Evaluation of Distillers Grains Components Singly or in Combination in a Calf Fed Feedlot Study

A finishing study was conducted to determine the value of the fiber, protein, fat, and solubles components from wet distillers grains plus solubles (WDGS) alone or in combination for feedlot cattle in comparison to WDGS diets. The fiber portion alone did not improve F:G. When protein was included in the composite with fiber, F:G improved. With fat and solubles both added separately, F:G continued to improve. None of the components alone could make up the feeding value of WDGS, however the composite diet of fiber, protein, fat, and solubles combined matched the performance observed when WDGS is fed

Moonlighting Newborn Screening Markers: The Incidental Discovery of a Second-Tier Test for Pompe Disease

Purpose: To describe a novel biochemical marker in dried blood spots suitable to improve the specificity of newborn screening for Pompe disease. Methods: The new marker is a ratio calculated between the creatine/creatinine (Cre/Crn) ratio as the numerator and the activity of acid α-glucosidase (GAA) as the denominator. Using Collaborative Laboratory Integrated Reports (CLIR), the new marker was incorporated in a dual scatter plot that can achieve almost complete segregation between Pompe disease and false-positive cases. Results: The (Cre/Crn)/GAA ratio was measured in residual dried blood spots of five Pompe cases and was found to be elevated (range 4.41–13.26; 99%ile of neonatal controls: 1.10). Verification was by analysis of 39 blinded specimens that included 10 controls, 24 samples with a definitive classification (16 Pompe, 8 false positives), and 5 with genotypes of uncertain significance. The CLIR tool showed 100% concordance of classification for the 24 known cases. Of the remaining five cases, three p.V222M homozygotes, a benign variant, were classified by CLIR as false positives; two with genotypes of unknown significance, one likely informative, were categorized as Pompe disease. Conclusion: The CLIR tool inclusive of the new ratio could have prevented at least 12 of 13 (92%) false-positive outcomes

Increased Systemic Th17 Cytokines Are Associated with Diastolic Dysfunction in Children and Adolescents with Diabetic Ketoacidosis

Diastolic dysfunction suggestive of diabetic cardiomyopathy is established in children with T1DM, but its pathogenesis is not well understood. We studied the relationships of systemic inflammatory cytokines/chemokines and cardiac function in 17 children with T1DM during and after correction of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). Twenty seven of the 39 measured cytokines/chemokines were elevated at 6–12 hours into treatment of DKA compared to values after DKA resolution. Eight patients displayed at least one parameter of diastolic abnormality (DA) during acute DKA. Significant associations were present between nine of the cytokine/chemokine levels and the DA over time. Interestingly, four of these nine interactive cytokines (GM-CSF, G-CSF, IL-12p40, IL-17) are associated with a Th17 mediated cell response. Both the DA and CCL7 and IL-12p40, had independent associations with African American patients. Thus, we report occurrence of a systemic inflammatory response and the presence of cardiac diastolic dysfunction in a subset of young T1DM patients during acute DKA

Postulated Vasoactive Neuropeptide Autoimmunity in Fatigue-Related Conditions: A Brief Review and Hypothesis

Disorders such as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and gulf war syndrome (GWS) are characterised by prolonged fatigue and a range of debilitating symptoms of pain, intellectual and emotional impairment, chemical sensitivities and immunological dysfunction. Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) surprisingly may have certain features in common with these conditions. Post-infection sequelae may be possible contributing factors although ongoing infection is unproven. Immunological aberration may prove to be associated with certain vasoactive neuropeptides (VN) in the context of molecular mimicry, inappropriate immunological memory and autoimmunity

Features of cell degeneration and death in hepatic failure and systemic lymphoid depletion characteristic of porcine circovirus-2-associated postweaning multisystemic wasting disease

Tissue section replicates from lymphoid tissues and livers of gnotobiotic swine were examined by immunohistochemistry for the colocalization of porcine circovirus-2 (PCV-2) nucleocapsid and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated incorporation of biotinylated nucleotides (UTP) onto the 3?-exposed hydroxyl groups (nick end labeling) nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid (TUNEL), a marker for apoptosis. Single- and dually stained replicates from uninfected controls, subclinically affected PCV-2-infected gnotobiotic pigs, PCV-2-infected piglets immunosuppressed with cyclosporine (Cys), and PCV-2-infected piglets with postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) were evaluated. Thymuses were used as positive controls for apoptosis absent PCV-2, tissue sections from dogs given hyperthermic stress were examined as positive controls for induced TUNEL. Tissues from heat-stressed dogs contained TUNEL-positive cell nuclei in both lymphoid tissues and liver, TUNEL was greatest shortly after the delivery of the hyperthermic insult. In uninfected control and subclinically affected PCV-2-infected gnotobiotic pigs, rare hepatocytes and lymphoid cells were TUNEL positive, the frequency of these was similar to that seen in uninfected controls. In PMWS-affected and Cys-treated PCV-2 piglets, the only consistent strongly positive TUNEL signal was contained within the cytoplasm of virus-positive phagocytic mononuclear cells. In phagocytes, some PCV-2 inclusions were TUNEL positive. Collectively, these data indicate that apoptosis is not the primary mechanism of lymphoid depletion and hepatocyte loss in PMWS. Apoptosis associated with systemic viral diseases may be attributable to pyrexia rather than direct or indirect effects of viruses on target cells