Attenuated Cardiac Mitochondrial-Dependent Apoptotic Effects by Li-Fu Formula in Hamsters Fed with a Hypercholesterol Diet

Apoptosis involves in the pathogenesis of various cardiac abnormalities. This study intends to evaluate the effects of Li-Fu formula on cardiac apoptosis induced by hyper-cholesterol diet. Twenty-four male Golden Syrian hamsters were randomly divided into Control, Cholesterol and Li-Fu formula groups. Histopathological analysis, western blotting and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assays were performed to measure the effects of Li-Fu formula on left ventricle. Significantly reduced TUNEL-positive cells and mitochondria- dependent apoptosis were observed in the left ventricle of hamsters from Li-Fu formula group compared to the Cholesterol group. Additionally, induced cardiac insulin like growth factor I receptor (IGFIR)-dependent survival pathway was detected in the Li-Fu formula group compared to the Cholesterol group. Besides, minor fibrosis, increased collagen deposition, and myofibril disarray was detected in the Cholesterol group, whereas the reductions of collagen deposition and myofibril disarray were observed in the Li-Fu formula group. This study demonstrated that Li-Fu formula not only reduced the mitochondria-dependent apoptosis and fibrosis, but also enhanced the IGF-I survival pathway in the left ventricle from high cholesterol-fed hamsters. We suggest the protective effects of Li-Fu formula on cardiac apoptosis and therapeutic potentials against cardiovascular disease

Ameliorate Effects of Li-Fu Formula on IL-6-Mediated Cardiac Hypertrophy in Hamsters Fed with a Hyper-Cholesterol Diet

Hypercholesterolemia diets are considered as major sources to cause cardiac hypertrophy. This study intends to evaluate the effects of Li-Fu formula on cardiac hypertrophy induced by hypercholesterolemia diet. Twenty-four male Golden Syrian hamsters were randomly divided into control, cholesterol and Li-Fu formula groups and fed with different experimental diets for 2 months. Histopathological analysis and western blotting were performed to measure the myocardial architecture, and various cardiac hypertrophy-associated molecules in the excised left ventricle from hamsters. The ratios of whole heart weight/body weight (BW) and left ventricle weight/BW were significantly higher in the cholesterol group but significantly lower in the Li-Fu formula group. The protein levels of both atrial natriuretic peptide and brain natriuretic peptide were significantly increased in the cholesterol group but significantly reduced in the Li-Fu formula group. Additionally, significantly increased interleukin-6, STAT3, MEK5, p-ERK5 and non-cardiomyocyte proliferate signal molecules such as p-MEK and p-ERK, were detected in the cholesterol group but significantly reduced in the Li-Fu formula group. Notably, no significant variations of inflammatory signaling molecules, including p-P38 and p-JNK, were detected in all groups. Our experimental results demonstrated the significant reductions of cardiac hypertrophy and related eccentric hypertrophy signaling, non-cardiomyocyte proliferate signaling in the excised left ventricle of hamsters from the Li-Fu formula. We suggested the protective effects of Li-Fu formula on cardiac hypertrophy that may be useful in prevention or treatment of hypertrophy-associated cardiovascular diseases

The+Decision+Support+System+for+Cow+Culling

The purpose of this study was to develop the software for supporting cow's culling decision. Using cow's reproductive efficiency, production records and raw milk quality, the rank of productive performance of individuals in the herd was therefore generated. Cow's health management information was also provided for decision-makers to evaluate whether to cull their cows or not. This system was written in Visual FoxPro 6.0 programming language. The inputs include individual cow's basic information, reproductive record, mating record, health management, production record, and body condition scores. Through the calculation of the program, the working reports of heat observation, conception check, drying off, and calving were produced. The warning messages including open-day cow, heifer never mating, services too much, reproductive disturbance, disease, low fertility, and poor milk quality could also be displayed. The program also had the function of reports of herd's parity distribution, insemination repeats of different parity, reasons of re-mating, average reproductive performance of the farm, disease incidence rate, and statistic report of culling reasons. The default values of the system could be edited to meet individual farmers' requirement. Using the reports of working and statistics, managers could easily handle the situation of dairy farms and dairy performance, and make culling decision to improve their herd productivity.本研究之目的旨在發展乳牛淘汰決策支援軟體，利用乳牛繁殖效率、泌乳期產量與生乳品質進行個別牛隻在牛群中之生產性能排名，並依據乳牛健康管理資料，提供決策者評估牛隻是否淘汰之參考。本系統係以Visual FoxPro 6.0電腦程式語言建構而成，可輸入之資料包括個別乳牛之基本資料、繁殖記錄、配種記錄、健康管理、生產記錄與體態評分等。透過程式運算可得到發情觀察、懷孕檢查、乾乳與分娩等工作通報，並警告酪農應注意空胎期過長、未配種女牛、配種次數過多、繁殖障礙、疾病與生產低落或乳品質不良之牛隻，另提供乳牛胎次分佈、胎次配種次數、重配原因、場內平均繁殖成績、疾病發生比例與淘汰原因統計等報表。酪農可以透過預設值自訂調整管理方式，以符合個別牧場之需要。本系統產生之工作通報與統計報表可以使經營者隨時掌握乳牛場現況與乳牛生產成績，並協助訂定淘汰決策，以提高牧場整體之生產效率