Involvement of granulin in estrogen-induced neurogenesis in the adult rat hippocampus

Recent studies have demonstrated the presence of neurogenesis in the adult mammalian hippocampus, and it has been suggested that estrogen and various growth factors influence the processes of adult neurogenesis. The present study assessed cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus and the mRNA expression levels of granulin, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the hippocampus 4 h after treatment with estradiol benzoate (EB) in 3- and 12-month old ovariectomized rats. At 3 months of age, mRNA expression of granulin precursor and cell proliferation were increased by EB treatment, although the mRNA expressions of IGF-I and BDNF remained unchanged. At 12 months of age, however, neither mRNA expression of the three genes nor cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus were affected by EB treatment. In addition, 17beta-estradiol enhanced the proliferation of neural progenitor cells derived from hippocampal tissue of 3-month-old female rats in vitro; this was inhibited by neutralization of granulin with specific antibody. These results suggest that estrogen induces granulin gene expression in the hippocampus and that the product of this gene is involved in the mitogenic effects of estrogen in the dentate gyrus, although the responses to estrogen decline with age.     

Effects of dietary β-carotene on the immune response of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss

SUMMARY: We attempt to assess the impact of different levels of dietary β-carotene on immune function in rainbow trout. Semi-purified diets containing 0, 40, 200, and 400 mg β-carotene/kg dry diet were fed for 12 weeks to fish with average weight of 45 g. In addition to the humoral and cellular immune parameters, growth and feed utilization were examined. There were no marked differences in growth and feed utilization showing that β-carotene was not particularly efficient in enhancing growth of rainbow trout. Of the immune parameters measured, total immunoglobulin was significantly highest for the 200 mg β-carotene fed group. Serum complement activity (alternate pathway) at 200 and 400 mg β-carotene supplementation was significantly higher than that of the unsupplemented group. An increasing trend in lysozyme activity was observed, however, the differences among the groups were not significant. Phagocytic activity was similar among diet groups except at the highest level of supplementation where it was the maximum. Oxygen radical production by peripheral blood leukocytes appeared to be lower at higher levels of carotenoid supplementation. Overall, dietary β-carotene clearly enhanced immune response parameters in rainbow trout such as serum complement activity and total plasma immunoglobulin but did not show a definite influence for the other factors examined in the present study.     

Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia was diagnosed by postmortem examination of a one-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel with four-week history of dyspnea. Cytologic and histologic examination of lung tissues revealed numerous P. carinii trophozoites and cysts, and P. carinii specific DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction. The dog showed hypogammagloblinemia and extremely low levels of serum IgG. It was considered that P. carinii pneumonia in this case was associated with an immunodeficient condition which has already been reported in Miniature Dachshunds.     

Flow cytometric analysis of chicken NK activity and its use on the effect of restraint stress

Immune system is organized by the influence of both neural and endocrine systems. NK activity plays an important role in the innate immunity. In this study, we observed the effects of restraint stress on chicken peripheral blood NK activity. Viability of FITC-labeled RP9 was measured with PI after treatment with the effector cells. Chicken peripheral blood CD8alpha+ cells expressed strong cytotoxic activity, in contrast to thrombocytes, while peripheral blood CD3+ CD8alpha+ cells and CD4+ cells had little cytotoxic activity. Con A supernatant enhanced the cytotoxic activity of CD8alpha+ cells. Therefore, it is considered that these cytotoxic activities measured by flow cytometry (FCM) analysis are NK activity. When chickens were exposed to restraint stress, the levels of serum corticosterone increased transiently over a short period of time while the NK activity decreased. The decreased NK activity, however, did not recover to the intact levels for a long time, even once the serum corticosterone levels had recovered. These data indicate that chicken NK activity is able to be measured by flow cytometric analysis and that restraint stress causes severe damage to the chicken NK activity.     

Evaluation of intestinal intramucosal pH,arterial and portal venous blood gas values,and intestinal blood flow during small intestinal ischemia and reperfusion in dogs

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether small intestinal ischemia and reperfusion affects intestinal intramucosal pH (pHi), arterial and portal venous blood gas values, and intestinal blood flow (IBF) and to investigate relationships between regional intestinal tissue oxygenation and systemic variables in dogs. ANIMALS: 15 healthy adult Beagles. PROCEDURE: Occlusion of superior mesenteric artery (SMA) for 0, 30, or 60 minutes, followed by reperfusion for 180 minutes, was performed; IBF, pHi, arterial and portal venous blood gas values, arterial pressure, and heart rate were measured at various time points; and intestinal mucosal injury was histologically graded. RESULTS: Occlusion of the SMA induced significant decreases in pHi and IBF. After the release of the occlusion, IBF returned rapidly to baseline values, but improvement in pHi was slow. Arterial and portal venous blood gas analyses were less sensitive than tonometric measurements of pHi, and there was no correlation between results of blood gas analyses and tonometric measurements. Histologic score for intestinal mucosal injury increased significantly, depending on duration of ischemia, and there was a correlation between tonometric results and the histologic score. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results suggest that it is difficult to accurately evaluate local oxygenation disorders by monitoring at the systemic level, whereas clinically pHi is the only reliable indicator of inadequate regional intestinal tissue oxygenation in dogs.     

Evaluation of the fire endurance of mechanically graded timber in bending

AbstractThis study examined the performance of mechanically graded timber in bending when exposed to fire at various load ratios. The test specimens were 150 pieces, each with the dimensions of 60 × 120 × 3500mm. The modulus of elasticity (MOE) of 150 specimens was measured, and 60 among them were selected to formulate the prediction equation for MOE and modulus of rupture (MOR), which was used to predict the remaining 90 specimens. These were tested under fire exposure in bending using three-point loading at 11.1%, 16.7%, 33.3%, 66.7%, and 83.3% of the ultimate load. Using mechanically graded timber, which means acknowledging the actual strength of the bending member, permits fairly precise application to the targeted design load. This research confirmed that mechanically graded timber under fire exposure has the following tendencies: under the same load ratio, time to failure is independent of strength class, and, at any load ratio, the critical strength is dependent on the timber strength class. The obtained design bending strength under fire exposure using the reduced cross section method and the reduced strength method conformed to those calculated based on Eurocode 5. Following those findings, mechanically graded timber can be applied to obtain the design bending strength when taking into account the fire attack.     

Antifeedant activity of flavonoids and related compounds against the subterranean termiteCoptotermes formosanus Shiraki

Antifeedant activity of some flavonoids and their related compounds against the subterranean termiteCoptotermes formosanus Shiraki was examined with nochoice tests and two-choice tests. The activities of these compounds were evaluated in relation to their chemical structures. All flavonoids tested showed antifeedant activity, whereas catechinic acid, possessing no A-ring or pyran ring in the molecule, showed feeding-preference activity. For the structure-activity relations, it was found that compounds containing two hydroxyl groups at C-5 and C-7 in A-rings showed high antifeedant activity. Furthermore, the presence of a carbonyl group at C-4 in the pyran rings of the compounds was necessary for the occurrence of high activity. 3-Hydroxyflavones and 3-hydroxyflavanones with 3,4-dihydroxylated B-rings exhibited higher activity than those with 4-hydroxylated B-rings.Part of this paper was presented at the 49th annual meeting of the Japan Wood Research Society, Tokyo, April 1999