BackgroundSARS-CoV-2 is an RNA virus causing COVID-19. The clinical characteristics and epidemiology of COVID-19 have been extensively investigated, however, only one study so far focused on the patient’s nasopharynx microbiota. In this study we investigated the nasopharynx microbial community of patients that developed different severity levels of COVID-19. We performed 16S ribosomal DNA sequencing from nasopharyngeal swab samples obtained from SARS-CoV-2 positive (56) and negative (18) patients in the province of Alicante (Spain) in their first visit to the hospital. Positive SARS-CoV-2 patients were observed and later categorized in mild (symptomatic without hospitalization), moderate (hospitalization), and severe (admission to ICU). We compared the microbiota diversity and OTU composition among severity groups and built bacterial co-abundance networks for each group.ResultsStatistical analysis indicated differences in the nasopharyngeal microbiome of COVID19 patients. 62 OTUs were found exclusively in SARS-CoV-2 positive patients, mostly classified as members of the phylum Bacteroidota (18) and Firmicutes (25). OTUs classified as Prevotella were found to be significantly more abundant in patients that developed more severe COVID-19. Furthermore, co-abundance analysis indicated a loss of network complexity among samples from patients that later developed more severe symptoms.ConclusionOur study shows that the nasopharyngeal microbiome of COVID-19 patients showed differences in the composition of specific OTUs and complexity of co-abundance networks. Taxa with differential abundances among groups could serve as biomarkers for COVID-19 severity. Nevertheless, further studies with larger sample sizes should be conducted to validate these results.

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BackgroundThere has been an increased interest in nutritional strategies to manipulate the fatty acid pro le of pigs. Dietary regimens involving the use of oils that are high in monosaturated fatty acid (MUFA), primarily oleic acid (OA), such as canola oil (CO), as well as in omega (n)-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), which are found in sh oil (FO), have been investigated aiming healthier fatty acid pro le cuts, with a higher ratio of n-3 to n-6 fatty acids. Therefore, the effects of including 3% soybean oil (SO), CO, or FO in growing-nishing pig diets vs. feeding a standard commercial diet with 1.5% SO (control) on growth performance, carcass traits, meat quality, consumer acceptability, and intramuscular fatty acid composition of the longissimus lumborum (LL) muscle were evaluated. ResultsDietary treatments had no effect on overall growth performance and pig carcasses. Although loins from pigs fed diets containing either 3% SO or CO showed a reduction (P = 0.05) in Warner-Bratzler shear force, only the addition of 3% SO to pig diets resulted in loin chops that were rated higher (P < 0.001) for consumer overall liking. Adding either 3% SO or CO increased (P < 0.01) the percentages of OA and total MUFA in the LL intramuscular fat compared to controlor FO-fed pigs. However, intramuscular fat from 3% SO-or CO-fed pigs had the lowest (P < 0.01) proportion of total n-3 PUFA than control-or FO-fed pigs.Including 3% fat, regardless of source, reduced (P < 0.01) total PUFA, total n-6 PUFA, and PUFA:saturated fatty acid (SFA) ratio than control-fed pigs. Dietary FO inclusion decreased (P < 0.01) n-6:n-3 PUFA ratio, but also increased total SFA (P < 0.01) and atherogenic index (P = 0.02) in the LL intramuscular fat. ConclusionsAlthough adding 3% CO or FO to pig diets provided slight nutritional bene ts to consumers in terms of MUFA and long chain n-3 PUFA contents, respectively, formulating growing-nishing diets with 1.5% SO was adequate enough in terms of LL intramuscular fatty acids composition for high quality meat destined to human consumption. BackgroundNutritional interventions play a major role in e ciently producing lean, quality pork for processing and storage, including retail display. Apart from being recognized as excellent energy sources, fats comprise a practical dietary strategy for improving pig productivity [1]. Fat-rich diets have been implemented for growing-nishing pigs to decrease voluntary feed intake and improve feed e ciency [2, 3], as well as to alleviate the energy loss as heat increment, especially in heat stress conditions [4]. Additionally, fats are sources of fat-soluble vitamins, essential fatty acids, and may act as signaling molecules [5]. However, feeding supplemental fat to pigs may be limited by the cost effectiveness in least-cost formulation [6].Collectively, all animal products provide 56% of the total fat, 74% of the saturated fatty acids (SFA), 70% of the protein, and 100% of the cholesterol consumed [7]. Dietary guidelines for humans in the last years have focused on limiting ...

Determinou-se a prevalência de rotavírus durante surto de diarréia em bezerros de um rebanho de corte, criado em regime semi-intensivo de produção. Analisaram-se, por meio de técnicas de eletroforese em gel de poliacrilamida (EGPA) e ensaio imunoenzimático (kit EIARA - Fiocruz), 69 amostras de fezes de bezerros, entre 30 e 60 dias de idade, colhidas em três estações de parição consecutivas (agosto a novembro/1999, janeiro a abril e agosto a novembro/2000). Pelo EIARA foram detectadas 63,8% (44/69) de amostras positivas. Na primeira estação de parição foi detectado rotavírus em 82,4% (14/17) dos bezerros que apresentaram quadro clínico de diarréia. No ano de 2000 a presença de rotavírus foi detectada em 41,7% (5/12) e 62,5% (25/40) do total de amostras examinadas. A análise do perfil eletroforético do genoma indicou grande diversidade, com quatro eletroferótipos distintos, todos com perfil longo, característico de rotavírus do grupo A.

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Dietary fatty acids (FA) are components of the lipids, which contribute to membrane structure, energy input, and biological functions related to cellular signaling and transcriptome regulation. However, the consumers still associate dietary FA with fat deposition and increased occurrence of metabolic diseases such as obesity and atherosclerosis. Previous studies already demonstrated that some fatty acids are linked with inflammatory response, preventing metabolic diseases. To better understand the role of dietary FA on metabolic diseases, for the first time, a study to identify key transcription factors (TF) involved in lipid metabolism and inflammatory response by transcriptome analysis from liver samples of animal models was performed. The key TF were identified by functional enrichment analysis from the list of differentially expressed genes identified in liver samples between 35 pigs fed with 1.5% or 3.0% soybean oil. The functional enrichment analysis detected TF linked to lipid homeostasis and inflammatory response, such as RXRA, EGFR, and SREBP2 precursor. These findings demonstrated that key TF related to lipid metabolism could be modulated by dietary inclusion of soybean oil. It could contribute to nutrigenomics research field that aims to elucidate dietary interventions in animal and human health, as well as to drive food technology and science.

The Brazilian beef industry has experienced an increase in the utilization of adapted and non-adapted Bos taurus breeds in crossbreeding systems. In spite of this, little is known about the adaptability of these groups and of their crossbred progeny when raised in a tropical climate. The aim of this study was to evaluate the physiological responses related to adaptability of Nelore (NE), crossbred Angus x Nelore (TA) and Senepol x Nelore (SN) cattle submitted to a heat tolerance trial. The study was conducted in the Southeast-Embrapa Cattle (CPPSE), São Carlos, Brazil. During the summer of 2008, 45 heifers, 15 of each breed type, were evaluated over three days: at 7:00 a.m. (resting measure), at 13:00 (after six hours in the sun with no access to water and shade) and at 15:00 (after a further two hours in the sun with access to shade). Rectal temperature and sweating rate were measured and the data were analyzed using restricted maximum likelihood. The effect of breed type was significant for rectal temperature only at 15:00 and for the sweating rate at all three test periods. Based on these results, Senepol x Nelore heifers showed a better adaptation in the heat tolerance test than the other breed types.

The commercial value of the bovine carcass is determined by a set of traits, such as weight, yield, back fat thickness, and marbling; therefore, the genetic improvement of growth, meat, and carcass quality traits is an important tool to add value to the supply chain. Genomewide association studies (GWAS) enable the identification of loci that control phenotypic expression of quantitative traits (QTL). Therefore, the objective of this work was to perform a GWAS to identify genomic regions and genes associated with growth, carcass traits, and meat quality in Canchim beef cattle. These traits were yearling weight (YW), rib eye area (REA), back fat thickness (BFT), and marbling (MARB). To increase sample size and marker density, genotype imputation was performed, and only markers imputed with greater than 95% accuracy were used. Genomewide association study was performed using a Bayesian approach, by the Bayes B statistical method, incorporating genotypes and phenotypes from 614 animals from both the Canchim breed and the MA genetic group (offspring of Charolais bulls and one-half Canchim + one-half Zebu cows). This investigation identified 1 and 4 genomic regions explaining 0.23 and 7.35% of the genetic variance for REA and YW, respectively. These regions harbor a total of 19 genes, 7 of which were classified for biological functions by functional analysis. Significant associations were not observed for BFT and MARB. The identification of QTL that had been previously described in the literature reinforces associations found in this study.