Betulinic acid (BA), a pentacyclic lupane-type triterpene, has a wide range of bioactivities. The main objective of this work was to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of BA and the potential mechanism underlying the ability of this compound to prevent liver damage induced by alcohol in vivo. Mice were given oral doses of BA (0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 mg/kg) daily for 14 days, and induced liver injury by feeding 50% alcohol orally at the dosage of 10 ml/kg after 1 h last administration of BA. BA pretreatment significantly reduced the serum levels of alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, total cholesterol, and triacylglycerides in a dose-dependent manner in the mice administered alcohol. Hepatic levels of glutathione, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and catalase were remarkably increased, while malondialdehyde contents and microvesicular steatosis in the liver were decreased by BA in a dose-dependent manner after alcohol-induced liver injury. These findings suggest that the mechanism underlying the hepatoprotective effects of BA might be due to increased antioxidant capacity, mainly through improvement of the tissue redox system, maintenance of the antioxidant system, and decreased lipid peroxidation in the liver.

Porcine circovirus type 3 (PCV3) has recently been isolated from diseased pigs within the USA. The objective was to detect the presence of PCV3 in dogs. Nested polymerase chain reactions (PCR) with PCV3-specific primers for the capsid gene were used to detect PCV3 genomic DNA in serum samples from dogs (n = 44) in China. There was PCV3 DNA detected in 4 of 44 dogs [all were negative for PCV2 and canine circovirus (CanineCV)]. Based on sequence analysis, positive sequences were grouped into PCV3 genotypes. However, these isolates had close evolutionary relationships with FoxCV (KP941114) and CanineCV (JQ821392). Further investigations of the epidemiology, evolutionary biology, and pathobiology of PCV3 to dogs are warranted.

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