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Abstract. Thuy CTT, Ha CD, Long TD, Hai TV, Long ST, Chi TT, Quyen TTH, Yen VH, Khanh NTM, Trung NQ, Trung NT. 2023. Genetic variation within the coat color gene of Melanocortin 1Receptor (MC1R) in Mong Cai pigs of Vietnam. Biodiversitas 24: 1735-1741. Pig (Sus scrofa) is considered one of the major domesticated animals in Vietnam. Various indigenous pig varieties have been successfully developed as the Vietnamese's main daily meat source. However, little information has been reported about the conservation of these indigenous pig varieties. In this study,the Mong Cai, a prized domestic pig breed in Vietnam, is well-characterized by a black saddle on the hips extending to the lower abdomen. As a result of the introduction of exotic breeds and crossbreeding, Mong Cai pigs exhibited various phenotypic characteristics and coat colors. We constructed a database of Melanocortin 1Receptor(MC1R) coding sequences, including the MC1Rsequences of 26 Mong Cai and 20 other pig breeds from Europe and Asia. Subsequently, 12 haplotypes were determined using 18 mutations in 46 individuals. The phylogenetic tree result indicated that the Mong Cai population was distributed into two distinct haplotypes. Moreover, Mong Cai pigs could belong to the Asian clade; however, six Mong Cai individuals formed a distinct cluster. These six individuals carried the nt729G gene, which is prevalent in European pigs. In addition, our study could provide a solid foundation for further investigation of the evolution of indigenous pig varieties in Vietnam.

Genetic improvement with the combined use of conventional breeding and genetic engineering has been reported in most important crop varieties to express human-desired traits, such as resistance to diseases. The appearance of molecular biology in breeding programs in the 1980s enabled knowledge of genetic determinants of phenotypes and marker-assisted selection. Various advanced technologies have been developed that allow accumulation and assessment of large-scale datasets of biological molecules, including DNA sequence (genome), transcripts (transcriptome), proteins (proteome), and metabolites (metabolome). The field of metabolomics is the branch of -omics technology related to the high-throughput identification and quantification of low-molecular-weight molecules (

Psoriasis is a systemic inflammatory disease significantly associated with comorbidities including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Metformin is utilized as a first-line agent for treating T2DM. Although metformin reportedly inhibits mature IL-1β secretion via NLRP3 inflammasome in macrophages of T2DM patients, it remains unclear whether it affects skin inflammation in psoriasis. To test this, we analysed normal human epidermal keratinocytes (NHEKs), a major skin component, stimulated with the key mediators of psoriasis development, TNF-α and IL-17A. This stimulation induced the upregulation of pro-IL-1β mRNA and protein levels, and subsequently mature IL-1β secretion, which was inhibited by metformin treatment. To further reveal the mechanism involved, we examined how metformin treatment affected NLRP3 inflammasome activated by TNF-α and IL-17A stimulation. We found that this treatment downregulated caspase-1 expression, a key mediator of NLRP3 inflammasome. Furthermore, inhibitors of AMPK and SIRT1 abrogated the downregulation of caspase-1 induced by metformin treatment, indicating that AMPK and SIRT1 are essential for the inhibitory effect on NLRP3 inflammasome in NHEKs. As IL-1β stimulation induced upregulation of IL-36γ, CXCL1, CXCL2, CCL20, S100A7, S100A8 and S100A9 mRNA and protein levels in NHEKs, we examined whether metformin treatment affects such gene expression. Metformin treatment inhibited upregulation of IL-36γ, CXCL1, CXCL2, CCL20, S100A7, S100A8 and S100A9 mRNA and protein levels induced by TNF-α and IL-17A stimulation. Finally, we examined whether metformin administration affected psoriasis development in an imiquimod-induced mouse psoriasis model. Oral metformin treatment significantly decreased ear thickness, epidermal hyperplasia and inflammatory cell infiltration. A cytokine profile in the epidermis under metformin treatment showed that IL-1β, Cxcl1, Cxcl2, S100a7, S100a8 and S100A9 mRNA levels were downregulated compared with control levels. These results indicate that metformin administration prevented psoriasis development in vivo. Collectively, our findings suggest that metformin-mediated anti-psoriatic effects on the skin have the potential for treating psoriasis in T2DM patients.

Background: IL-33, one of the IL-1 superfamily cytokines, has been shown to be associated with pruritus and inflammation in atopic dermatitis (AD). Furthermore, IL-33 production derived from keratinocytes reportedly has a crucial role in the development of AD, however, the mechanism of IL-33 expression has not been fully understood. Methods: We analyzed IL-33 expression in normal human epidermal keratinocytes (NHEKs) treated with IL-4. Results: IL-4 induced the upregulation of IL-33 expression in NHEKs. Based on the findings 1) that ovo-like 1 (OVOL1), a susceptible gene of AD, upregulates filaggrin (FLG) and loricrin (LOR) expression in NHEKs and 2) that reduced expression of FLG and LOR leads to production of IL-1 superfamily cytokines, we examined the involvement of OVOL1 in IL-33 expression in NHEKs. Knockdown of OVOL1 induced upregulation of IL-33 expression. Moreover, because Glyteer, an activator of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), reportedly upregulates OVOL1 expression, we examined whether treatment with Glyteer inhibited IL-33 expression in NHEKs. Treatment with Glyteer inhibited IL-4-induced upregulation of IL-33 expression, which was canceled by knockdown of either AHR or OVOL1. Conclusions: Activation of the AHR-OVOL1 axis inhibits IL-4-induced IL-33 expression, which could be beneficial for the treatment of AD.

Despite a positive contribution to economic – social development, the growth of piggeries has caused heavily environmental pollution. Currently, treated wastewater of pig farms unfortunately does not meet the national discharge standards yet. This paper presents some research results on the removing COD, nitrogen and phosphorus in piggery wastewater after anaerobic (biogas) process at pilot scale by the combined system using Phragmites australis, Cyperus alternifolius, Vetiveria zizanioides and Eichhornia crassipes. The experimental results showed that the wastewater loading rate of 47.35 l/m2.day with initial concentrations of 203.24 mg COD/l, 111.94 mgTN/l and 13.61 mgTP/l gave removal efficiency of 71.66 %, 79.26 % and 69.65 %, respectively. Thus, the removed quantity of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) was of 4201.35 mg TN/m2.day và 448.76mg TP/m2.day. The obtained results indicated that the flow wetland system, using Phragmites australis, Cyperus alternifolius, Vetiveria zizanioides and Eichhornia crassipes has a rather high COD, TN and TP removal efficiency with simple operation so that it could be feasible if applied for treating pig wastewater. However, the system should be functioned longer for taking data and for evaluating its stability. Mặc dù có những đóng góp tích cực cho sự phát triển kinh tế - xã hội, việc phát triển chăn nuôi lợn đã gây ô nhiễm môi trường nghiêm trọng. Hiện nay, nước thải chăn nuôi lợn từ các cơ sở chăn nuôi sau xử lý vẫn chưa đáp ứng được các tiêu chuẩn thải của quốc gia và tiêu chuẩn ngành. Bài báo này trình bày kết quả nghiên cứu về khả năng loại bỏ COD, nitơ (N) và phôtpho (P) trong nước thải chăn nuôi lợn đã qua xử lý bằng hầm biogas của hệ thống phối hợp cây Sậy, Thủy Trúc, cỏ Vetiver và Bèo Tây ở qui mô pilot. Kết quả thực nghiệm ở tải lượng 47,35 l/m2.ngày, với COD, tổng nitơ (TN) và tổng phôtpho (TP) đầu vào trung bình là 203,24 mg/l, 111,94 mg/l và 13,61 mg/l, tương ứng, thì hiệu suất xử lý lần lượt là 71,66 %; 79,26 % và 69,65 %. Như vậy lượng TN và TP loại bỏ là 4201,35 mgN/m2.ngày và 448,76 mgP/m2.ngày. Kết quả nhận được cho thấy hệ thống sử dụng cây Sậy, Thủy Trúc, cỏ Vetiver và Bèo Tây có hiệu quả loại bỏ COD, TN và TP khá cao trong khi vận hành đơn giản nên có triển vọng áp dụng trong điều kiện thực tế để xử lý nước thải chăn nuôi lợn. Tuy nhiên để đánh giá tính ổn định, hệ thống cần được hoạt động với thời gian lâu dài hơn.