Dry supplementary feeding programmes: an effective short-term strategy in food crisis situations.

Malnutrition is frequently a predominant problem in disasters, and supplementary feeding programmes (SFPs) are often set up in food emergencies. This review analyses the effectiveness of such programmes in crisis situations in Liberia, Burundi and Goma (Congo), concluding that it is feasible to enrol large numbers of children in SFPs and achieve proportions of recovery above 75% if these programmes are implemented as a short-term measure in emergency situations. However, satisfactory SFP results do not necessarily indicate improved nutritional status of the whole population

Generation and characterization of feline arterial and venous endothelial cell lines for the study of the vascular endothelium

Background: The in vitro culture of endothelial cells (ECs) is an indispensable tool for studying the role of the endothelium in physical and pathological conditions. Primary ECs, however, have a restricted proliferative lifespan which hampers their use in long-term studies. The need for standardized experimental conditions to obtain relevant and reproducible results has increased the demand for well-characterized, continuous EC lines that retain the phenotypic and functional characteristics of their non-transformed counterparts. Results: Primary feline ECs from aorta and vena cava were successfully immortalized through the successive introduction of simian virus 40 large T (SV40LT) antigen and the catalytic subunit of human telomerase (hTERT). In contrast to the parental ECs, the transformed cells were able to proliferate continuously in culture. Established cell lines exhibited several inherent endothelial properties, including typical cobblestone morphology, binding of endothelial cell-specific lectins and internalization of acetylated low-density lipoprotein. In addition, the immortalization did not affect the functional phenotype as demonstrated by their capacity to rapidly form cord-like structures on matrigel and to express cell adhesion molecules following cytokine stimulation. Conclusion: The ability to immortalize feline ECs, and the fact that these cells maintain the EC phenotype will enable a greater understanding of fundamental mechanisms of EC biology and endothelial-related diseases. Furthermore, the use of cell lines is an effective implementation of the 3-R principles formulated by Russel and Burch

Establishment of feline intestinal epithelial cell cultures for the propagation and study of feline enteric coronaviruses

Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is the most feared infectious cause of death in cats, induced by feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV). This coronavirus is a virulent mutant of the harmless, ubiquitous feline enteric coronavirus (FECV). To date, feline coronavirus (FCoV) research has been hampered by the lack of susceptible cell lines for the propagation of serotype I FCoVs. In this study, long-term feline intestinal epithelial cell cultures were established from primary ileocytes and colonocytes by simian virus 40 (SV40) T-antigen-and human Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase (hTERT)-induced immortalization. Subsequently, these cultures were evaluated for their usability in FCoV research. Firstly, the replication capacity of the serotype II strains WSU 79-1683 and WSU 79-1146 was studied in the continuous cultures as was done for the primary cultures. In accordance with the results obtained in primary cultures, FCoV WSU 79-1683 still replicated significantly more efficient compared to FCoV WSU 79-1146 in both continuous cultures. In addition, the cultures were inoculated with faecal suspensions from healthy cats and with faecal or tissue suspensions from FIP cats. The cultures were susceptible to infection with different serotype I enteric strains and two of these strains were further propagated. No infection was seen in cultures inoculated with FIPV tissue homogenates. In conclusion, a new reliable model for FCoV investigation and growth of enteric field strains was established. In contrast to FIPV strains, FECVs showed a clear tropism for intestinal epithelial cells, giving an explanation for the observation that FECV is the main pathotype circulating among cats

A focus reduction neutralization assay for hepatitis C virus neutralizing antibodies

BACKGROUND/AIM: The role of humoral immunity in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is poorly understood. Nevertheless, there is increasing interest in characterizing the neutralizing antibodies in the serum of HCV-infected patients. Focus reduction assays have been widely used to evaluate neutralizing antibody responses against a range of non-cytopathic viruses. Based on the recent development of a HCV cell culture system using the genotype 2 JFH-1-strain, we developed a focus reduction assay for HCV-neutralizing antibodies. METHODS: The focus reduction assay was based on a standard microneutralization assay in which immunostained foci on tissue culture plates are counted. The neutralizing anti-HCV antibodies titers of purified serum immunoglobulin samples from seventy-seven individuals were determined using a 50% focus reduction neutralization assay. Each titer was determined as the log value of the reciprocal antibody dilution that reduced the number of viral foci by 50%. IgG antibodies were first purified from each serum in order to avoid the facilitating effect of HDL on HCV entry. RESULTS: The assay's cut-off using an ELISA and RNA HCV-negative samples was found to be 1.25 log, corresponding to a dilution of 1:18. The assay was compared with a commercial HCV ELISA and exhibited specificity and sensitivity values of 100% and 96.5%, respectively, and good reproducibility (with intra-assay and inter-assay coefficients of variation of 6.7% and 12.6%, respectively). The assay did not show any cross-reactivity with anti-HIV, anti-HBs or heterophile antibody-positive samples. The neutralizing antibodies titers were 2.13 log (1:134) for homologous samples from HCV genotype 2 infected patients harboring the same genotype as JFH-1 and 1.93 log (1:85) for heterologous samples from patients infected by genotypes other than type 2. These results confirm the presence of broadly cross-neutralizing antibodies already reported using the HCV pseudoparticles system. CONCLUSION: This study presents a simple, specific and reproducible cell culture-based assay for determination of HCV-neutralizing antibodies in human sera. The assay should be an important tool for gauging the relationship between the neutralizing antibodies response and viral load kinetics in acutely or chronically infected patients and for investigating the possible eradication or prevention of HCV infection by neutralizing antibodies

Host intestinal biomarker identification in a gut leakage model in broilers

International audienceAbstractIntestinal health problems are a major issue in the poultry industry. Quantifiable easy-to-measure biomarkers for intestinal health would be of great value to monitor subclinical intestinal entities that cause performance problems and to evaluate control methods for intestinal health. The aim of the study was to identify host protein biomarkers for intestinal inflammation and intestinal barrier damage. Proteomic analysis was conducted on ileal and colonic content samples of broilers under an experimental gut damage and inflammation model. Effects of the challenge treatment resulted in a worse gut condition based on macroscopic gut appearance (p < 0.0001). Also microscopic changes such as shortening of the villi and increased crypt depth (p < 0.0001) as well as higher infiltration of T-lymphocytes (p < 0.0001) were seen in the duodenal tissue of challenged animals. Several candidate proteins associated with inflammation, serum leakage and/or tissue damage were identified with an increased abundance in intestinal content of challenged animals (p < 0.05). Conversely, brush border enzymes were less abundant in intestinal content of challenged animals (p < 0.05). These candidate biomarkers have potential to be used in the field for detection of gut barrier failure in broilers