Antibiotic-dependent instability of homeostatic plasticity for growth and environmental load

Reducing antibiotic usage in livestock animals has become an urgent issue worldwide to prevent antimicrobial resistance. Here, abuse of chlortetracycline (CTC), a versatile antibacterial agent, on the performance, blood components, fecal microbiota, and organic acid concentration in calves was investigated. Japanese Black calves were fed milk replacer containing CTC at 10 g/kg (CON) or 0 g/kg (EXP). Growth performance was not affected by CTC administration. However, CTC administration altered the correlation between fecal organic acids and bacterial genera. Machine learning methods such as association analysis, linear discriminant analysis, and energy landscape analysis revealed that CTC administration affected according to certain rules the population of various types of fecal bacteria. It is particularly interesting that the population of several methane-producing bacteria was high in the CON, and that of Lachnospiraceae, a butyrate-producing bacteria, was high in the EXP at 60 d of age. Furthermore, statistical causal inference based on machine learning data estimated that CTC treatment affects the entire intestinal environment, inhibiting butyrate production for growth and biological defense, which may be attributed to methanogens in feces. Thus, these observations highlight the multiple harmful impacts of antibiotics on intestinal health and the potential production of greenhouse gas in the calves

Chronic abdominal pain, appendiceal mucinous neoplasm, and concurrent intestinal endometriosis: a case report

Abstract Introduction Although both appendiceal tumor and intestinal endometriosis have been reported as rare causes of abdominal pain, the coexistence of appendiceal mucinous neoplasm and ileal endometriosis has not previously been reported. Case presentation A 41-year-old Japanese woman presented with a positive fecal occult blood test and a 3-year history of menstruation-related lower abdominal pain. A colonoscopy demonstrated extrinsic compression of the cecum, suggesting a mass arising from the appendix or adjacent structures. Abdominal imaging showed a 6-cm cystic mass with intraluminal thick fluids originating from the appendix. At ileocecal resection for an appendiceal tumor, a 2-cm mass in the terminal ileum was incidentally found, which was included in the surgical specimen. Microscopic examination confirmed a diagnosis of a mucinous neoplasm of the appendix with endometriosis of the terminal ileum. Conclusions To avoid urgent surgery for subsequent serious events associated with disease progression, appendiceal tumor and intestinal endometriosis should be ruled out in patients with chronic abdominal pain.</p

A Simple Method of Optical Evaluation of the Distribution of Muscle Extracellular Matrix by Immunofluorescence and Image Analysis using Fluorescent Semiconductor Nanocrystals (quantum dot)

A simple method using optically stable quantum dots (Qdots) for immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis was tested to investigate their signal localization and stability in extracellular matrix (ECM) components of bovine longissimus thoracis muscles in fattened Japanese black steers. Detection of primary antibodies of each ECM component in IHC was based on fluorescence from streptavidin-linked inorganic crystals of cadmium selenide in Qdots with a fluorescence microscope (FM). We could observe each ECM component by IHC using Qdots in a FM for a long time. Each ECM component was detected clearly in the perimysium and endomysium in skeletal muscle. Using computer image analysis software, each ECM component was reconstructed in detail: structures were clear, with the distribution of each component of the ECM shown after 3D conversion based on the strength of fluorescenece. It is possible and useful to apply a simple method of IHC using Qdots under FM to the detailed investigation of ECM components in skeletal muscle