Amputation of the Front Medial Digit of a Holstein Cow - Successful Parturition and Milk Production

Background: Diseases of the bovine digit and hoof remain major problems in dairy farming and the beef cow industry. Severe claudication accompanying swelling and pain at the lesion is often observed in deep digital sepsis, septic arthritis, severe sole ulcers, and chronic interdigital phlegmon. In addition, digital amputation is often performed in cases of white line disease or severe trauma, such as bone fractures. There are few reports of amputation of the medial digit of the bovine front hoof. In this case, amputation of the medial digit of the front leg of a pregnant cow was performed; its hospitalizationand return to productivity is reported.Case: The bovine was a 9-year-old Holstein cow in the 6th month of pregnancy, weighing 671 kg. Upon admission, the cow could not bear weight on its right front leg, and swelling and a purulent discharge were observed in the coronary area of the medial digit. X-ray examination results indicated a periosteal reaction centered on the 3rd phalanx of the medial digit of its right front leg hoof and slight periosteal reactions at the adaxial sides of the middle and proximal phalanges, strongly suggestive of septic arthritis caused by infection. According to the X-ray examination results, no abnormalities of the lateral digit of the front right hoof were observed; thus, it was estimated that the post-amputation hoof would be able to bear weight. Therefore, a decision was made to perform immediate amputation of the medial digit of the right front leg hoof to reduce pain for improved delivery of the offspring and improved milk production during the lactation period, rather than allowing the lesion progress until the dry period or the expected date of delivery. According to the X-ray examination results, amputation of the 1st phalanx alone was expected to suffice for removal of the cause of the pain; thus, a decision was made to perform amputation at the edge adjacent to the 2nd phalanx. The right front medial digit was prepared for aseptic surgery, and infiltration anesthesia was performed. An incision was made with a surgical knife at the interdigit of the right front limb. A wire saw was inserted into the site to cut the 2nd phalanx in the anti-axial direction down to the skin to resect the lesion. White viscous pus was discharged at the resection site; therefore, the wound was lavaged with tap water and packed with povidone iodine-impregnated gauze. The wound was also covered with a diaper and dressed with non-elastic and elastic bandages. The dressing was changed daily to aid wound healing. No problems were observed in the standing-up motion or other relevant movements immediately after the surgery. Granulation tissue formed rapidly, approximately 2 weeks after the surgery, and the lesion dried gradually. Approximately one month after the surgery, the subject exhibited little difficulty in both standing up and walking. The subject successfully delivered its 7th offspring at the farm on postoperative day 93.Discussion: The animal of this study was a 9-year-old, pregnant cow, and although amputation of the front medial digit is a relatively rare procedure, the cow was able to deliver and return to production, owing to sufficient postoperative treatment and care. The case also demonstrated the advantage of X-ray examination in bovine hoof diseases for accurate diagnosis, precise operation, and prognostic assessment. Keywords: bovine, lameness, surgery, septic arthritis, bovine hoof, medial digit, digital amputation

Several Amino Acids and Carnitine Transport Activities of the Epithelial Cells of Bovine Mammary Gland

We investigated several amino acids and carnitine transport activities of bovine mammary gland epithelial cells. Gly, Ala, Gln, Glu, Arg, Leu, cystine and carnitine transport activities at 1 μmol/L substrate concentration were 24.0 ± 3.97, 90.9 ± 13.4, 32.5 ± 9.0, 14.2 ± 5.1, 48.9 ± 11.4, 48.8 ± 5.1, 22.7 ± 6.8 and 2.56 ± 0.96 nmol/mg protein/min, respectively. Na-dependency of transport was observed in Gly, Ala and Gln, but not in Arg, Leu and carnitine. Glu and Cys transport activity without Na condition were reduced to 36%, 63% in Na-free condition, respectively. Carnitine transport activities were low but detectable with or without Na condition. There was no correlation between amino acid transport activities and their concentrations in milk. The data clarified in this paper will be basic data for metabolic analysis of bovine mammary gland

Trace element concentrations in blood samples from dairy cows with uterine torsion and their neonatal calves

Background and Aim: Mineral deficiencies can lead to dystocia and abnormalities in neonates. Stillbirth of neonatal calves in dairy cows due to dystocia has become an economic problem. Uterine torsion (UT) is a common form of dystocia observed in dairy cows. However, to the best of our knowledge, there have been no reports on the characteristics of serum trace element concentrations in dairy cows with UT. This study aimed to comprehensively measure serum trace element concentrations in dairy cows with UT and dystocia. Materials and Methods: Dairy cows with (n = 15) and without (n = 27) UT and neonates (n = 9 and n = 26, respectively) were included in this study. Blood samples (10 mL) were collected, and serum trace element concentrations were evaluated using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrophotometry. Results: The mortality rate at birth was significantly higher in calves delivered by cows with UT than those delivered by cows without UT. The odds ratio for mortality rate at birth in dairy cows with UT was 7.85. Serum zinc (Zn) levels were significantly lower in cows with UT than in cows without UT (p = 0.01). The copper: Zn ratio was significantly higher in cows with UT than in cows without torsion (p = 0.05). In contrast, serum Cobalt (Co) concentrations were significantly higher in neonates from cows with UT than in neonates from cows without UT (p = 0.01). Conclusion: Uterine torsion is associated with a high mortality rate at birth and considerable economic losses. Cows with UT had low serum Zn levels, and neonates born to these cows had high serum Co levels

Amino Acid Transport System N: Molecular Structure, Distribution and Functional Analysis of Canine SLC38A5 (SNAT5) in Lens Epithelial Cells.

Na-dependent of neutral amino acid transport activity in canine lens epithelial cells (LEC) line was investigated. The transporter activity of glutamine was 11.17 ± 3.17 nmol/mg protein/min, and it was reduced by 75% in the absence of sodium. The full-length cDNA sequence of canine sodium-dependent neutral amino acid transporter 5 (SNAT5) was 2151 bp long and was predicted to encode the 536 amino acid polypeptides. The deduced amino acid sequence of canine SNAT5 showed >80% similarities with those of human and mouse. The RT-PCR analysis indicated that SNAT5 was expressed in liver, kidney and LEC, but not in heart and skin

乳腺由来のPTHrPは牛の骨吸収を刺激するか？ : 血清オステオカルシン濃度による評価の試み

オステオカルシン(OC)は骨形成と骨吸収のどちらにも関与することが知られているが，ウシにおいては泌乳量や加齢に伴う血清OC濃度の変動は不明である。またそれらを加味した周産期に関する情報は少ない。そこでカルシウムの不均衡が生じやすい周産期の乳牛において，その骨代謝の指標としてOCが有効であるかを検討した。まず，ウシ血清OC濃度は新生子期が最も高く，その後急激に低下し，初産以降は月齢とともに緩やかに低下することが明らかとなった。周産期のみならず，血清OC濃度を評価する際には月齢を考慮する必要があることがわかった。周産期においては，月齢による影響を加味しても，初産牛と経産牛は共に分娩前からすでに骨代謝回転が強く抑制されていることがわかった。しかしながら，経産牛ではこの時期の血清OC濃度は基本的に低いため，骨代謝マーカーとしての血清OC濃度の変動を観察することは困難であった。Age-related changes in serum osteocalcin concentration in nonperiparturient cows and periparturient variations in serum osteocalcin concentrations in primiparous and multiparous cows were evaluated. Levels were evaluated in 104 nonperiparturient female Holstein dairy cows, ranging in age from 11 days to 10 years; these levels were highest in the youngest animals and gradually decreased with age. Serum osteocalcin levels from 14 days pre-calving to 21 days post-calving in primiparous cows were statistically higher than those in multiparous cows. A comparison of osteocalcin levels between nonperiparturient and periparturient cows of a similar age showed that gestation significantly lowered the serum osteocalcin levels in both primiparous and multiparous cows. These results suggest that although serum osteocalcin is one of the markers reflecting bone metabolism, it is not as effective for detection of abnormalities in cows at the time of parturition, especially in high parity cows that are more susceptible to periparturient hypocalcemia

Solubility Enhancement of Steviol Glycosides and Characterization of Their Inclusion Complexes with Gamma-Cyclodextrin

Steviol glycosidesrebaudioside (reb) A, C and D have low aqueous solubilities. To improve their aqueous solubilities, inclusion complex of steviol glycosides, reb A, C and D and gamma cyclodextrin were prepared by freeze drying method and further characterized by means of differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The effect of gamma cyclodextrin on chemical shifts of the steviol glycosides was also studied in proton NMR experiments as well as in solid state 13C CP/MAS NMR experiments. These results indicated that the steviol glycosides were clearly in inclusion complex formation with the gamma cyclodextrin which also results in solubility enhancement of these steviol glycosides. Phase solubility studies showed that amounts of soluble reb A, C and D increased with increasing amounts of gamma cyclodextrin indicating formation of 1:1 stoichiometric and higher order inclusion complexes

Targeted reversion of induced pluripotent stem cells from patients with human cleidocranial dysplasia improves bone regeneration in a rat calvarial bone defect model

BackgroundRunt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2) haploinsufficiency causes cleidocranial dysplasia (CCD) which is characterized by supernumerary teeth, short stature, clavicular dysplasia, and osteoporosis. At present, as a therapeutic strategy for osteoporosis, mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation therapy is performed in addition to drug therapy. However, MSC-based therapy for osteoporosis in CCD patients is difficult due to a reduction in the ability of MSCs to differentiate into osteoblasts resulting from impaired RUNX2 function. Here, we investigated whether induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) properly differentiate into osteoblasts after repairing the RUNX2 mutation in iPSCs derived from CCD patients to establish normal iPSCs, and whether engraftment of osteoblasts derived from properly reverted iPSCs results in better regeneration in immunodeficient rat calvarial bone defect models.MethodsTwo cases of CCD patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (CCD-iPSCs) were generated using retroviral vectors (OCT3/4, SOX2, KLF4, and c-MYC) or a Sendai virus SeVdp vector (KOSM302L). Reverted iPSCs were established using programmable nucleases, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas-derived RNA-guided endonucleases, to correct mutations in CCD-iPSCs. The mRNA expressions of osteoblast-specific markers were analyzed using quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. iPSCs-derived osteoblasts were transplanted into rat calvarial bone defects, and bone regeneration was evaluated using microcomputed tomography analysis and histological analysis.ResultsMutation analysis showed that both contained nonsense mutations: one at the very beginning of exon 1 and the other at the initial position of the nuclear matrix-targeting signal. The osteoblasts derived from CCD-iPSCs (CCD-OBs) expressed low levels of several osteoblast differentiation markers, and transplantation of these osteoblasts into calvarial bone defects created in rats with severe combined immunodeficiency showed poor regeneration. However, reverted iPSCs improved the abnormal osteoblast differentiation which resulted in much better engraftment into the rat calvarial bone defect.ConclusionsTaken together, these results demonstrate that patient-specific iPSC technology can not only provide a useful disease model to elucidate the role of RUNX2 in osteoblastic differentiation but also raises the tantalizing prospect that reverted iPSCs might provide a practical medical treatment for CCD

Eliminating the Reverse ISC Bottleneck of TADF Through Excited State Engineering and Environment‐Tuning Toward State Resonance Leading to Mono‐Exponential Sub‐µs Decay. High OLED External Quantum Efficiency Confirms Efficient Exciton Harvesting

The electronic structure and photophysics of the recently designed organic direct singlet harvesting (DSH) molecule are explored, in which donor (D) and acceptor (A) are held at distance by two bridges. One of the bridges is functionalized with fluorene. This structure leads to an ultrasmall singlet–triplet energy gap of ∆E (S1−T1) ≈ 10 cm−1 (≈1 meV) between the charge transfer states 1,3CT and shows an energetically close-lying 3ππ* state localized on fluorene. Dielectric constant variation of the environment leads to state crossing of 3ππ* and 1,3CT near ε = 2.38 (toluene), as confirmed through time-dependent density functional theory (DFT) and state-specific DFT/polarizable continuum model excited-state calculations. Transient absorption (TA) and time-resolved luminescence in the femtosecond to microsecond regimes show rates of intersystem crossing (ISC) and reverse ISC (rISC) of >109 s–1. Thus, a strictly mono-exponential short-lived photo-luminescence decay (431 ns) is observed, revealing that rISC is no longer the bottleneck responsible for long thermally activated delayed fluorescence. Ultrafast TA displays a time constant of ≈700 fs, representing the relaxation time of DSH and its solvent environment to the relaxed 1CT state with a molecular dipole moment of ≈40 D. Importantly, OLED devices, emitting sky-blue light and showing high external quantum efficiency of 19%, confirm that singlet and triplet excitons are harvested efficiently

Ultrafast gigantic photo-response in (EDO-TTF)2PF6 initiated by 10-fs laser pulses

We photo-exited a charge-ordered organic salt (EDO-TTF)2PF6 with sub-10-fs optical pulses. The photo-induced metallic phase appeared within 80-fs after pumping, characterized by large changes in reflectivity (DELTA R/R~0.8) followed by strong coherent phonon modulatio