Effects of copper-loaded chitosan nanoparticles on intestinal microflora and morphology in weaned piglets.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with copper-loaded chitosan nanoparticles (CNP-Cu) on growth performance, intestinal microflora, and morphology in weaned piglets. A number of 90 weaned piglets (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire), weaned at 21 days with body weight of 7.2 ± 0.

[Effect on factors of energy metabolism in rats skeletal muscle by cold traditional Chinese medicine].

Objective: To investigate the effect of six cold traditional Chinese medicine on the energy metabolism factors in rats skeletal muscle.

Method: The activity of Na(+)-K(+) -ATPase, Ca(2+) -ATPase and succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), the content of muscle glycogen, and the mRNA expression of skeletal muscle uncoupling protein 3 (UCP3) were measured after rats having been administrated with water extracts of Radix Sophorae Flavescentis, Fructus Gardeniae, Cortex Phellodendri, Radix Scutellariae, Rhizoma Coptidis, and Radix Gentianae respectively at the dose of 6.0, 7.

Effect of chromium nanocomposite supplementation on growth hormone pulsatile secretion and mRNA expression in finishing pigs.

The study was conducted to investigate the effect of chromium nanocomposite (CrNano) on growth hormone (GH) pulsatile secretion and pituitary GH mRNA expression in finishing pigs. Fifty-four crossbred pigs (65.57 ± 1.

Efficacy of chromium(III) supplementation on growth, body composition, serum parameters, and tissue chromium in rats.

Chromium(III) is often claimed to have a positive effect on body composition, while the responses in researches with supplementation of different chemical form of chromium are various and inconsistent. We have studied the effects of 6 weeks of treatment with three different forms of chromium (300 mug/kg) as chromium chloride, chromium tripicolinate, and chromium nanocomposite (CrNano) on growth, body composition, serum parameters, and tissue chromium in rats. The supplementation of CrNano significantly increased average daily gain, food efficiency, and lean body mass and decreased fat mass and body fat proportion and serum levels of glucose, urea nitrogen, triglyceride, and insulin.

Acute toxicity of nitrite on tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) at different external chloride concentrations.

Tilapias (Oreochromis niloticus) juveniles (total length 4.9 +/- 0.2 cm and weight 1.

[Cloning and sequence analysis of mrjp1 cDNA from Apis cerana cerana].

A cDNA library was constructed from eight-day-old worker heads of Apis cerana cerana. A probe derived from part of Apis cerana genomic mrjp3 segment was used to screen this library. A total of 120 positive clones of mrjps were screened out from the cDNA library with DIG-probe.

[Effects of activin and follistatin on FSH receptor mRNA expression of cultured Shao duck granulosa cells].

The aim of this study was to investigate the action of activin and follistatin either alone or in combination on FSH receptor mRNA expression. The results showed that activin alone increased FSH receptor mRNA level in the presence or absence of FSH in cultured granulosa cells, and the stimulating effect of activin on FSH receptor level was dose-dependent. This effect of activin was inhibited by FSP treatment which alone had no effect on FSH receptor expression.

[Expression pattern of mRNA for follistatin and inhibin/activin beta B-subunit during follicular and testicular development in duck].

Follistatin and inhibin/activin were closely related glycoprotein hormones. The quantitative competitive RT-PCR was used to investigate the expression of follistatin and inhibin/activin beta B-subunit mRNA in the developing ovarian follicles, immature and mature testes. The results revealed all samples showed the expression of mRNA for the two proteins, and the expression is more abundantly in the small follicles than in the large preovulatory follicles.

[cDNA cloning and mRNA expression pattern in follicles of the mature inhibin alpha subunit from Xianju chicken].

The mature region of Xianju chicken inhibin alpha-subunit was amplified from the total RNA of follicle granulosa cells by RT-PCR using the primer pair designed according to the reported cDNA sequence of chicken inhibin alpha-subunit, and this fragment of alpha-subunit was cloned and sequenced subsequently. The results revealed that the mature alpha-subunit of Xianju chicken was a fragment of 113 amino acids containing one glycosylation site and seven cysteine residues. It was approximately 98% and 61.

[Studies of genetic diversity of Zhejiang native chicken breeds].

A total of 539 bases of mitochondrial DNA D-loop region of five native chicken breeds of Zhejiang province and the white leghorn chicken (as the control) were sequenced by DNA sequencing technique, and the phylogenetic trees of the chicken breeds were constructed. The results showed that 24 variation sites i.e.

[Expression of inhibin alpha and inhibin/activin beta A subunits in the developing follicles of the duck].

The very sensitive quantitative competitive reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to investigate the expression of mRNA for the inhibin alpha and inhibin/activin beta A subunit in the developing ovarian follicles of the duck. The results indicated all follicles showed the expression of mRNA for the inhibin alpha and inhibin/activin beta A. The inhibin alpha subunit mRNA is expressed more abundantly than the beta A subunit in the large preovulatory follicles.