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Background: African swine fever (ASF) is one of the deadliest swine diseases with haemorrhagic symptoms and a high mortality rate. Plant-derived additives are potential antiviral agents against viruses due to their environmental and user-friendly properties., Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of plant-based additives (Phyto.A04 and Phyto.B) compared to an organic acid blend (OAB) in inactivating ASF virus (ASFV) in cell culture and feed., Methods: ASFV-spiked feed was treated with individual or combined additives such as OAB, Phyto.A04 and Phyto.B. The viability of ASFV after treatment of ASFV-spiked feed with additives was then confirmed by both methods, real-time PCR and cell culture., Results: The results of the in vitro test with cell cultures showed that all three additives (OAB, Phyto.A04 and Phyto.B) exerted a strong virucidal effect on ASFV in porcine alveolar macrophage cells. OAB at a concentration of 0.3% reduced the virus concentration from 4.48 log 10 HAD 50 /mL after 1 day of treatment (day 1) to 3.29 log 10 HAD 50 /mL after 3 days of treatment (day 3) and remained undetected after 7 days of treatment (day 7). In Phyto.A04 with 1%, the virus was only detectable on day 1 (3.53 log 10 HAD 50 /mL). Phyto.B with 0.01% and 0.05% both showed good efficacy in completely inhibiting virus presence on days 3 and 7., Conclusions: All additives, OAB, Phyto.A04 and Phyto.B, were able to inactivate ASFV in a dose-dependent manner, as confirmed by cell culture and PCR methods. The combination of additives at different concentrations consistently improved the virucidal results., (© 2024 The Author(s). Veterinary Medicine and Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Elasticity prevents fatigue of tissues that are extensively and repeatedly deformed. Resilin is a resilient and elastic extracellular protein matrix in joints and hinges of insects. For its mechanical properties, Resilin is extensively analysed and applied in biomaterial and biomedical sciences. However, there is only indirect evidence for Resilin distribution and function in an insect. Commonly, the presence of dityrosines that covalently link Resilin protein monomers (Pro-Resilin), which are responsible for its mechanical properties and fluoresce upon UV excitation, has been considered to reflect Resilin incidence., Results: Using a GFP-tagged Resilin version, we directly identify Resilin in pliable regions of the Drosophila body, some of which were not described before. Interestingly, the amounts of dityrosines are not proportional to the amounts of Resilin in different areas of the fly body, arguing that the mechanical properties of Resilin matrices vary according to their need. For a functional analysis of Resilin matrices, applying the RNA interference and Crispr/Cas9 techniques, we generated flies with reduced or eliminated Resilin function, respectively. We find that these flies are flightless but capable of locomotion and viable suggesting that other proteins may partially compensate for Resilin function. Indeed, localizations of the potentially elastic protein Cpr56F and Resilin occasionally coincide., Conclusions: Thus, Resilin-matrices are composite in the way that varying amounts of different elastic proteins and dityrosinylation define material properties. Understanding the biology of Resilin will have an impact on Resilin-based biomaterial and biomedical sciences.

Swim-up is a sperm purification method that is being used daily in andrology labs around the world as a simple step for in vitro sperm selection. This method accumulates the most motile sperm in the upper fraction and leaves sperm with low or no motility in the lower fraction. However, the underlying reasons are not fully understood. In this article, we compare metabolic rate, motility and sperm tail length of bovine sperm cells of the upper and lower fraction. The metabolic assay platform reveals oxygen consumption rates and extracellular acidification rates simultaneously and thereby delivers the metabolic rates in real time. Our study confirms that the upper fraction of bull sperm has not only improved motility compared to the cells in the lower fraction but also shows higher metabolic rates and longer flagella. This pattern was consistent across media of two different levels of viscosity. We conclude that the motility-based separation of the swim-up technique is also reflected in underlying metabolic differences. Metabolic assays could serve as additional or alternative, label-free method to evaluate sperm quality., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Hsp27 belongs to the heat shock protein family and displays chaperone properties in stress conditions by holding unfolded polypeptides, hence avoiding their inclination to aggregate. Hsp27 is often referenced as an anti-cancer therapeutic target, but apart from its well-described ability to interfere with different stresses and apoptotic processes, its role in non-stressed conditions is still not well defined. In the present study we report that three polypeptides (histone deacetylase HDAC6, transcription factor STAT2 and procaspase-3) were degraded in human cancerous cells displaying genetically decreased levels of Hsp27. In addition, these proteins interacted with Hsp27 complexes of different native size. Altogether, these findings suggest that HDAC6, STAT2 and procaspase-3 are client proteins of Hsp27. Hence, in non stressed cancerous cells, the structural organization of Hsp27 appears to be a key parameter in the regulation by this chaperone of the level of specific polypeptides through client-chaperone type of interactions.

Background: More than 12% of all people older than 65 yr have Alzheimer's disease. Because nothing is known about changes in demand of volatile anesthetics in this disease, we determined minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration (MAC) values of isoflurane in young and aged transgenic mice at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (heterozygote APP23 mice with the "Swedish double mutation"). To differentiate between unspecific effects of the transgenic model and specific Alzheimer effects, we additionally evaluated MAC values in mice with the same genetic construct but without the Alzheimer's disease-causing Swedish double mutation (heterozygote APP51/16 mice)., Methods: MAC was determined in 60 mice (10 per group): heterozygote APP23 mice and their wild type littermates at the age of 4 and 18 mo, respectively, and heterozygote APP51/16 mice and their wild type littermates at the age of 18 mo. Anesthesia was induced with isoflurane in oxygen/air. The concentration of inhaled isoflurane varied between 1.0 and 2.0 Vol%, and the motor reaction to toeclamping was recorded. Means of the MAC values were compared with an unpaired t-test., Results: The MAC of 18-mo-old heterozygote APP23 mice was 1.67 +/- 0.09, i.e., 9% larger than the MAC of their wild type littermates (1.53 +/- 0.14; P = 0.020). Heterozygote APP51/16 mice had a lower MAC than their wild type littermates (1.32 +/- 0.14 vs 1.48 +/- 0.13; P = 0.037). All wild type groups and young heterozygote APP23 mice had comparable MAC values., Conclusions: The increased MAC value in aged heterozygote APP23 mice seems to be attributable to changes related to Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Neurocognitive deficits after cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) continue to affect patients' quality of life, and an inflammatory reaction may be one of the contributors. We designed this experiment to study perioperative systemic interleukin-6 (IL-6) concentrations, cerebral expression of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB), and neurocognitive outcome after CPB in young rats. The impact of oxygenator size on these outcomes was also assessed., Methods: Rats were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups: control (n = 7, nonanesthetized), sham-operated rats (n = 10, anesthetized, cannulated, and not connected to CPB), and 2 CPB groups, anesthetized, cannulated, and subjected to 90 min of CPB, using either a small-volume rat oxygenator (CPB/rat oxygenator, n = 10) or a neonate oxygenator (CPB/neonate oxygenator, n = 10). Systemic IL-6 was determined before, at the end of, and 2 h after CPB or at equivalent times. Hippocampal NF-kappaB expression was assessed on postoperative day 21 using immunohistochemistry. Neurocognitive performance was assessed with the modified hole-board test at baseline and for 21 postoperative days., Results: Both CPB groups had increased systemic IL-6 levels compared with sham, with the neonate oxygenator causing a substantially larger increase at 2 h after CPB compared with the rat oxygenator group (CPB/rat oxygenator: 220 pg/mL [16-415]; CPB/neonate oxygenator: 1400 pg/mL [592-5812]) (P < 0.05). Hippocampal NF-kappaB was increased in experimental groups compared with controls (10 +/- 4). CPB resulted in more NF-kappaB-positive neurons (271 +/- 57 CPB/neonate oxygenator and 269 +/- 72 CPB/rat oxygenator) compared with sham operation (173 +/- 24). Neurocognitive and behavioral performances were unaltered and comparable among all groups., Conclusions: Pronounced systemic inflammatory responses to experimental CPB associated with increased hippocampal expression of NF-kappaB were not accompanied by neurocognitive impairment. This suggests that other factors beyond CPB and inflammatory responses might contribute to adverse neurocognitive outcomes after cardiac surgery.

Background: We investigated the effects of 4 h of posttraumatic hyperventilation on neurocognitive performance, motor function, and coordination as well as lesion volume in rats subjected to focal traumatic brain injury., Methods: After a 14-day training period with various neurocognitive tests including hole-board, beam walk, and beam balance, 21 male Sprague-Dawley rats (369 +/- 15 g) were anesthetized with halothane, tracheally intubated, their lungs mechanically ventilated, and subjected to controlled cortical impact (1.75 mm depth, diameter 5 mm, 4 m/s). They were then randomized to either normoventilation (n = 10; PaCO(2) = 38-42 mm Hg) or hyperventilation (n = 11; PaCO(2) = 28-32 mm Hg) and ventilated for 4 h, respectively. Posttraumatic performance in the behavioral and motor tests was evaluated for 20 days. Rats were then decapitated under deep anesthesia, and their brains frozen and sliced to evaluate lesion volume., Results: Hyperventilated animals performed significantly worse in explicit memory tests compared with normoventilated rats over time. Both groups showed deficits in advanced motor function and coordination (evaluated by beam walk and beam balance) initially, with a significantly worse performance of hyperventilated compared with normoventilated animals. However, there was no difference between groups by the end of the study. On Day 20 after injury, lesion volume was significantly larger with hyperventilated (69.7 +/- 13.0 mm(3)) compared with normoventilated animals (48.3 +/- 15.6 mm(3))., Conclusions: Although hyperventilation enhanced histologic damage, there was no long-term adverse neurocognitive effect from 4 h of posttraumatic hyperventilation (PaCO(2) = 28-32 mm Hg) in rats.

At present, more than 35 million people worldwide have Alzheimer's disease (AD). With increasing incidence and a growing number of aged patients undergoing surgery, the relevance of a possible interaction between anesthetics and AD is growing as well. Below, we review in vitro studies investigating the effects of anesthetics on the metabolism of amyloid precursor protein and its metabolite amyloid-β.

Objective: Muscle weakness in septic patients is a serious problem as it complicates and lengthens hospital stays, prolongs rehabilitation and increases costs. We examined the effects of a chronic infection with Escherichia coli on muscle function, muscle mass, and the expression of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (AChRs)., Design and Setting: Prospective, randomized animal study in an animal laboratory, university hospital., Subjects: Sprague-Dawley rats., Interventions: A catheter was implanted into the external jugular vein of anesthetized rats, and a dose of 3.2x10(8) CFU of E. coli bacteria was injected; the catheter was then sealed and tunneled subcutaneously., Measurements and Results: Animals injected with E. coli bacteria showed a significant decrease in body and muscle mass over the 14-day experimental period. Neuromuscular function was tested by mechanomyography on days 3, 7, and 14 following injection. Tetanic tension decreased over the time course of sepsis, without effecting tetanic fade. Serum levels of acute-phase protein, alpha1-acid glycoprotein, were increased by day 3, and remained significantly higher until day 14. AChRs were quantitated using 125I-labeled bungarotoxin and revealed no differences between groups., Conclusions: Central venous injection of E. coli bacteria induces systemic inflammation evidenced as loss of body weight, muscle mass and increased alpha1-acid glycoprotein levels. The inflammation-induced muscle weakness is due to muscle atrophy and not to upregulated AChRs. This model may prove useful for studying maneuvers to prevent muscle wasting with inflammation.

Two hundred and twenty one roe deer from a xeric inner-alpine valley in Italy were investigated along four yearly cycles for the presence of gastro-intestinal nematodes. Road kills were the main source of this material. Spiculopteragia spiculoptera and Ostertagia leptospicularis, with their "minor" morphs S. mathevossiani and O. kolchida, were the dominant abomasal species, whereas Nematodirus europaeus was the only dominant species in the small intestine; therefore, species composition was typical of this ruminant host. Nematodes whose prime hosts are domestic and wild Bovids (Rupicapra rupicapra) were found occasionally. Abundances were low (407 nematodes in the abomasum, 209 in the small intestine, 6 in the large intestine) in spite of a high population density. Significant differences in worm counts were observed between seasons (abomasal worm counts peaked in late spring and summer whereas N. europaeus was more abundant in winter), years and between sex and age classes (higher abomasal counts in bucks vs does and in adult individuals vs fawns). Associations between worm counts and the condition of roe deer (five parameters taken into account) could not be demonstrated unambiguously. Based on data, the use of abomasal counts as a herd health index in the study area is not recommended.