Non-specific immune response of bullfrog Rana catesbeiana to intraperitoneal injection of bacterium Aeromonas hydrophila

Non-specific immune response of bullfrog Rana catesbeiana to pathogenic Aeromonas hydrophila was studied to 60 individuals in two groups. Each bullfrog in bacterium-injected group was injected intraperitoneally (i.p.) with 0.2 ml bacterial suspension at a density of 5.2 x 10(6) CFU/ml, hile each one in control group injected i.p. with 0.2 ml sterile saline solution (0.85%, w/v). Three bullfrogs in both groups were sampled at 0, 1, 3, 7, 11, 15 and 20 days post-injection (dpi) for the evaluation of non-specific immune parameters. It was observed that intraperitoneal injection of A. hydrophila significantly increased the number of leucocytes and that of NBT-positive cells in peripheral blood. Significant increases in serum bactericidal activity and serum acid phosphatase activity were also observed in the bacterium-injected frogs when compared with those in the control group. However, a significant reduction was detected in vitro in phagocytosis activity of peripheral blood phagocytes. No significant difference in changes in the number of peripheral erythrocytes, serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and lysozyme activity was detected between the two groups. It is suggested that bullfrogs may produce a series of non-specific immune reactions in response to the A. hydrophila infection.National High-Tech Research and Development Program of China [2001AA5070, 2002AA639600]; Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province of China [B0410022, 2006F5066

Clinical and Mutation Analysis of Patients with Best Vitelliform Macular Dystrophy or Autosomal Recessive Bestrophinopathy in Chinese Population

Mutations in the gene BEST1 usually cause bestrophinopathies, such as the rare progressive diseases Best vitelliform macular dystrophy (BVMD) and autosomal recessive bestrophinopathy (ARB). This study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics of patients with BVMD or ARB carrying BEST1 mutations. A total of 12 probands including 9 patients with a clinical diagnosis of BVMD and 3 patients with a clinical diagnosis of ARB were recruited for genetics analysis. All patients underwent detailed ophthalmic examination. All coding exons of the BEST1 gene were screened by PCR-based DNA sequencing. Programs of PolyPhen-2, SIFT, and MutationTaster were used to analyze the potential pathogenicity of the mutations in BEST1. In the 9 unrelated patients with BVMD, one heterozygous BEST1 mutation was revealed in 8 patients and two compound heterozygous mutations in 1 patient. In the 3 unrelated patients with ARB, two compound heterozygous mutations were revealed in 2 patients and three compound heterozygous mutations in 1 patient. Molecular analyses identified a total of 15 mutations, including 3 novel mutations (c.424A>G p.S142G, c.436G>A p.A146T, and c.155T>C p.L52P). Antivascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drugs were given to two affected eyes, especially those also exhibiting choroidal neovascularization (CNV), and no serious adverse events occurred. Our study indicates that there is wide genotypic and phenotypic variability in patients with BVMD or ARB in China. The screening of BEST1 gene is significant for the precise diagnosis of BVMD and ARB

Quality Evaluation of Wild and Cultivated <i>Schisandrae Chinensis</i> Fructus Based on Simultaneous Determination of Multiple Bioactive Constituents Combined with Multivariate Statistical Analysis

Schisandrae Chinensis Fructus, also called wuweizi in China, was a widely used folk medicine in China, Korea, and Russia. Due to the limited natural resources and huge demand of wuweizi, people tend to cultivate wuweizi to protect this species. However, the quality of wild and cultivated herbs of the same species may change. Little attention has been paid to comparing wild and cultivated wuweizi based on simultaneous determination of its active components, such as lignans and organic acids. An analytical method based on UFLC-QTRAP-MS/MS was used for the simultaneous determination of 15 components, including 11 lignans (schisandrin, gomisin D, gomisin J, schisandrol B, angeloylgomisin H, schizantherin B, schisanhenol, deoxyschizandrin, &#947;-schisandrin, schizandrin C, and schisantherin) and 4 organic acids (quinic acid, d(&#8722;)-tartaric acid, l-(&#8722;)-malic acid, and protocatechuic acid) in wuweizi under different ecological environments. Principal components analysis (PCA), partial least squares discrimination analysis (PLS-DA), independent sample t-test, and gray relational analysis (GRA) have been applied to classify and evaluate samples from different ecological environments according to the content of 15 components. The results showed that the differential compounds (i.e., quinic acid, l-(&#8722;)-malic acid, protocatechuic acid, schisandrol B) were significantly related to the classification of wild and cultivated wuweizi. GRA results demonstrated that the quality of cultivated wuweizi was not as good as wild wuweizi. The protocol not just provided a new method for the comprehensive evaluation and quality control of wild and cultivated wuweizi, but paved the way to differentiate them at the chemistry level

Effects of tributyltin (TBT) on enzyme activity and oxidative stress in hepatopancreas and hemolymph of small abalone, Haliotis diversicolor supertexta

We investigated the effect of tributyltin (TBT) exposure on the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) and the activity levels of the superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and acid and alkaline phosphatase (ACP and AKP) enzymes in the small abalone, Haliotis diversicolor supertexta. We collected samples of the hepatopancreas and hemolymph 2, 6, 24, 48, 96, and 192 h after exposure to 0.35 A mu g (Sn)/L TBT. In the hepatopancreas, ACP activity was significantly higher in animals exposed to TBT 2, 24, and 96 h post-exposure compared with the control animals. AKP activity was also higher after 2 h, but SOD and CAT activity was unchanged. The concentration of MDA in the hemolymph was significantly higher than the control animals 2 and 6 h post-exposure. In the hemolymph of animals exposed to TBT, ACP activity was significantly lower than in the control animals 192 h post-exposure, whereas AKP activity was significantly lower 2 and 192 h post-exposure. Hemolymph SOD activity and levels of MDA were significantly lower than in the control animals 24 h after exposure but significantly higher after 96 h. Our results demonstrate that exposure to TBT cause rapid changes in ACP and AKP activity as well as altering the concentration of MDA in the hepatopancreas and hemolymph. SOD and CAT do not appear to be involved in the detoxification of TBT in the hepatopancreas of small abalone.Committee of Xiamen Science and Technology, Xiamen, China [502Z20055024]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [20877034]; Innovation Team Foundation of Jimei University [2008A001

Expressed sequence tag analysis for identification and characterization of genes related to Tributyltin (TBT) exposure in the abalone Haliotis diversicolor supertexta

The analysis of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) is an efficient approach for gene discovery, expression profiling, and the development of resources for functional genomics. To analyze the transcriptome response to tributyltin of small abalone Haliotis diversicolor supertexta, a normalized cDNA library of hepatopancreas after exposure of animals to tributyltin was constructed. Three thousand and forty eight high quality ESTs were generated. After processing, a total of 2473 unigenes comprising 370 contigs and 2103 singlets were acquired. BLAST identified 1108 clones (45%) as known genes. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) identification were also carried out to acquire more information on pathway and EST-SSR. According to GO categories, the total ESTs distribute across the various functional categories. In addition, 43 potential toxicology-related clusters were identified. This work provides the first set of genetic data for small abalone which is of great value for further exploitation of this species in functional genomics and toxicogenomics. Our interesting results will be mainly useful to choose biomarkers for ecotoxicological studies. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Committee of Xiamen Science and Technology, Xiamen, Fujian, China [502Z20055024]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [20877034]; Innovation Team foundation of Jimei University [Innovation Team foundation of Jimei University (2008A001