A mixture of organic acids and thymol protects primary chicken intestinal epithelial cells from Clostridium perfringens infection in vitro

Necrotic enteritis causes economic losses estimated to be up to 6 billion US dollars per year. Clinical and sub-clinical infections in poultry are also both correlated with decreased growth and feed efficiency. Moreover, in a context of increased antibiotic resistance, feed additives with enhanced antimicrobial properties are a useful and increasingly needed strategy. In this study, the protective effects of a blend of thymol and organic acids against the effects of Clostridium perfringens type A (CP) on chicken intestinal epithelial cells were investigated and compared to bacitracin, a widely used antibiotic in poultry production. Primary chicken intestinal epithelial cells were challenged with CP for a total time of 3h to assess the beneficial effect of two doses of citric acid, dodecanoic acid, and thymol-containing blend, and compare them with bacitracin. During the challenge different parameters were recorded, such as transepithelial electrical resistance, cell viability, mRNA expression, and reactive oxygen species production. CP induced inflammation with cytokine production and loss of epithelial barrier integrity. It was also able to induce reactive oxygen species production and increase the caspase expression leading to cellular death. The high dose of the blend acted similarly to bacitracin, preventing the disruptive effects of CP and inducing also an increase in zonula occludens-1 mRNA expression. The low dose only partially prevented the disruptive effects of CP but successfully reduced the associated inflammation. This study shows that the usage of thymol combined with two organic acids can protect primary chicken intestinal epithelial cells from CP-induced damages creating a valid candidate to substitute or adjuvate the antibiotic treatment against necrotic enteritis

The Expanded Risk Score in Rheumatoid Arthritis: performance of a disease-specific calculator in comparison with the traditional prediction scores in the assessment of the 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

The increased risk of cardiovascular disease has emerged as a major issue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis – it has been estimated that the cardiovascular disease burden in rheumatoid arthritis is comparable to that of diabetes mellitus

Apparent diffusion coefficient values in borderline breast lesions upgraded and not upgraded at definitive histopathological examination after surgical excision

Purpose: The study aims were to evaluate if the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value could distinguish between breast lesions classified as B3 at core needle biopsy (CNB) that show or do not show atypia or malignancy at definitive histopathological examination (DHE) after surgical excision. Material and methods: From January 2013 to December 2017, 141 patients with a B3 breast lesion underwent magnetic resonance imaging and were included in the study. The ADC value was assessed drawing a ROI outlining the entire lesion, evaluating the mean ($ADC_{mean}$) and minimum ADC values ($ADC_{min}$). Results: Both $ADC_{mean}$ and ADCmin values showed a statistically significant difference between B3 lesions without and with malignancy or, for B3a lesions, atypia at DHE. They both showed a statistically significant difference also between B3a lesions without or with atypia or malignancy at DHE, but only $ADC_{min}$ (not $ADC_{mean}$) showed statistically significant difference between B3b lesions without or with malignancy at DHE. Conclusions: The ADC value could help distinguish between B3a lesions without or with atypia/malignancy at DHE after surgical excision and between B3b lesions without or with malignancy at DHE. Therefore, it could be used to help guide the diagnostic-therapeutic pathway of these lesions, particularly of B3a lesion