Evaluating Finishing Pig Growth During Summer and Winter in Bedded Hoop and confinement Buildings

Finishing pig growth in hoop and confinement buildings during summer and winter was evaluated using serial ultrasound measurements of backfat (BF) thickness, loin muscle area (LMA), and serial weighing. Pigs (16 to 124 kg) were housed in a hoop building (9.1 × 18.3 m) or mechanically ventilated, totally slotted confinement building. Forty-eight pigs from each building were scanned and weighed every 14 d during the last 56 d before market. In summer, BF accretion rates were greater for hoop pigs than confinement pigs 80 to 90 kg (P \u3c 0.05), but did not differ 95 to 115 kg. In winter, BF accretion rates were similar 80 to 105 kg, but hoop pigs had less BF accretion 110 and 115 kg (P \u3c 0.05). In summer, LMA accretion rates were similar 80, 85, and 100 to 115 kg, but were less for hoop pigs 90 and 95 kg (P \u3c 0.001). In winter, the hoop pigs had greater LMA accretion rates 80 to 115 kg (P \u3c 0.05). In summer, bodyweight gain was similar 80 to 95 kg, and was greater for hoop pigs 100 to 115 kg (P \u3c 0.05). In winter, bodyweight gain was similar 100 to 115 kg, but was less for hoop pigs 80 to 95 kg (P \u3c 0.05). Finishing pig growth is dependent on thermal environment. Hoop-reared pigs (particularly in winter) may compensate for an early lag with faster muscle growth and slower fat deposition later in finishing

Plasma lysophosphatidylcholine levels are reduced in obesity and type 2 diabetes

BACKGROUND: Obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) are associated with increased circulating free fatty acids and triacylglycerols. However, very little is known about specific molecular lipid species associated with these diseases. In order to gain further insight into this, we performed plasma lipidomic analysis in a rodent model of obesity and insulin resistance as well as in lean, obese and obese individuals with T2DM. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Lipidomic analysis using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry revealed marked changes in the plasma of 12 week high fat fed mice. Although a number of triacylglycerol and diacylglycerol species were elevated along with of a number of sphingolipids, a particularly interesting finding was the high fat diet (HFD)-induced reduction in lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) levels. As liver, skeletal muscle and adipose tissue play an important role in metabolism, we next determined whether the HFD altered LPCs in these tissues. In contrast to our findings in plasma, only very modest changes in tissue LPCs were noted. To determine when the change in plasma LPCs occurred in response to the HFD, mice were studied after 1, 3 and 6 weeks of HFD. The HFD caused rapid alterations in plasma LPCs with most changes occurring within the first week. Consistent with our rodent model, data from our small human cohort showed a reduction in a number of LPC species in obese and obese individuals with T2DM. Interestingly, no differences were found between the obese otherwise healthy individuals and the obese T2DM patients. CONCLUSION: Irrespective of species, our lipidomic profiling revealed a generalized decrease in circulating LPC species in states of obesity. Moreover, our data indicate that diet and adiposity, rather than insulin resistance or diabetes per se, play an important role in altering the plasma LPC profile

Plasma sphingosine-1-phosphate is elevated in obesity

Background: Dysfunctional lipid metabolism is a hallmark of obesity and insulin resistance and a risk factor for various cardiovascular and metabolic complications. In addition to the well known increase in plasma triglycerides and free fatty acids, recent work in humans and rodents has shown that obesity is associated with elevations in the bioactive class of sphingolipids known as ceramides. However, in obesity little is known about the plasma concentrations of sphinogsine-1-phosphate (S1P), the breakdown product of ceramide, which is an important signaling molecule in mammalian biology. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the impact of obesity on circulating S1P concentration and its relationship with markers of glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity. Methodology/Principal Findings: Plasma S1P levels were determined in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced and genetically obese (ob/ob) mice along with obese humans. Circulating S1P was elevated in both obese mouse models and in obese humans compared with lean healthy controls. Furthermore, in humans, plasma S1P positively correlated with total body fat percentage, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, HbA1c (%), total and LDL cholesterol. In addition, fasting increased plasma S1P levels in lean healthy mice. Conclusion: We show that elevations in plasma S1P are a feature of both human and rodent obesity and correlate with metabolic abnormalities such as adiposity and insulin resistance

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Evaluating Finishing Pig Growth During Summer and Winter in Bedded Hoop and confinement Buildings

Finishing pig growth in hoop and confinement buildings during summer and winter was evaluated using serial ultrasound measurements of backfat (BF) thickness, loin muscle area (LMA), and serial weighing. Pigs (16 to 124 kg) were housed in a hoop building (9.1 × 18.3 m) or mechanically ventilated, totally slotted confinement building. Forty-eight pigs from each building were scanned and weighed every 14 d during the last 56 d before market. In summer, BF accretion rates were greater for hoop pigs than confinement pigs 80 to 90 kg (P This article is from Applied Engineering in Agriculture 24, no. 1 (2008): 79–85.</p