LC-MS/MS analyses of bile and histological analyses of thymus as diagnostic tools to detect low dose dexamethasone illicit treatment in beef cattle at slaughterhouse.

Dexamethasone (DXM) is a synthetic adrenal corticosteroid with anti-inflammatory properties used for therapeutic purposes in a wide range of pathologies and of the most common corticosteroids used for anabolic purposes in beef cattle. It is proven that DXM induces histological changes, traceable as increasing fatty infiltration of the thymus associated with a concurrent decrease of the cortex-medulla ratio, so the histological examination of the thymus gland has been established as an indirect morphological biomarker. The aim of the present study is to compare thymus histology and DXM concentrations in biological fluids collected at slaughterhouse after 1 month of DXM treatment.

The HDAC-Associated Sin3B Protein Represses DREAM Complex Targets and Cooperates with APC/C to Promote Quiescence.

The mammalian DREAM complex is responsible for the transcriptional repression of hundreds of cell-cycle-related genes in quiescence. How the DREAM complex recruits chromatin-modifying entities to aid in its repression remains unknown. Using unbiased proteomics analysis, we have uncovered a robust association between the chromatin-associated Sin3B protein and the DREAM complex.

Serum protein concentration and protein fractions in clinically healthy Lacaune and Sarda sheep using agarose gel electrophoresis.

Background: Serum protein electrophoresis (SPE) provides useful information in ruminants, but reference intervals (RI) are different from other species. There have been no reports of SPE RI for dairy sheep using agarose gel electrophoresis (AGE).

Objective: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the serum concentration of total protein (TP) and protein fractions determined by AGE in mid-lactating dairy ewes, to establish RI, and to assess potential differences between Lacaune (L) and Sarda (S) sheep breeds.