti di trota iridea e rappresentano la base conoscitiva per ulterior

In Vitro Antibacterial Activity of Plant Ethanolic Extracts against Fish Pathogens

Fifteen commercial ethanolic extracts from medicinal plants were in vitro screened for antibacterial activity against Listonella anguillarum (serotypes O1 and O2), Yersinia ruckeri, Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida, and Lactococcus garvieae. Their antimicrobial potential was assessed by the disc diffusion assay, then minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) were established by the broth microdilution method. The extracts of lavender, Lavandula officinalis; lemon balm, Melissa officinalis; basil, Ocimum basilicum; oregano, Origanum vulgare; rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis; common sage, Salvia officinalis; and red bilberry, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, showed a broad spectrum of inhibitory effects. The extracts of yarrow, Achillea millefolium; arnica, Arnica montana; marigold, Calendula officinalis; Icelandic lichen, Cetraria islandica; horsetail, Equisetum arvense; grindelia, Grindelia robusta; java tea, Orthosiphon stamineus; and thyme, Thymus vulgaris, were less or not active. P. damselae subsp. piscicida was the most susceptible bacterial strain, while Y. ruckeri was the most resistant. These results can be considered for further investigations aimed to identify novel natural antimicrobial compounds that could be used in aquaculture for the control of bacterial infections

Growth parameters, innate immune response and resistance to Listonella (Vibrio) anguillarum of Dicentrarchus labrax fed carvacrol supplemented diets

The research was aimed to assess the effect of dietary carvacrol (0.025% and 0.05%) on sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) growth, immune response and resistance to Listonella anguillarum. Fish (69.2 \ub1 0.22 g) were fed the experimental diets for 9 weeks. Dietary carvacrol did not negatively affect fish survival, growth performance, feed intake and feed conversion ratio (P>0.05) nor carcass yield and viscerosomatic, hepatosomatic and mesenteric fat index (P>0.05). Serum and head kidney leukocytes were collected after 1, 4 and 8 weeks of feeding. Carvacrol significantly reduced serum proteins, immunoglobulins and lysozyme activity (P<0.01) and moderately increased phagocytosis and pinocytosis of head kidney macrophages. The release of reactive oxygen species by leukocytes was reduced in carvacrol-fed fish, even if significantly (P<0.05) only in those fed 0.05% carvacrol for 1 week. Dietary carvacrol did not significantly affect the aspecific immune response, although a potential antioxidant activity might be speculated. Moreover, feeding carvacrol provided an appreciable resistance to a challenge with L. anguillarum, when a bacterial dose lower than the Lethal Dose50 was used. Cumulative mortality in fish fed 0.025% carvacrol was significantly lower than that of untreated controls (75% Relative Percent Survival)