Animal Welfare and Food Safety When Slaughtering Cattle Using the Gunshot Method

Simple Summary Transporting cattle from the farm to the slaughterhouse is often stressful for the animal. With the gunshot method, it is stunned using a rifle while together with familiar herd members in an enclosure on the farm. The shot makes the animal unconscious. Then, as in normal slaughter, the animal is bled to death. Finally, it is transported to a nearby slaughterhouse. We aimed to assess the consequences for animal welfare and food safety of using the gunshot method. Twenty Hereford steers were shot with a hunting rifle using small-calibre ammunition from an elevated position and distance of 6-12 m. Each time, only one out of four to seven animals in a 16 x 10 m corral was shot. Based on the animals' behaviour and physiological blood values, stress levels before shooting were low. Eleven animals were considered completely unconscious, while seven showed some signs of consciousness and two were poorly stunned. Two animals were reshot with heavier ammunition. Bleeding was satisfactory and little or no contamination was found on the carcasses. We conclude that the gunshot method is applicable to large beef steers while maintaining a satisfactory level of animal welfare and food safety, provided that the necessary conditions can be achieved. Transporting cattle from farm to slaughterhouse is often stressful for the animal, which can impair the meat quality. With the gunshot method, the animal is stunned with a rifle shot while together with familiar herd members in their home environment, exsanguinated and transported to a nearby slaughterhouse. Aiming to assess the consequences for animal welfare and food safety, 20 Hereford steers aged 18-54 months were shot with .22 Magnum ammunition from an elevated position and distance of 6-12 m. Each time, only one out of four to seven animals in a 16 x 10 m corral was shot. Dressing was done on farm. Based on the animals' behaviour and blood concentrations of cortisol, glucose and lactate, stress levels before shooting were low. Eleven animals were deeply stunned, the consciousness of seven others was ambiguous, and two were poorly stunned. Two animals were reshot. The bleed-out was satisfactory for all animals, and little or no faecal contamination was found on the carcasses. We conclude that the gunshot method is applicable to large beef steers while maintaining a satisfactory level of animal welfare and food safety, provided that the necessary conditions can be attained

Identification of 42 genes linked to stage II colorectal cancer metastatic relapse

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer mortality. Metastasis remains the primary cause of CRC death. Predicting the possibility of metastatic relapse in early-stage CRC is of paramount importance to target therapy for patients who really need it and spare those with low-potential of metastasis. Ninety-six stage II CRC cases were stratified using high-resolution array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) data based on a predictive survival algorithm and supervised clustering. All genes included within the resultant copy number aberrations were each interrogated independently at mRNA level using CRC expression datasets available from public repositories, which included 1820 colon cancers, and 167 normal colon tissues. Reduced mRNA expression driven by copy number losses and increased expression driven by copy number gains revealed 42 altered transcripts (29 reduced and 13 increased transcripts) associated with metastatic relapse, short disease-free or overall survival, and/or epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). Resultant genes were classified based on gene ontology (GO), which identified four functional enrichment groups involved in growth regulation, genomic integrity, metabolism, and signal transduction pathways. The identified 42 genes may be useful for predicting metastatic relapse in stage II CRC. Further studies are necessary to validate these findings

Relationship between carcass weight, adipose tissue androstenone level and expression of the hepatic 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase in entire commercial pigs

Boar taint is a major meat-quality defect in pigs and is due to excessive accumulation of skatole and androstenone in adipose tissue. The present work investigated the relationship between carcass weight, levels of skatole and androstenone in adipose tissue, and expression of the hepatic androstenone-metabolising enzyme 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3β-HSD), in 22 entire male and 22 entire female crossbred pigs (Large White (40%) × Landrace (40%) × Duroc (20%)). Animals of each gender were divided into two subgroups (11 pigs in each subgroup): (i) conventional weight (carcass weight 59 to 77 kg) and (ii) heavy weight (carcass weight 84 to 95 kg). No relationship between carcass weight and adipose tissue skatole level was found for entire male pigs (r 2 = 0.013, P > 0.05). There was a significant negative relationship between carcass weight and expression of the hepatic 3β-HSD protein (r 2 = 0.502, P 0.05). 3β-HSD expression was 59% higher in conventional-weight male pigs when compared with heavy-weight animals (P < 0.05) and 36% higher in heavy-weight females when compared with heavy-weight males (P < 0.05). It is concluded that an increase in slaughter weight of entire commercial crossbred Large White pigs is accompanied by inhibition of expression of the hepatic 3β-HSD protein, which might result in a reduced rate of hepatic androstenone clearance with its subsequent accumulation in adipose tissue. It is suggested that regulation of pig hepatic 3β-HSD expression is under the control of sex hormones. © 2007 The Animal Consortium

Exploratory Survey on European Consumer and Stakeholder Attitudes towards Alternatives for Surgical Castration of Piglets

Simple SummaryIn many countries, surgical castration of piglets without pain relief or anaesthesia is still common practice. Castration is performed to minimise the incidence of boar taint, a bad taste (urine/fecal like), typically present in the meat of 5 to 10% of uncastrated male pigs. It also helps to avoid aggressive and sexual behaviour. For animal welfare reasons, alternatives are being considered, and in some countries, an alternative is already practiced. One option is to perform surgical castration with anaesthesia and relieve pain. A second option is to produce male pigs without castration, which requires detection of tainted carcasses in the slaughter house. A third option is to apply immunocastration: by a two-fold injection of a vaccine, the testes function is inhibited, which reduces boar-like behaviour and avoids boar taint. In this study, we evaluated the acceptability of each of these methods in 16 countries in Europe. Of the 4 presented options, the practice of surgical castration was least accepted (32%), whilst there was a high acceptance of castration with anaesthesia (85%), followed by immunocastration (71%) and production of boars (49%). The developed questionnaire and infographic can be used in future studies to further gain insights in consumer and stakeholder attitudes on this topic.Surgical castration of piglets without pain relief is still common practice in many countries. Possible alternatives for surgical castration are application of pain relief or anaesthesia or production of boars (entire males) and immunocastrates. Each of these alternatives faces advantages and disadvantages which may result in different citizen attitudes and consumers acceptability. Understanding which practice is acceptable to whom and why may further stimulate implementation. Consumer (n = 3251) and stakeholder (n = 1027) attitudes towards surgical castration without pain relief, surgical castration with anaesthesia, immunocastration, and production of boars were surveyed from April to June 2020 via an online questionnaire in 16 countries (>175 respondents per country). Surgical castration without pain relief was separated from each of the alternatives due to animal welfare and showed the lowest acceptability (32%). Within the alternatives, a further partitioning between the alternatives was based on perceived quality and food safety, with an acceptance of 85% for applying anaesthesia, 71% for immunocastration, and 49% for boar production. Differences depending on professional involvement and familiarity with agriculture could be observed, mainly for the acceptance of surgical castration without anaesthesia, immunocastration, and boars. Castration with anaesthesia was highly accepted by all types of respondents

Case report:: severe combined immunodeficiency with ligase 1 deficiency and Omenn-like manifestation

DNA ligase I deficiency is an extremely rare primary immunodeficiency with only 6 patients reported in the literature. Most common manifestations include radiosensitivity, macrocytic anemia, lymphopenia with an increased percentage of gamma-delta T cells, and hypogammaglobulinemia requiring replacement therapy. Two-month-old girl with delayed development, T-B-NK+ SCID, and macrocytic anemia presented features of Omenn syndrome. Whole exome sequencing revealed two novel, heterozygous variants (c.2312 G>A, p.Arg771Gly and c.776+5G>T, p.Pro260*) in the LIG1 gene (NM_000234.1). Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from a fully matched unrelated donor was performed at the age of 4 months using GEFA03 protocol. Mixed donor-recipient chimerism was observed, with 60-70% chimerism in the mononucleated cell compartment and over 90% in T-lymphocyte compartment, but autologous myeloid recovery. Stable CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell counts above 200/mu L were achieved after 2 months, but the patient remained transfusion-dependent. Despite satisfactory immunological reconstitution, the second transplantation due to constitutional hemolytic defect has been considered. In light of possible re-transplantation, an issue of optimal conditioning protocol with sufficient myeloid engraftment is important. For the first time Omenn syndrome is described in a compound heterozygote carrying two the novel variants p.Arg771Gly and p.Pro260* in the LIG1 gene. Patients diagnosed with SCID and Omenn syndrome showing macrocytic anemia, should be screened for DNA ligase I deficiency.Transplantation and immunomodulatio

Large scale genome-wide association and LDLA mapping study identifies QTLs for boar taint and related sex steroids

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Boar taint is observed in a high proportion of uncastrated male pigs and is characterized by an unpleasant odor/flavor in cooked meat, primarily caused by elevated levels of androstenone and skatole. Androstenone is a steroid produced in the testis in parallel with biosynthesis of other sex steroids like testosterone and estrogens. This represents a challenge when performing selection against androstenone in breeding programs, without simultaneously decreasing levels of other steroids. The aim of this study was to use high-density genome wide association (GWA) in combination with linkage disequilibrium-linkage analysis (LDLA) to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with boar taint compounds and related sex steroids in commercial Landrace (n = 1,251) and Duroc (n = 918) breeds.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Altogether, 14 genome wide significant (GWS) QTL regions for androstenone in subcutaneous fat were obtained from the LDLA study in Landrace and 14 GWS QTL regions in Duroc. LDLA analysis revealed that 7 of these QTL regions, located on SSC 1, 2, 3, 7 and 15, were obtained in both breeds. All 14 GWS androstenone QTLs in Landrace are also affecting the estrogens at chromosome wise significance (CWS) or GWS levels, while in Duroc, 3 of the 14 QTLs affect androstenone without affecting any of the estrogens. For skatole, 10 and 4 QTLs were GWS in the LDLA analysis for Landrace and Duroc respectively, with 4 of these detected in both breeds. The GWS QTLs for skatole obtained by LDLA are located at SSC 1, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13 and 14.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This is the first report applying the Porcine 60 K SNP array for simultaneous analysis of boar taint compounds and related sex hormones, using both GWA and LDLA approaches. Several QTLs are involved in regulation of androstenone and skatole, and most of the QTLs for androstenone are also affecting the levels of estrogens. Seven QTLs for androstenone were detected in one breed and confirmed in the other, i.e. in an independent sample, although the majority of QTLs are breed specific. Most QTLs for skatole do not negatively affect other sex hormones and should be easier to implement into the breeding scheme.</p

Crystal Structure of EHEC Intimin: Insights into the Complementarity between EPEC and EHEC

Enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) O157:H7 is a primary food-borne bacterial pathogen capable of causing life-threatening human infections which poses a serious challenge to public health worldwide. Intimin, the bacterial outer-membrane protein, plays a key role in the initiating process of EHEC infection. This activity is dependent upon translocation of the intimin receptor (Tir), the intimin binding partner of the bacteria-encoded host cell surface protein. Intimin has attracted considerable attention due to its potential function as an antibacterial drug target. Here, we report the crystal structure of the Tir-binding domain of intimin (Int188) from E. coli O157:H7 at 2.8 Å resolution, together with a mutant (IntN916Y) at 2.6 Å. We also built the structural model of EHEC intimin-Tir complex and analyzed the key binding residues. It suggested that the binding pattern of intimin and Tir between EHEC and Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) adopt a similar mode and they can complement with each other. Detailed structural comparison indicates that there are four major points of structural variations between EHEC and EPEC intimins: one in Domain I (Ig-like domain), the other three located in Domain II (C-type lectin-like domain). These variations result in different binding affinities. These findings provide structural insight into the binding pattern of intimin to Tir and the molecular mechanism of EHEC O157: H7