Welfare Assessment in Pigs Using the Salivary Proteome.

Identifying the potential presence of stress at the pig farm is fundamental since it affects pig welfare. As a result, a reliable and straightforward tool to monitor stress could record the welfare status of the animals. Although numerous methods to assess the welfare of pigs have been developed in the past, no gold standard has been established yet.

Osteology of the Hamadryas Baboon ().

Besides living as a free-ranging primate in the horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, the hamadryas baboon has an important place in zoos and can be found in biomedical research centers worldwide. To be valuable as a non-human primate laboratory model for man, its anatomy should be portrayed in detail, allowing for the correct interpretation and translation of obtained research results. Reviewing the literature on the use of the baboon in biomedical research revealed that very limited anatomical works on this species are available.

Endothelial autophagy is not required for liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy in mice with fatty liver.

Background & Aims: Patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have impaired liver regeneration. Liver endothelial cells play a key role in liver regeneration. In non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), liver endothelial cells display a defect in autophagy, contributing to NASH progression.

Chronic exposure to multiple stressors alters the salivary proteome of piglets.

Monitoring chronic stress in pigs is not only essential in view of animal welfare but is also important for the farmer, given that stress influences the zootechnical performance of the pigs and increases their susceptibility to infectious diseases. To investigate the use of saliva as a non-invasive, objective chronic stress monitoring tool, twenty-four 4-day-old piglets were transferred to artificial brooders. At the age of 7 days, they were assigned to either the control or the stressed group and reared for three weeks.

Topographical Anatomy of the Rhesus Monkey ()-Part II: Pelvic Limb.

The rhesus monkey () is a widely used model in biomedical research because its anatomy and physiology bear many similarities to those of humans. Extensive knowledge of the anatomy of this nonhuman primate species is not only required for the correct interpretation of obtained research data but also valuable for the welfare of captive individuals housed in, e.g.

Topographical Anatomy of the Rhesus Monkey ()-Part I: Thoracic Limb.

Since the rhesus monkey () is genetically closely related to man, it is generally accepted that its anatomy and physiology are largely similar to that of humans. Consequently, this non-human primate is most commonly used as a model in biomedical research. Not only the validation of the obtained research data, but also the welfare of the captive rhesus monkeys are subject to thorough anatomical knowledge of this species.

Vasoconstrictor antagonism improves functional and structural vascular alterations and liver damage in rats with early NAFLD.

Background & Aims: Intrahepatic vascular resistance is increased in early non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), potentially leading to tissue hypoxia and triggering disease progression. Hepatic vascular hyperreactivity to vasoconstrictors has been identified as an underlying mechanism. This study investigates vasoconstrictive agonism and antagonism in 2 models of early NAFLD and in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

Slc2a10 knock-out mice deficient in ascorbic acid synthesis recapitulate aspects of arterial tortuosity syndrome and display mitochondrial respiration defects.

Arterial tortuosity syndrome (ATS) is a recessively inherited connective tissue disorder, mainly characterized by tortuosity and aneurysm formation of the major arteries. ATS is caused by loss-of-function mutations in SLC2A10, encoding the facilitative glucose transporter GLUT10. Former studies implicated GLUT10 in the transport of dehydroascorbic acid, the oxidized form of ascorbic acid (AA).

Corrosion casting in anatomy: Visualizing the architecture of hollow structures and surface details.

Corrosion casting is the technique by which a solid, negative replica is created from a hollow anatomical structure and liberated from its surrounding tissues. For centuries, different types of hardening substances have been developed to create such casts, but nowadays, thermosetting polymers are mostly used as casting medium. Although the principle and initial set-up are relatively easy, producing high-quality casts that serve their intended purpose can be quite challenging.

On the characterisation of the porcine gland-specific salivary proteome.

To expand the knowledge on the porcine salivary proteome, secretions from the three major salivary glands were collected from anaesthetised piglets. Pilocarpine and isoproterenol were simultaneously injected intraperitoneally to increase the volume and protein concentration of the saliva, respectively. The protein composition and relative protein-specific abundance of saliva secreted by the parotid gland and by the mandibular and monostomatic sublingual gland, were determined using iTRAQ.

The porcine tonsils and Peyer's patches: A stereological morphometric analysis in conventionally and artificially reared piglets.

Selection for prolificacy in modern pig farming has resulted in increasing litter sizes. Since rearing large litters is challenging, artificial rearing of piglets with a milk replacer is an alternative strategy. It is hypothesized that the development of the piglets' mucosa-associated lymphoid tissues (MALT) is affected by these artificial conditions.

Angiopoietin-2 Promotes Pathological Angiogenesis and Is a Therapeutic Target in Murine Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

Angiogenesis contributes to the development of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and promotes inflammation, fibrosis, and progression to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) is a key regulator of angiogenesis. We aimed to investigate the role of Ang-2 and its potential as a therapeutic target in NASH using human samples, in vivo mouse models, and in vitro assays.

UPLC/MS MS data of testosterone metabolites in human and zebrafish liver microsomes and whole zebrafish larval microsomes.

This article represents data regarding a study published in Toxicology in vitro entitled " in vitro CYP-mediated drug metabolism in the zebrafish (embryo) using human reference compounds" (Saad et al., 2017) [1]. Data were acquired with ultra-performance liquid chromatography - accurate mass mass spectrometry (UPLC-amMS).

Placental growth factor inhibition targets pulmonary angiogenesis and represents a therapy for hepatopulmonary syndrome in mice.

Unlabelled: Hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) is a severe complication of cirrhosis with increased risk of mortality. Pulmonary microvascular alterations are key features of HPS; but underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood, and studies on HPS are limited to rats. Placental growth factor (PlGF), a proangiogenic molecule that is selectively involved in pathological angiogenesis, may play an important role in HPS development; however, its role has never been investigated.

In vitro CYP-mediated drug metabolism in the zebrafish (embryo) using human reference compounds.

The increasing use of zebrafish embryos as an alternative model for toxicological and pharmacological studies necessitates a better understanding of xenobiotic biotransformation in this species. As cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYPs) play an essential role in this process, in vitro drug metabolism of four human CYP-specific substrates, i.e.

Artificial rearing influences the morphology, permeability and redox state of the gastrointestinal tract of low and normal birth weight piglets.

Background: In this study the physiological implications of artificial rearing were investigated. Low (LBW) and normal birth weight (NBW) piglets were compared as they might react differently to stressors caused by artificial rearing. In total, 42 pairs of LBW and NBW piglets from 16 litters suckled the sow until d19 of age or were artificially reared starting at d3 until d19 of age.

In Vitro Biotransformation of Two Human CYP3A Probe Substrates and Their Inhibition during Early Zebrafish Development.

At present, the zebrafish embryo is increasingly used as an alternative animal model to screen for developmental toxicity after exposure to xenobiotics. Since zebrafish embryos depend on their own drug-metabolizing capacity, knowledge of their intrinsic biotransformation is pivotal in order to correctly interpret the outcome of teratogenicity assays. Therefore, the aim of this in vitro study was to assess the activity of cytochrome P450 (CYP)-a group of drug-metabolizing enzymes-in microsomes from whole zebrafish embryos (ZEM) of 5, 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 h post-fertilization (hpf) by means of a mammalian CYP substrate, i.

In vitro Phase I- and Phase II-Drug Metabolism in The Liver of Juvenile and Adult Göttingen Minipigs.

Purpose: In view of pediatric drug development, juvenile animal studies are gaining importance. However, data on drug metabolizing capacities of juvenile animals are scarce, especially in non-rodent species. Therefore, we aimed to characterize the in vitro biotransformation of four human CYP450 substrates and one UGT substrate in the livers of developing Göttingen minipigs.

In Vitro Investigation of Six Antioxidants for Pig Diets.

Oxidative stress in the small intestinal epithelium can lead to barrier malfunction. In this study, the effect of rosmarinic acid (RA), quercetin (Que), gallic acid (GA), lipoic acid (LA), ethoxyquin (ETQ) and Se-methionine (SeMet) pre-treatments using 2 mM Trolox as a control on the viability and the generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (iROS) of oxidatively (H₂O₂) stressed intestinal porcine epithelial cells (IPEC-J2) was investigated. A neutral red assay showed that RA (50-400 µM), Que (12.

In vitro CYP1A activity in the zebrafish: temporal but low metabolite levels during organogenesis and lack of gender differences in the adult stage.

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is increasingly used as a screening model for acute, chronic and developmental toxicity. More specifically, the embryo is currently investigated as a replacement of in vivo developmental toxicity studies, although its biotransformation capacity remains a point of debate. As the cytochrome P450 1 (CYP1) family plays an important role in the biotransformation of several pollutants and drugs, a quantitative in vitro protocol was refined to assess gender- and age-related CYP1A activity in the zebrafish using the ethoxyresorufin-o-deethylase (EROD) assay.

Xenobiotic metabolism in the zebrafish: a review of the spatiotemporal distribution, modulation and activity of Cytochrome P450 families 1 to 3.

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) has been increasingly explored in pharmaceutical research as a promising alternative model for toxicological screens. This necessitates a thorough knowledge on the biotransformation processes for a correct interpretation of pharmacological and toxicological data. Physiologically, cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes, specifically CYP families 1-3, play a pivotal role in drug metabolism.

Organ data from the developing Göttingen minipig: first steps towards a juvenile PBPK model.

The Göttingen minipig is the most commonly used pig breed in preclinical drug development in Europe and has recently also been explored for physiologically based pharmacokinetic modelling. To develop such a model, not only physiological data from adult animals but also data from juvenile animals are required, especially when using this model for paediatric drug development. Therefore, the aim of our study was to document body and organ weights (brain, heart, lungs, liver, gastrointestinal tract, spleen and kidney), lengths of the small and large intestines and pH values of the gastrointestinal tract in Göttingen minipigs from the foetal stage until the age of 5 months.

Improving In Vivo High-Resolution CT Imaging of the Tumour Vasculature in Xenograft Mouse Models through Reduction of Motion and Bone-Streak Artefacts.

Introduction: Preclinical in vivo CT is commonly used to visualise vessels at a macroscopic scale. However, it is prone to many artefacts which can degrade the quality of CT images significantly. Although some artefacts can be partially corrected for during image processing, they are best avoided during acquisition.

Incubation at 32.5°C and above causes malformations in the zebrafish embryo.

Zebrafish embryos are increasingly used for developmental toxicity screening of candidate drugs and are occasionally co-incubated with a metabolic activation system at 32°C for 1, 2 or 4h, depending on their developmental stage. As this temperature is higher than the optimal temperature for zebrafish embryonic development (26-28.5°C), we investigated whether continuous incubation of zebrafish embryos from 2.

Age-related Differences in CYP3A Abundance and Activity in the Liver of the Göttingen Minipig.

In view of paediatric drug development, regulatory authorities often request safety studies in juvenile animals, including minipigs. Unfortunately, knowledge on the ontogeny of the biotransformation processes in animal models remains scarce and impedes a correct interpretation of the toxicity findings. CYP3A4 is one of the most important drug-metabolizing enzymes in human beings and shows important similarities with CYP3A in the minipig.