Hand, foot, and mouth syndrome in an immunocompetent adult: a case report

BACKGROUND: Hand, foot, and mouth syndrome (HFMS) is a common acute illness. It is characterized by mild clinical symptoms including fever, blisters, and sores in the mouth and on the palms and soles following a 3- to 7-day incubation period. This syndrome is rarely seen in adults. CASE PRESENTATION: A 35-year-old male Caucasian patient had a history of multiple episodes of acute pharyngitis, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and occasional abdominal pain. He presented with polyarthralgia in the knees and hands and odynophagia, followed by fever, oral mucosal aphthous lesions, and vesicles on the palms and soles. Three weeks after presentation, he was admitted to the emergency room with acute myocarditis. The in-hospital evaluation revealed positive serology for coxsackie A9 (1:160), positive anti-transglutaminase and anti-gliadin antibodies, normal immunoglobulins, and human immunodeficiency virus negativity. CONCLUSION: We herein describe a case of HFMS that was associated with coxsackie A9 infection complicated by acute myocarditis. Although an association between celiac disease and HFMS has not been described, this patient’s immunologic disruption could have favored the development of infection and ultimately HFMS

Impact of dietary Chlorella vulgaris and carbohydrate-active enzymes incorporation on plasma metabolites and liver lipid composition of broilers

ResearchBackground: Chlorella vulgaris has been proposed as a sustainable green feedstock in poultry nutrition due to its ease of cultivation, minimal environmental impact and balanced nutritional composition. However, the majority of studies documents the use of C. vulgaris as a dietary supplement in broilers instead of a feed ingredient. To the best of our knowledge, no report has shown the effect of a high-level incorporation (>2 % in the diet) of C. vulgaris on plasma metabolites and hepatic lipid composition of broilers. One hundred and twenty Ross 308 male birds were housed in 40 wired-floor cages and randomly distributed by the following experimental diets at 22 days of age (n = 10) during 15 days: (1) a corn-soybean meal based diet (control); (2) based diet with 10% of C. vulgaris; (3) diet 2 supplemented with 0.005% Rovabio® Excel AP; and (4) diet 2 supplemented with 0.01% of a pre-selected four-CAZyme mixture. Results: The inclusion of C. vulgaris at 10% in the diet, regardless of the presence of exogenous CAZymes, changed plasma metabolites but did not compromise broilers growth. Plasma total lipids increased in broilers fed C. vulgaris combined with the two feed CAZymes (p < 0.001) compared with the control diet. Moreover, the supplementation with Rovabio® increased total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol, while the addition of the four-CAZyme mixture increased triacylglycerols, VLDL-cholesterol and ALP activity. In opposition, HDL-cholesterol levels decreased in broilers fed microalga alone (p = 0.002). Regarding hepatic composition, the inclusion of C. vulgaris in broiler diets, individually or combined with exogenous CAZymes, had a minor effect on fatty acids but improved the n-6/n-3 ratio and total carotenoids. Conclusions: In summary, the inclusion of a high level (10%) of C. vulgaris in broiler´s diet, regardless of the presence of exogenous CAZymes, improved hepatic antioxidant composition and did not impair broiler’s performance. In addition, the feed supplementation with CAZymes increased broilers lipemia. Therefore, dietary C. vulgaris at this incorporation level seems to be safe for animal health and do not compromise performance traits, with no need of CAZymes supplementationinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Dietary Arthrospira platensis improves systemic antioxidant potential and changes plasma lipids without affecting related hepatic metabolic pathways in post-weaned piglets

Research ArticleBackground: The ability of a high level of dietary Arthrospira platensis, individually or in combination with two exogenous carbohydrate-degrading enzymes (lysozyme and Rovabio®), to improve systemic antioxidant potential and hepatic lipid metabolism was tested in piglets. Forty male post-weaned piglets, sons of Large White × Landrace sows crossed with Pietrain boars, were allocated into 4 groups (n = 10) and fed during 28 days one of the following diets: 1) a control basal diet (cereal and soybean meal); 2) a basal diet with 10% of A. platensis (AP); 3) the AP diet supplemented with 0.005% of Rovabio® (AP + R); 4) the AP diet supplemented with 0.01% of lysozyme (AP + L). Results: Arthrospira platensis decreased BW gain of piglets, regardless the addition of feed enzymes. The majority of plasma metabolites were affected by diets. A. platensis increased total lipids, total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol, without changing hepatic fatty acid content or modulating, in an expressive manner, the transcriptional profile of lipid sensitive mediators. The antioxidant potential in general, and total carotenoids in particular, were improved by the microalga, regardless lysozyme or Rovabio®. Conclusions: Summing up, A. platensis, individually and combined with feed enzymes, impacts negatively on piglets’ growth but improves the systemic antioxidant potential and changes plasma lipids with a minor modulation on related hepatic metabolic pathwaysinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Arginine supplementation modulates pig plasma lipids, but not hepatic fatty acids, depending on dietary protein level with or without leucine

Abstract Background In the present study, the effect of arginine and leucine supplementation, and dietary protein level, were investigated in commercial crossbred pigs to clarify their individual or combined impact on plasma metabolites, hepatic fatty acid composition and mRNA levels of lipid sensitive factors. The experiment was conducted on fifty-four entire male pigs (Duroc × Pietrain × Large White × Landrace crossbred) from 59 to 92 kg of live weight. Each pig was randomly assigned to one of six experimental treatments (n = 9). The treatments followed a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement, providing two levels of arginine supplementation (0 vs. 1%) and three levels of basal diet (normal protein diet, NPD; reduced protein diet, RPD; reduced protein diet with 2% of leucine, RPDL). Results Significant interactions between arginine supplementation and protein level were observed across plasma lipids. While dietary arginine increased total lipids, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, VLDL-cholesterol and triacylglycerols in NPD, the inverse effect was observed in RPD. Overall, dietary treatments had a minor impact on hepatic fatty acid composition. RPD increased 18:1c9 fatty acid while the combination of leucine and RPD reduced 18:0 fatty acid. Arginine supplementation increased the gene expression of FABP1, which contributes for triacylglycerols synthesis without affecting hepatic fatty acids content. RPD, with or without leucine addition, upregulated the lipogenic gene CEBPA but downregulated the fat oxidation gene LPIN1. Conclusions Arginine supplementation was responsible for a modulated effect on plasma lipids, which is dependent on dietary protein level. It consistently increased lipaemia in NPD, while reducing the correspondent metabolites in RPD. In contrast, arginine had no major impact, neither on hepatic fatty acids content nor on fatty acid composition. Likewise, leucine supplementation of RPD, regardless the presence of arginine, promoted no changes on total fatty acids in the liver. Ultimately, arginine, leucine and dietary protein reduction seem to be unrelated with fatty liver development