Der Einfluss elastischer Gummimatten im Melkstand auf die Klauenmaße von Milchkühen

Hoof diseases and disorders are a big animal welfare problem in dairy herds and one of the most common cause of losses on German dairy cattle farms. Any deviation from the correct claw shape may lead to unphysiological loading and as a consequence of this to hoof diseases. The present study compares the claw shape of German Simmental Cows in a stable before and after the installation of elastic rubber mats in a steep herringbone parlour. In the beginning there existed an abrasive soil and the height of the bulb was too low in 87 % of cows. Four months after the installation of the mats, 77 % of the cows had bulb heights within the reference range. No differences between claw measurements were found depending on milk yield and number of lactation. The results of this study indicated that the flooring surface in a milking parlour had a significant influence on claw shape

Multi-Level Analysis of Adipose Tissue Reveals the Relevance of Perivascular Subpopulations and an Increased Endothelial Permeability in Early-Stage Lipedema

Lipedema is a chronic, progressive disease of adipose tissue with unknown etiology. Based on the relevance of the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) cell population in lipedema, we performed a thorough characterization of subcutaneous adipose tissue, SVF isolated thereof and the sorted populations of endothelial cells (EC), pericytes and cultured adipose-derived stromal/stem cells (ASC) of early-stage lipedema patients. We employed histological and gene expression analysis and investigated the endothelial barrier by immunofluorescence and analysis of endothelial permeability in vitro. Although there were no significant differences in histological stainings, we found altered gene expression of factors relevant for local estrogen metabolism (aromatase), preadipocyte commitment (ZNF423) and immune cell infiltration (CD11c) in lipedema on the tissue level, as well as in distinct cellular subpopulations. Machine learning analysis of immunofluorescence images of CD31 and ZO-1 revealed a morphological difference in the cellular junctions of EC cultures derived from healthy and lipedema individuals. Furthermore, the secretome of lipedema-derived SVF cells was sufficient to significantly increase leakiness of healthy human primary EC, which was also reflected by decreased mRNA expression of VE-cadherin. Here, we showed for the first time that the secretome of SVF cells creates an environment that triggers endothelial barrier dysfunction in early-stage lipedema. Moreover, since alterations in gene expression were detected on the cellular and/or tissue level, the choice of sample material is of high importance in elucidating this complex disease