Recombinant human interferon-α14 for the treatment of canine allergic pruritic disease in eight dogs.

Background: Allergic pruritic diseases are increasingly common in dogs. This group of conditions hampers life quality as pruritus progressively interferes with normal behaviours. Therefore, new treatment modalities for canine allergic pruritic diseases are necessary.

Assessment of the antigen-specific antibody response induced by mucosal administration of a GnRH conjugate entrapped in lipid nanoparticles.

Unlabelled: Vaccines administered parenterally have been developed against gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) for anti-fertility and anti-cancer purposes. The aim of this study was to demonstrate whether mucosal delivery using GnRH immunogens entrapped in lipid nanoparticles (LNP) could induce anti-GnRH antibody titers. Immunogens consisting of KLH (keyhole limpet hemocyanin) conjugated to either GnRH-I or GnRH-III analogues were entrapped in LNP.

Optimisation of a lipid based oral delivery system containing A/Panama influenza haemagglutinin.

Vaccine antigens administered by the oral route are often degraded by gastric secretions during gastrointestinal transit. This necessitates larger and more frequent doses of antigen for vaccination. A delivery system, which overcomes this, is a lipid vesicle containing bile salts (bilosome), which prevents antigen degradation and enhances mucosal penetration.

Immune responses to a GnRH-based anti-fertility immunogen, induced by different adjuvants and subsequent effect on vaccine efficacy.

A modified GnRH peptide (CHWSYGLRPG-NH2) was conjugated to tetanus toxoid and formulated with different adjuvants (non-ionic surfactant vesicles, aluminium hydroxide, Quil A, PLGA (poly(lactide-co-glycolide)/triacetin), and Quil A/PLGA). A comparison of the anti-fertility efficacy of the formulations was made by examining specific antibody levels, antibody subclasses, endocrine ablation and gonadal atrophy. The production of IgG2b antibody provided the best correlation for castration.

Cytotoxic diterpenes from Scoparia dulcis.

Four new labdane-derived diterpenes, iso-dulcinol (1), 4-epi-scopadulcic acid B (2), dulcidiol (4), and scopanolal (5), together with two known diterpenes, dulcinol/scopadulciol (3) and scopadiol (6), were isolated from the aerial parts of Scoparia dulcis. The structures were determined by extensive NMR studies. The crude extracts as well as the pure diterpenes showed cytotoxicity against a panel of six human stomach cancer cell lines.

Use of a highly specific monoclonal antibody against the central variable amino acid sequence of mammalian gonadotropin releasing hormone to evaluate GnRH-I tissue distribution compared with GnRH-I binding sites in adult male rats.

Problem: Recent evidence shows the existence of numerous isoforms of gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH), with high sequence homology and a core variable region. This raises the issue that previous GnRH distribution studies may have identified a variety of isoforms. This investigation was carried out to confirm the distribution and binding activity of GnRH-I only.

Part II: influence of dimerization of a modified GnRH-I peptide sequence on a male antifertility vaccine.

Problem: In the previous paper, we described how the tetanus toxoid (TT) conjugated monomer, CHWSYGLRPG-NH2, induced high neutralizing antibody titres, which resulted in decreased levels of testosterone and subsequent antifertility. However, its counterpart HWSYGLRPGC, induced low avidity antibody titres. We wanted to know whether peptide dimerization would improve the efficacy of both peptides.

Influence of carrier protein conjugation site and terminal modification of a GnRH-I peptide sequence in the development of a highly specific anti-fertility vaccine. Part I.

Problem: We previously immunoneutralized gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GnRH), using an analogue of GnRH (des-1 GnRH-I), conjugated to tetanus toxoid via a carbodiimide reaction. The castration effect on the reproductive system was not consistent in all the treated animals. Therefore, we examined the possibility that conjugation to the carrier protein via the N- or C-terminal could have an effect on efficacy.

In vitro susceptibilities of Shigella flexneri and Streptococcus pyogenes to inner gel of Aloe barbadensis Miller.

Aloe barbadensis Miller (or Aloe vera) has widespread use in health products, and despite numerous reports on the whole plant, little work has been performed on the inner gel, which has been used extensively in these products. This report describes the in vitro susceptibilities of two bacteria to this component.