POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF COLOSTRUM IN GASTROINTESTINAL DISEASES

This paper reviews the composition of colostrum and the potebntial preventive and therapeutic use of this "first milk" for treating various gastrointestinal disorders in humans. Colostrum is a complex biological liquid that is rich in antimicrobial peptides, immune-regulanting compounds and growth factors than the subsequent mature milk. The main functions of colostrum are to provide essential nutritional components, strenghten the natural defense system, modulate immune response, balance intestinal microbiota and enhance the growth and repair of several tissues. several studies and clinical trials carried out both in vitro and in vivo on humans and animals suggest the clinical benefits of bovine colostrum (BC) supplementation in gastro-intestinal diseases. Despite the encouraging results, there are no contraindications regarding high dose levels and few side effects of clinical relevance have been reported. In conclusion, in the near future, colostrum-based supplementations may be play a role to synthetic drugs in the prevention and treatment of various gastrointestinal disorders

COLON MICROBIAL COMPOSITION IS CORRELATED WITH THE SEVERITY OF COLITIS INDUCED BY 2,4,6-TRINITROBENZESULFONIC ACID IN MICE.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the changes in some bacterial species of colonic microbiota, the clinical signs and the intestinal changes in mice with 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS) induced colitis. CD-1 male mice were randomly divided into three groups and inoculated intrarectally with saline ethanol or TNBS solutions. ethanol and TNBS treatments induced weight loss accompained by mild and severe inflammation of the colon mucosa, respectively. however, TNBS-treated mice displayed significant differences compared to the saline group in terms of disease activity index and histological scoring. Both ethanol and TNBS groups showed an increased prevalence of escherichia coli and Clostridium supp., a decrease in lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria counts, as well as changes in the relative proportions of bacteria in the colon. The results confirm the validity of TNBS treatment to study the mechanism involved in the pathogenesis and progression of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in CD-1 mice. Gut microbiota may become a diagnostic biomarker with therapeutic potential for IBD in the future

Isolation of pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAG) from water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) placenta by use of Vicia villosa bound agarose affinity chromatography

The present study describes the isolation and characterisation of new PAG molecules extracted from mid- and late-pregnancy placentas in the water buffalo (Bubalis bubalis). After extraction, acid and ammonium sulphate precipitation and DEAE chromatography water buffalo PAG (wbPAG) were enriched by Vicia villosa agarose (VVA) affininity chromatography. As determined by Western blotting with anti-PAG-sera, apparent molecular masses of immunoreactive bands from VVA peaks ranged from 59.5 to 75.8 kDa and from 57.8 to 80.9 kDa in the mid- and late- pregnancy placenta respectively. Aminoterminal microsequencing of proteins allowed the identification of three distinct wbPAG sequences wich have ben deposed in the SwissProt database: RGSXLTIHPLRNIRDFFYUG (Acc. n. P85048), RGSXLTILPLRNIID (P85049) and RGSXLTHLPLRNI (P85050). Their comparison to those previously identified revealed that two of them were new since they have not been described yet. Our results confirm the suitability of VVA chromatography in enrichment of multiple PAG molecules expressed in buffalo placenta. Productions of specific antisera can be very useful in immonoistochemical and immunocyitochemical studies of PAG expression in fetomaternal interfaces. Purified native PAG are also required for development on specific immoassays (RIA/ELISA) currently used for pregnancy diagnosis and physiological investigation in farm animal

LH peak and ovulation in buffalo cows treated for oestrus synchronisation using two different hormonal schedule

Since oestrus behaviour in buffalo is frequently scarcely clear and the oestrus signs, even when showed, are not reliable, ovulation can not be predicted. Furthermore high individual variability of the oestrus signs – LH peak interval was observed both in spontaneous and hormonal induced oestrus (Moioli et al., 1998; Barile et al, 1998)

Time evolution of stimulated Raman scattering and two-plasmon decay at laser intensities relevant for shock ignition in a hot plasma

Laser–plasma interaction (LPI) at intensities 1015–1016 W cm2 is dominated by parametric instabilities which can be responsible for a significant amount of non-collisional absorption and generate large fluxes of high-energy nonthermal electrons. Such a regime is of paramount importance for inertial confinement fusion (ICF) and in particular for the shock ignition scheme. In this paper we report on an experiment carried out at the Prague Asterix Laser System (PALS) facility to investigate the extent and time history of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) and two-plasmon decay (TPD) instabilities, driven by the interaction of an infrared laser pulse at an intensity 1:2 1016 W cm2 with a 100 mm scalelength plasma produced from irradiation of a flat plastic target. The laser pulse duration (300 ps) and the high value of plasma temperature (4 keV) expected from hydrodynamic simulations make these results interesting for a deeper understanding of LPI in shock ignition conditions. Experimental results show that absolute TPD/SRS, driven at a quarter of the critical density, and convective SRS, driven at lower plasma densities, are well separated in time, with absolute instabilities driven at early times of interaction and convective backward SRS emerging at the laser peak and persisting all over the tail of the pulse. Side-scattering SRS, driven at low plasma densities, is also clearly observed. Experimental results are compared to fully kinetic large-scale, two-dimensional simulations. Particle-in-cell results, beyond reproducing the framework delineated by the experimental measurements, reveal the importance of filamentation instability in ruling the onset of SRS and stimulated Brillouin scattering instabilities and confirm the crucial role of collisionless absorption in the LPI energy balance

Dietary supplementation with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids: Effects on reproductive and productive performance and meat quality in rabbit breeding

Rabbit breeding has many critical aspects related to reproduction, production, and animal welfare, which reduce its profitability as well as consumer attractiveness. Dietary supplementation with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) seems to be a good nutritional strategy to improve several aspects of rabbit breeding, enhance animal welfare and produce a new functional food considered healthy for human consumption. For this reason, the main available scientific research regarding the physiological effects of n-3 PUFA rich products supplemented to the rabbit diet will be reviewed. In particular, consequences on the reproductive performances of both doe and buck, the productive parameters, and the meat quality will be analysed

Effects of Goji berries supplementation on the productive performance of rabbit

Abstract Recognized by the traditional medicine and recent scientific research studies, Lycium barbarum berries (Goji berries) have beneficial effects on human and animal health. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effects of Goji berries on the productive performance of rabbits. One month before insemination, 60 New Zealand White does were randomly assigned to one of the following 3 dietary treatments: commercial standard diet (C); C supplemented with 1% Goji berries (LG); and C supplemented with 3% Goji berries (HG). After weaning up to 91 days of age, 15 randomly selected rabbits/group were fed the same diet as the mothers (C, LG, and HG). Non-pregnant and lactating does of C group showed the highest feed intake (P < 0.01), although no significant differences in body weight (BW) were observed between groups. Nutritional treatment did not affect the offspring's feed intake. However, the rabbits fed with Goji supplementation showed not only higher mean BW both during growth (P < 0.001) and at slaughter (P < 0.01), but also better feed conversion ratio (FCR; P < 0.01) than the control group. Rabbits of LG group showed the best performances in the pre-weaning period which was probably related to the highest milk production of the LG does (P < 0.001). Indeed, LG group showed lower pre-weaning mortality (P < 0.05), higher litter size (P < 0.05), and higher litter weight (P < 0.05) at day 18 as well as higher litter size at weaning (P = 0.05) compared to C group. In conclusion, the present study demonstrates that a low percentage of dietary supplementation with Goji berry improves both reproductive and productive traits of rabbits. Although further studies are needed, our study paves the way for the use of Goji berries in the rabbit nutrition

The Prophylactic Use of Bovine Colostrum in a Murine Model of TNBS-Induced Colitis

This study investigated the eects of a short-term administration of bovine colostrum (BC) in a TNBS model of induced colitis. Colitis was induced by TNBS treatment after seven days of BC (BC group, n = 12) or saline (control group, n = 12) administration in mice. Clinical signs, histopathological characteristics, expression levels of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, and microbial composition were assessed. BC was well tolerated and did not induce any histological damage or clinical symptoms. After TNBS treatment, the BC group showed a reduction in body weight (BW) loss compared to Control (p < 0.05). Moreover, expression levels of TLR4 (p < 0.01), Interleukin-1 (IL-1; p < 0.001), Interleukin-8 (IL-8; p < 0.001), and Interleukin-10 (IL-10; p < 0.001) were lower in mice administered with BC. Finally, Escherichia coli were higher (p < 0.05), while Enterococci (p < 0.001), Lactobacillus spp. (p < 0.001), and Bifidobacterium spp. (p < 0.05) were lower in Control than BC group. This study confirms that pre-treatment with BC modulates the expression of genes and the count of microbes involved in the etiopathogenesis of colitis