Ovine hippocampal mRNA expression in offspring from dams supplemented with fishmeal and stress challenged in late pregnancy with endotoxin.

Previous research has shown that adulthood disease can be attributed to stress events that occur during gestation. The objective of the present study was to determine whether maternal stress during late pregnancy, using a bacterial endotoxemia model, causes changes in hippocampal mRNA expression of candidate genes related to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA) regulation in sheep. This study also sought to investigate whether maternal diets supplemented with fishmeal (FM) rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) offer protection to the fetus when subjected to maternal endotoxin stress.

Physical Health Problems and Environmental Challenges Influence Balancing Behaviour in Laying Hens.

With rising public concern for animal welfare, many major food chains and restaurants are changing their policies, strictly buying their eggs from non-cage producers. However, with the additional space in these cage-free systems to perform natural behaviours and movements comes the risk of injury. We evaluated the ability to maintain balance in adult laying hens with health problems (footpad dermatitis, keel damage, poor wing feather cover; n = 15) using a series of environmental challenges and compared such abilities with those of healthy birds (n = 5).

Assessment of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae component binding to Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis using bovine epithelial cells.

Background: Since yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and its components are being used for the prevention and treatment of enteric diseases in different species, they may also be useful for preventing Johne's disease, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease of ruminants caused by Mycobacterium avium spp. paratuberculosis (MAP). This study aimed to identify potential yeast derivatives that may be used to help prevent MAP infection.

Fishmeal supplementation during ovine pregnancy and lactation protects against maternal stress-induced programming of the offspring immune system.

Background: Prenatally stressed offspring exhibit increased susceptibility to inflammatory disorders due to in utero programming. Research into the effects of n-3 PUFAs shows promising results for the treatment and prevention of these disorders. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether maternal fishmeal supplementation during pregnancy and lactation protects against programming of the offspring's immune response following simulated maternal infection.

Effect of Penicillium mycotoxins on the cytokine gene expression, reactive oxygen species production, and phagocytosis of bovine macrophage (BoMacs) function.

Bovine macrophages (BoMacs) were exposed to the following Penicillium mycotoxins (PM): citrinin (CIT), ochratoxin A (OTA), patulin (PAT), mycophenolic acid (MPA) and penicillic acid (PA). PM exposure at the concentration that inhibits proliferation by 25% (IC25) differentially for 24h altered the gene expression of various cytokines. OTA significantly induced IL-1α expression (p<0.

In vitro exposure of Penicillium mycotoxins with or without a modified yeast cell wall extract (mYCW) on bovine macrophages (BoMacs).

Penicillium mycotoxins (PMs) are contaminants that are frequently found in grain or crop-based silage for animal feed. Previously, we have characterized the potential immunotoxicity of the following PMs: citrinin (CIT), ochratoxin A (OTA), patulin (PAT), mycophenolic acid (MPA), and penicillic acid (PA) by using a bovine macrophage cell line (BoMacs). In the present study, cell proliferation was used as a bioassay endpoint to evaluate the efficacy of a modified yeast cell wall extract (mYCW), for preventing PM toxicity under various in vitro conditions such as the following: pH (3, 5, 7), incubation time (1, 2, 4, 6 h), percentage of mYCW (0.

Exposure to Penicillium mycotoxins alters gene expression of enzymes involved in the epigenetic regulation of bovine macrophages (BoMacs).

In this study, the modulation of key enzymes involved in epigenetic regulation was assessed in immortalized bovine macrophages (BoMacs) following in vitro exposure to the following Penicillium mycotoxins: citrinin (CIT), ochratoxin A (OTA), patulin (PAT), mycophenolic acid (MPA), penicillic acid (PA), or a combination of one of the above with OTA at the concentration that inhibits BoMac proliferation by 25 % (IC25). Real-time PCR analysis of the genes coding DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), histone demethylases (JMJD-3 and UTX), as well as the class-1 histone deacetylases (HDAC-1, -2, and -3) and histone acetylase (Bmi-1) was assessed following 6 h of mycotoxin exposure. A change in the expression of JMJD-3 as well as HDAC-3, MPA (p = 0.

Phenotypic and genetic parameters of antibody and delayed-type hypersensitivity responses of lactating Holstein cows.

Breeding dairy cattle using diverse phenotypic markers has been suggested as a feasible approach to improve health and decrease the deleterious consequences of infectious diseases. Studies conducted in pigs have demonstrated the value of antibody (AMIR)- and cell (CMIR)-mediated immune responses as quantitative traits for improving immune responsiveness by selecting livestock using estimated breeding values (EBV) for immune response (IR) traits. Studies of cattle have tested the possibility of using IR traits as phenotypic markers to classify cows as high (HR), average (AR) and low (LR) responders.

Immunoglobulin isotypes of lactating Holstein cows classified as high, average, and low type-1 or -2 immune responders.

Infectious diseases are detrimental to the health and economy of the livestock industry. Observations of cattle resistant to natural infections have implied the feasibility of breeding livestock for disease resistance. Studies of pigs selected for antibody (AMIR)- and cell (CMIR)-mediated immune responses have demonstrated increased immune responsiveness suggesting enhanced protection by both type 2 and type 1 responses, respectively.

Endotoxin exposure during late pregnancy alters ovine offspring febrile and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis responsiveness later in life.

A growing number of studies indicate that maternal infection during pregnancy is associated with adverse fetal development and neonatal health. In this study, late gestating sheep (day 135) were challenged systemically with saline (0.9%) or Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide endotoxin (400 ng/kg x 3 consecutive days, or 1.

Antibody to ovalbumin and delayed-type hypersensitivity to Candida albicans and mycobacteria in lactating Holstein cows using Quil A or Freund's complete adjuvant.

Antibody-mediated immune response (AMIR) to ovalbumin (OVA) or hen-egg white lysozyme (HEWL) and cell-mediated immune response (CMIR) such as delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) to mycobacteria have been proposed as quantitative traits for selective breeding to improve animal health. However, DTH to mycobacteria may confound diagnosis of tuberculosis in cattle. Candida albicans, a yeast also known to induce DTH, was tested as an alternative for DTH induction and testing since it is not a target of regulatory diagnostic tests.

Enhanced cutaneous hypersensitivity reactions are associated with ovine high and low cortisol responsiveness to acute endotoxin challenge.

Inbred rodent studies have demonstrated that cutaneous hypersensitivity reactions are exacerbated in stress-susceptible, and attenuated in stress-resistant strains of mice. This physiological response was, in part, mediated by activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis during the acute restraint stress. A study was conducted to examine whether or not cutaneous hypersensitivity reactions are also associated with variable cortisol responsiveness to inflammatory stress in an outbred ovine population.

Assessment of the ovine acute phase response and hepatic gene expression in response to Escherichia coli endotoxin.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a bacterial membrane endotoxin, induces a systemic inflammatory response (IFR) through the activation of blood monocytes and hepatic kupffer cells. These cells secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines, which subsequently activate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA) to release cortisol, an anti-inflammatory hormone that regulates the IFR and subsequent immune response (IR). The intent of this study was to characterize the acute phase response in female sheep challenged systemically with a range of doses of Escherichia coli endotoxin.

A compartmental capillary, convolution integration model to investigate nutrient transport and metabolism in vivo from paired indicator/nutrient dilution curves.

Thirty-three paired indicator/nutrient dilution curves across the mammary glands of four cows were obtained after rapid injection of para-aminohippuric acid (PAH) plus glucose into the external iliac artery. For the measurement of extracellular volume and kinetics of nutrient uptake from indicator dilution curves, several models of solute dispersion and disappearance have been proposed. The Crone-Renkin models of exchange in a single capillary assume negligible washout of solutes from the extracellular space and do not describe entire dilution curves.

Description of glucose transport in isolated bovine mammary epithelial cells by a three-compartment model.

Initial rates of glucose entry into isolated bovine mammary epithelial cells display moderate degrees of asymmetry and cooperative interactions between export and import sites. The present study examined the hypothesis that these kinetic features are due to compartmentalization of intracellular glucose. Net uptake of 3-O-methyl-d-[1-(3)H]glucose (3-OMG) by isolated bovine mammary epithelial cells was measured at 37 degrees C.