Dietary Supplementation with Spray-Dried Porcine Plasma Attenuates Colon Inflammation in a Genetic Mouse Model of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Dietary supplementation with spray-dried porcine plasma (SDP) can modulate the immune response of gut-associated lymphoid tissue. SDP supplementation reduces acute mucosal inflammation, as well as chronic inflammation associated with aging. The aim of this study was to analyze if SDP supplementation could ameliorate colitis in a genetic mouse model of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Wild-type mice and Mdr1a knockout (KO) mice were administered a control diet or an SDP-supplemented diet from day 21 (weaning) until day 56. The histopathological index, epithelial barrier, and intestinal immune system were analyzed in the colonic mucosa. KO mice had higher epithelial permeability, increased Muc1 and Muc4 expression, and lower abundance of E-cadherin and Muc2 (all p < 0.001). SDP prevented these effects (all p < 0.05) and decreased the colonic inflammation observed in KO mice, reducing neutrophil and monocyte infiltration and activation and the percentage of activated T helper lymphocytes in the colonic mucosa (all p < 0.05). SDP also diminished proinflammatory cytokine expression and increased the anti-inflammatory IL-10 concentration in the colonic mucosa (all p < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary supplementation with SDP enhances colon barrier function and reduces mucosal inflammation in a mouse model of IBD

Dietary plasma proteins attenuate the innate immunity response in a mouse model of acute lung injury

We examined whether oral plasma protein supplements affect the innate immune response in a model of acute lung inflammation. Mice were fed diets supplemented with 8% spray-dried plasma (SDP) or 2% plasma Ig concentrate (IC) from day 19 (weaning) until day 34. The mice were challenged with intranasal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) at day 33 (and killed 24 h later for cytokine and leucocyte analyses) or at day 34 (and killed 6 h later for cytokine determinations). In bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), LPS increased the number of leucocytes by twenty-sevenfold, an effect that was partly prevented by both SDP and IC, and by twentyfold the percentage of activated monocytes, which was partly prevented by SDP. In the lung tissue, LPS increased the infiltrated leucocytes, and this effect was prevented in part by SDP. In unchallenged mice, both SDP and IC diets reduced the percentage of resident neutrophils and monocytes (P,0·05). In the blood, both SDP and IC completely prevented LPS-dependent monocyte activation (CD14þ; P,0·05). LPS dramatically increased the concentration of cytokines (TNF-a, IL-1a, IL-6, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor) and chemokines (CXCL1, CCL2, CCL3 and CCL4) in BALF. The acute response of cytokine production was reduced by 20-80% by both SDP and IC. For chemokines, plasma supplements had no effect on LPS-induced CXCL1 expression but significantly reduced CCL2, CCL3 and CCL4 production (P,0·05). The results support the view that dietary plasma proteins can be used to attenuate endotoxin-associated lung inflammation

No transmission of hepatitis E virus in pigs fed diets containing commercial spray-dried porcine plasma : a retrospective study of samples from several swine trials

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) has been reported in the human population and pigs are a recognized reservoir for HEV and a possible source of HEV transmission to humans. Spray-dried porcine plasma (SDPP) is an ingredient commonly used in feed for pigs around the world. Even though processing conditions used to produce SDPP should be adequate to inactivate HEV, it was of interest to analyze commercial SDPP samples for presence of genome and antibodies (AB) against HEV and to retrospectively analyze serum samples collected from pigs used in past experiments that had been fed diets containing either 0% or 8% SDPP to detect potential transmission of HEV as determined by seroconversion. Eighty-five commercial SDPP samples were analyzed by ELISA and 100% of them contained AB against HEV, while 22.4% (11 of 49 samples analyzed) were positive for HEV RNA. Frozen sera samples (n = 140) collected from 70 pigs used in past experiments that had been fed diets containing either 0% or 8% commercial SDPP was analyzed by ELISA for AB against HEV. Age of pigs at sera sampling ranged from 3 to 15 weeks and feeding duration of diets ranged from approximately 4 to 9 weeks. One lot of SDPP used in one experiment was analyzed and confirmed to contain HEV RNA. Regardless of the diet fed, some sera samples collected at the beginning of an experiment contained AB titer against HEV. These sera samples were collected from weaned pigs prior to feeding of the experimental diets and the HEV titer was probably from maternal origin. However, by the end of the experiments, HEV titer was not detected or had declined by more than 50% of the initial titer concentration. To our knowledge, this is the first study reporting presence of HEV AB titer and RNA in SDPP. Retrospective analysis of serum collected from pigs fed diets with SDPP revealed no indication of seroconversion to HEV. The results indicate that feeding SDPP in diets for pigs does not represent a risk of transmitting HEV, even though HEV genome may be detected in SDPP

Effects of Bovine Plasma and Pharmacological Zinc Level on Nursery Pig Growth Performance and Fecal Characteristics

A total of 300 pigs (241 × 600, DNA; initially 12.9 lb) were used in a 38-d trial to evaluate the effect of Zn level and bovine plasma in nursery pig diets. At the time of placement, pens of pigs were weighed and allotted to 1 of 4 dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design with barn as the blocking factor. There was a total of 60 pens with 5 pigs per pen and 15 replicates per dietary treatment. The treatments were arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial with main effects of Zn level (high and low) and spray-dried bovine plasma inclusion (with or without; APC Inc., Ankeny, IA). Diets with pharmacological levels of Zn had 3,000 and 2,000 ppm of Zn in phase 1 and 2 diets, respectively. Diets with low level of Zn had 110 ppm of Zn in phase 1 and 2 diets. Bovine plasma replaced a portion of a fermented vegetable protein source (MEpro, Prairie Aquatech, Brookings, SD) in diet formulation with bovine plasma included at 5% and 2% in the phase 1 and 2 diets, respectively. Treatment diets were fed in 2 phases (phase 1: d 0 to 9; phase 2: d 9 to 24) with a common diet (110 ppm of Zn without plasma) fed from d 24 to 38. Fecal samples and scores were collected on d 9 and 24 for determination of fecal dry matter. There was no evidence of Zn × plasma interactions (P \u3e 0.10) throughout the trial for any growth criteria. From d 0 to 9, pigs fed bovine plasma tended to have improved ADG (P = 0.066) and had improved (P ≤ 0.035) ADFI and BW, while pigs fed high Zn had improved (P ≤ 0.018) ADG, BW and F/G. From d 9 to 24, pig fed high Zn had improved (P \u3c 0.001) ADG and ADFI. During the common period (d 24 to 38), pigs previously fed high Zn had reduced ADFI (P = 0.046). Overall (d 0 to 38), pigs fed high Zn had improved (P ≤ 0.029) BW, ADG, and F/G. For fecal DM, there was a tendency of plasma × Zn interaction (P = 0.067) where pigs fed high Zn had increased (P \u3c 0.05) fecal DM compared to pigs fed low Zn when bovine plasma was added, while this Zn effect was not significant (P \u3e 0.05) when fed in diets without plasma. For fecal score, pigs fed high Zn had higher (P \u3c 0.001) frequency of firmer feces. In summary, bovine plasma improved growth performance during the first week after weaning. Feeding pharmacological levels of Zn improved growth performance when fed and overall, as well as improved fecal DM and fecal firmness measured by observational scoring

Clinical impairment in premanifest and early Huntington's disease is associated with regionally specific atrophy.

TRACK-HD is a multicentre longitudinal observational study investigating the use of clinical assessments and 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging as potential biomarkers for future therapeutic trials in Huntington's disease (HD). The cross-sectional data from this large well-characterized dataset provide the opportunity to improve our knowledge of how the underlying neuropathology of HD may contribute to the clinical manifestations of the disease across the spectrum of premanifest (PreHD) and early HD. Two hundred and thirty nine gene-positive subjects (120 PreHD and 119 early HD) from the TRACK-HD study were included. Using voxel-based morphometry (VBM), grey and white matter volumes were correlated with performance in four domains: quantitative motor (tongue force, metronome tapping, and gait); oculomotor [anti-saccade error rate (ASE)]; cognition (negative emotion recognition, spot the change and the University of Pennsylvania smell identification test) and neuropsychiatric measures (apathy, affect and irritability). After adjusting for estimated disease severity, regionally specific associations between structural loss and task performance were found (familywise error corrected, P < 0.05); impairment in tongue force, metronome tapping and ASE were all associated with striatal loss. Additionally, tongue force deficits and ASE were associated with volume reduction in the occipital lobe. Impaired recognition of negative emotions was associated with volumetric reductions in the precuneus and cuneus. Our study reveals specific associations between atrophy and decline in a range of clinical modalities, demonstrating the utility of VBM correlation analysis for investigating these relationships in HD

The impact of social and physical distancing measures on COVID-19 activity in England: findings from a multi-tiered surveillance system

BACKGROUND: A multi-tiered surveillance system based on influenza surveillance was adopted in the United Kingdom in the early stages of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic to monitor different stages of the disease. Mandatory social and physical distancing measures (SPDM) were introduced on 23 March 2020 to attempt to limit transmission. AIM: To describe the impact of SPDM on COVID-19 activity as detected through the different surveillance systems. METHODS: Data from national population surveys, web-based indicators, syndromic surveillance, sentinel swabbing, respiratory outbreaks, secondary care admissions and mortality indicators from the start of the epidemic to week 18 2020 were used to identify the timing of peaks in surveillance indicators relative to the introduction of SPDM. This timing was compared with median time from symptom onset to different stages of illness and levels of care or interactions with healthcare services. RESULTS: The impact of SPDM was detected within 1 week through population surveys, web search indicators and sentinel swabbing reported by onset date. There were detectable impacts on syndromic surveillance indicators for difficulty breathing, influenza-like illness and COVID-19 coding at 2, 7 and 12 days respectively, hospitalisations and critical care admissions (both 12 days), laboratory positivity (14 days), deaths (17 days) and nursing home outbreaks (4 weeks). CONCLUSION: The impact of SPDM on COVID-19 activity was detectable within 1 week through community surveillance indicators, highlighting their importance in early detection of changes in activity. Community swabbing surveillance may be increasingly important as a specific indicator, should circulation of seasonal respiratory viruses increase

Dryland Malt Barley Yield and Quality Affected by Tillage, Cropping Sequence, and Nitrogen Fertilization

Malt barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) yield and quality have been evaluated using various cultivars and N rates but little is known about the effects of tillage and cropping sequence. We evaluated the effects of tillage, cropping sequence, and N fertilization on dryland malt barley yield, grain characteristics, N uptake, and N use-efficiency from 2006 to 2011 in eastern Montana. Treatments were no-till continuous malt barley (NTCB), no-till malt barley–pea (Pisum sativum L.) (NTB–P), no-till malt barley–fallow (NTB–F), and conventional till malt barley–fallow (CTB–F), with split application of N rates (0,40, 80, and 120 kg N ha–1) in randomized complete block with three replications. As N rates increased, malt barley grain yield, protein concentration, and N uptake increased in NTB–F, NTB–P, and NTCB, but test weight, plumpness, and N-use efficiency decreased in all tillage and cropping sequence treatments. Similarly, plant stand, biomass (stems and leaves) yield, and N uptake increased with increased N rates. Grain and biomass yields, N uptake, and N-use efficiency were greater in CTB–F than in NTB–P and NTCB but tillage had no effect on these parameters. Malt barley yield and N uptake varied with cropping sequences and N rates among years. Although grain yield increased with increased N rates, NTB–P with N rates between 40 and 80 kg N ha−1 may be used to sustain dryland malt barley yield and quality (protein concentration \u3c 135 g kg−1, plumpness \u3e 800 g kg−1), thereby helping to reduce the potentials for soil erosion and N leaching and increase soil organic matter in the northern Great Plains

Yawn Contagion and Empathy in Homo sapiens

The ability to share others' emotions, or empathy, is crucial for complex social interactions. Clinical, psychological, and neurobiological clues suggest a link between yawn contagion and empathy in humans (Homo sapiens). However, no behavioral evidence has been provided so far. We tested the effect of different variables (e.g., country of origin, sex, yawn characteristics) on yawn contagion by running mixed models applied to observational data collected over 1 year on adult (>16 years old) human subjects. Only social bonding predicted the occurrence, frequency, and latency of yawn contagion. As with other measures of empathy, the rate of contagion was greatest in response to kin, then friends, then acquaintances, and lastly strangers. Related individuals (r≥0.25) showed the greatest contagion, in terms of both occurrence of yawning and frequency of yawns. Strangers and acquaintances showed a longer delay in the yawn response (latency) compared to friends and kin. This outcome suggests that the neuronal activation magnitude related to yawn contagion can differ as a function of subject familiarity. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that yawn contagion is primarily driven by the emotional closeness between individuals and not by other variables, such as gender and nationality