Conjunctival Inflammation in Thrombospondin-1 Deficient Mouse Model of Sjögren’s Syndrome

Lacrimal gland inflammation during autoimmune Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) leads to ocular surface inflammation – Keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS). This condition afflicts both the cornea and conjunctiva that form the ocular surface. Thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) deficiency in mice results in lacrimal gland and corneal inflammation that resembles the human disease. In this study we report conjunctival pathology in this mouse model of SS. We found that TSP-1 null mice develop inflammation in the conjunctiva and associated loss of goblet cell function similar to that seen in patients with SS. Increased expression of Th1 (IFN-γ, TNF-α) and Th17 (IL-6, IL-17A) inflammatory cytokines and related transcription factors (Tbet and RORγt) were detected in TSP-1 null conjunctiva as well as their draining lymph nodes (LNs). The conjunctival inflammation was also accompanied by an increase in local lymphatic vessels. Interestingly, migration of antigen-bearing dendritic cells (DCs) from the ocular surface to the LNs was dependent on the TSP-1 available in the tissue. These results not only reveal potential immunopathogenic mechanisms underlying KCS in SS but also highlight the therapeutic potential of TSP-1

Effect of xylanase and cellulase supplementation on growth performance, volatile fatty acids and caecal bacteria of broiler chickens fed with palm kernel meal-based diet

In this study, the effect of xylanase and cellulase supplementation in palm kernel meal (PKM) based diet on growth performance, volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and the caecal bacterial populations of broiler chickens were investigated. Seventy five day old male Cobb broiler chicks were randomly allocated to three dietary treatment groups receiving T1 (20% PKM-based diet without enzyme), T2 (20% PKM-based diet with xylanase) and T3 (20% PKM-based diet with cellulase). Each enzyme was supplemented at an amount of 200U/kg of feed. Weekly body weight gain and feed intake were recorded. All chickens were slaughtered on day 35 and the caecum content was aseptically collected for VFAs quantification and bacterial enumeration. Supplementation of xylanase and cellulase in PKM diets had different effect on the growth performance, the number of caecal bacterial population and VFAs produced. A significant reduction in the cumulative feed intake of birds fed cellulase-supplemented PKM compared to xylanse-supplemented and unsupplemented PKM diet was observed. However, the final body weights gain and cumulative feed conversion ratio (FCR) were not significantly different between the treatment groups. Determination of VFAs production of the caecal contents demonstrated a significant difference in the production of iso-butyric and n-valeric acid among treatment groups. The number of total viable bacteria, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and coliform in caecal samples were also enumerated. Significant difference was observed in the number of caecal bacteria population between the treatment groups. The effect of xylanase and cellulase on weight gain of broiler chickens was strongly related to the feed intake rather than due to the decrease in the number of pathogenic bacteria in the caeca. Xylanase supplementation was beneficial in enhancing cumulative feed intake, weight gain and FCR of the broiler chickens, but did not entirely reduce the number of pathogenic caecal bacteria. However, cellulase supplementation reduced all parameters observed for growth performance and the number of caecal bacteria

In vitro fermentation profiles of palm kernel meal (PKM)-based diet supplemented with xylanase or cellulase using caecal digesta of broiler chickens as inoculums

In vitro fermentation profiles of palm kernel meal-based diet supplemented with or without xylanase and cellulase were investigated using broiler chickens caecal digesta as inoculum. Caecal digesta from 10 six week old male Cobb 500 broilers was diluted with pre-warmed anaerobic, sterile saline (9g/L NaCl) in a ratio of 1:5, and was used as inoculum. The PKM-based diet together with semi-defined medium and caecal inoculum was incubated in 100 ml glass syringe for 72 hours at 39±5°C. In vitro fermentation kinetics was determined through the in vitro cumulative gas production technique. End products such as ammonia, VFAs, and in vitro dry matter degradability were also quantified. The in vitro study of PKM-based diet supplemented with or without xylanase did not show any different effect on the gas production rate. However, the amount of butyrate production was increased when enzyme was supplemented. Both xylanase and cellulase supplementation in PKM diet had significantly improved (P<0.05) the in vitro dry matter degradability of the PKM compared to unsupplemented PKM diet, which more prominent result shown by xylanase supplementation

Transcriptomics analysis of differentially expressed genes in subcutaneous and perirenal adipose tissue of sheep as affected by their pre- and early postnatal malnutrition histories

Background Early life malnutrition is known to target adipose tissue with varying impact depending on timing of the insult. This study aimed to identify differentially expressed genes in subcutaneous (SUB) and perirenal (PER) adipose tissue of 2.5-years old sheep to elucidate the biology underlying differential impacts of late gestation versus early postnatal malnutrition on functional development of adipose tissues. Adipose tissues were obtained from 37 adult sheep born as twins to dams fed either NORM (fulfilling energy and protein requirements), LOW (50% of NORM) or HIGH (110% of protein and 150% of energy requirements) diets in the last 6-weeks of gestation. From day 3 to 6 months of age, lambs were fed high-carbohydrate-high-fat (HCHF) or moderate low-fat (CONV) diets, and thereafter the same moderate low-fat diet. Results The gene expression profile of SUB in the adult sheep was not affected by the pre- or early postnatal nutrition history. In PER, 993 and 186 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in LOW versus HIGH and NORM, respectively, but no DEG was found between HIGH and NORM. DEGs identified in the mismatched pre- and postnatal nutrition groups LOW-HCHF (101) and HIGH-HCHF (192) were largely downregulated compared to NORM-CONV. Out of 831 DEGs, 595 and 236 were up- and downregulated in HCHF versus CONV, respectively. The functional enrichment analyses revealed that transmembrane (ion) transport activities, motor activities related to cytoskeletal and spermatozoa function (microtubules and the cytoskeletal motor protein, dynein), and responsiveness to the (micro) environmental extracellular conditions, including endocrine and nervous stimuli were enriched in the DEGs of LOW versus HIGH and NORM. We confirmed that mismatched pre- and postnatal feeding was associated with long-term programming of adipose tissue remodeling and immunity-related pathways. In agreement with phenotypic measurements, early postnatal HCHF feeding targeted pathways involved in kidney cell differentiation, and mismatched LOW-HCHF sheep had specific impairments in cholesterol metabolism pathways. Conclusions Both pre- and postnatal malnutrition differentially programmed (patho-) physiological pathways with implications for adipose functional development associated with metabolic dysfunctions, and PER was a major target

Mukus epidermis Clarias Batrachus merencat pertumbuhan bakteria gram negatif

Mukus epidermis ikan kini telah dikenalpasti sebagai suatu sumber biologi yang kaya dengan pelbagai bahan bioaktif terutamanya peptida antibakteria. Kajian ini dilakukan bagi mengenal pasti potensi mukus epidermis Clarias batrachus (ikan keli kayu) sebagai sumber kepada bahan antibakteria. Sampel mukus dikumpul dari epidermis C. batrachus dan diekstrak menggunakan kaedah pengekstrakan akueus. Ujian penentuan aktiviti antibakteria ekstrak kasar mukus epidermis C. batrachus dilakukan dengan menggunakan kaedah spektrofotometrik. Hasil kajian menunjukkan terdapatnya aktiviti antibakteria oleh ekstrak kasar mukus dengan kepekatan 20 mg/ml terhadap pertumbuhan kedua-dua strain bakteria kajian, iaitu Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 dan Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853. Hasil kajian ini menyokong peranan mukus sebagai salah satu sistem pertahanan badan serta komponennya, iaitu peptida antibakteria sebagai komponen utama dalam sistem pertahanan badan semulajadi. Justeru, penemuan ini boleh dijadikan sebagai salah satu langkah pertama ke arah pembangunan antibiotik kelas baru

Gene coexpression network analysis reveals perirenal adipose tissue as an important target of prenatal malnutrition in sheep

We have previously demonstrated that pre- and early postnatal malnutrition in sheep induced depot- and sex-specific changes in adipose morphological features, metabolic outcomes, and transcriptome in adulthood, with perirenal (PER) as the major target followed by subcutaneous (SUB) adipose tissue. We aimed to identify coexpressed and hub genes in SUB and PER to identify the underlying molecular mechanisms contributing to the early nutritional programming of adipose-related phenotypic outcomes. Transcriptomes of SUB and PER of male and female adult sheep with different pre- and early postnatal nutrition histories were used to construct networks of coexpressed genes likely to be functionally associated with pre- and early postnatal nutrition histories and phenotypic traits using weighted gene coexpression network analysis. The modules from PER showed enrichment of cell cycle regulation, gene expression, transmembrane transport, and metabolic processes associated with both sexes' prenatal nutrition. In SUB (only males), a module of enriched adenosine diphosphate metabolism and development correlated with prenatal nutrition. Sex-specific module enrichments were found in PER, such as chromatin modification in the male network but histone modification and mitochondria- and oxidative phosphorylation-related functions in the female network. These sex-specific modules correlated with prenatal nutrition and adipocyte size distribution patterns. Our results point to PER as a primary target of prenatal malnutrition compared to SUB, which played only a minor role. The prenatal programming of gene expression and cell cycle, potentially through epigenetic modifications, might be underlying mechanisms responsible for observed changes in PER expandability and adipocyte-size distribution patterns in adulthood in both sexes

Differential impacts of late gestational over- and undernutrition on adipose tissue traits and associated visceral obesity risk upon exposure to a postnatal high‐fat diet in adolescent sheep

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Improving nutritional values of palm kernel cake (PKC) as poultry feeds: a review

Palm Kernel Cake (PKC) is a by-product of palm kernel oil extract ion and provides moderate nutrition with approximately 16-18% of crude protein (CP) and 13-20% crude fiber (CF). Usage of PKC is common in ruminant diets, but limited in the non-ruminant diets especially in poultry diets due to the high fiber content of PKC. Numerous works have been conducted to increase the nutritional contents of PKC as one of the measures to reduce and/or eliminate the constraints of utilizing PKC in poultry diets. The method used to achieve this target is either through physical, chemical, biological or combination of these treatments. However, only chemical and biological treatments of PKC seem to improve the nutrient values of PKC. Recent works cite solid-state fermentation (SSF) using fungi to increase the nutrient values of PKC. This method is considered as the most suitable treatment for PKC. Through solid-state cultures of PKC, the concentration of CP has increased while the CF has decreased. Furthermore, this method is considered practical because the whole end product will be utilized for animal feeds. Hence, emphasis should be given to improve nutritional values of PKC in order to reduce feeding cost of poultry

New Permutation Generation Under Exchange Strategy (PGuES)

An exchange based technique for generating permutation is presented in this paper.This strategy involved exchanging two consecutive elements, to generate the starter sets.For list all permutations, the exchange and reversing operations will be employed on these starter sets.The numerical result shows that new method is better than other existing methods

Depot and sex-specific implications for adipose tissue expandability and functional traits in adulthood of late prenatal and early postnatal malnutrition in a precocial sheep model

The aim was to investigate long‐term, tissue and sex‐specific impacts of pre and postnatal malnutrition on expandability and functional traits of different adipose tissues. Twin‐pregnant ewes were fed NORM (~requirements), LOW (50% of NORM) or HIGH (150%/110% of energy/protein) diets the last 6 weeks prepartum (term ~147‐days). Lambs received moderate, low‐fat (CONV) or high‐carbohydrate‐high‐fat (HCHF) diets from 3 days until 6 months of age, and thereafter CONV diet. At 2½ years of age (adulthood), histomorphometric and gene expression patterns were characterized in subcutaneous (SUB), perirenal (PER), mesenteric (MES), and epicardial (EPI) adipose tissues. SUB had sex‐specific (♂<♀) upper‐limits for adipocyte size and cell‐number indices, irrespective of early life nutrition. PER mass and contents of adipocytes were highest in females and HIGH♂, whereas adipocyte cross‐sectional area was lowest in LOW♂. Pre/postnatal nutrition affected gene expression sex‐specifically in SUB + PER, but unrelated to morphological changes. In PER, LOW/LOW♂ were specific targets of gene expression changes. EPI was affected by postnatal nutrition, and HCHF sheep had enlarged adipocytes and upregulated expressions for adipogenic and lipogenic genes. Conclusion: upper‐limits for SUB expandability were markedly lower in males. Major targets for prenatal malnutrition were PER and males. LOW♂ had the lowest PER expandability, whereas HIGH♂ had an adaptive advantage due to increased hypertrophic ability equivalent to females. Fixed expandability in SUB meant PER became a determining factor for MES and ectopic fat deposition, rendering LOW♂ particularly predisposed for obesity‐associated metabolic risks. EPI, in contrast to other tissues, was targeted particularly by early postnatal obesity, resulting in adipocyte hypertrophy in adulthood.publishedVersionUnit Licence Agreemen