Animal unit hygienic conditions influence mouse intestinal microbiota and contribute to T-cell-mediated colitis.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of chronic inflammatory disorders of the gastrointestinal tract with worldwide increasing incidence. Recent studies indicate that certain species of intestinal bacteria are strongly associated with IBD. Helper T lymphocytes are not only the key players in mediating host defense against a wide variety of pathogens but also contribute to pathogenesis of many immune-related diseases.

A real-time health notification system aimed at enhancing the interaction between animal care staff and researchers promotes animal welfare.

Regardless of the microbiological status of an animal facility, research animals may experience health problems, leading to pain, suffering and distress. Simple and efficient tools are needed to collect data systematically, allowing researchers to react and resolve animals' health issues. We have developed a real-time notification method for recording clinical observations, which caretakers can input into the ELLI record-keeping system, accompanied by a picture or video.

Induction of Functional Inhibitory IgG Antibodies by a Hypoallergenic Bet v 1 Variant.

Allergic sensitization to the major allergen Bet v 1 represents the dominating factor inducing a vast variety of allergic symptoms in birch pollen allergic patients worldwide, including the pollen food allergy syndrome. In order to overcome the huge socio-economic burden associated with allergic diseases, allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) as a curative strategy to manage the disease was introduced. Still, many hurdles related to this treatment exist making AIT not the patients' first choice.

Safety Study of Single-Dose Intravenously Administered DOTA-Siglec-9 Peptide in Sprague Dawley Rats.

The peptide-based radioactive compound [Ga]Ga-DOTA-Siglec-9 is a novel agent for imaging of inflammation with positron emission tomography. The drug target of [Ga]Ga-DOTA-Siglec-9 is vascular adhesion protein 1. Previous studies have obtained promising results with [Ga]Ga-DOTA-Siglec-9 in experimental animals.

Resembling breast milk: influence of polyamine-supplemented formula on neonatal BALB/cOlaHsd mouse microbiota.

Infant microbiota is influenced by numerous factors, such as delivery mode, environment, prematurity and diet (breast milk or formula). In addition to its nutritional value, breast milk contains bioactive substances that drive microbial colonisation and support immune system development, which are usually not present in infant formulas. Among these substances, polyamines have been described to be essential for intestinal and immune functions in newborns.

Infant formula supplemented with polyamines alters the intestinal microbiota in neonatal BALB/cOlaHsd mice.

Polyamines play a critical role in the development of intestinal and immune systems during the infant breastfeeding period, but the effect of polyamines on the microbiota has not been reported. The aim of our study was to characterize the impact on the colonization pattern in neonatal BALB/cOlaHsd mice after supplementing an infant formula (IF) with a mixture of putrescine (PUT), spermidine (SPD) and spermine (SPM). A total of 48 pups (14 days old) were randomly assigned to 4-day intervention groups as follows: breast-fed (unweaned) pups (n=12); weaned pups (n=12) fed an infant formula (IF); weaned pups (n=12) fed an IF enriched with a low concentration of PUT, SPD and SPM (2.