To study the effects of stigmasterol and β-sitosterol on high-fat Western diet (HFWD)-induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), lipidomic analyses were conducted in liver samples collected after 33 weeks of the treatment. Principal component analysis showed these phytosterols were effective in protecting against HFWD-induced NAFLD. Orthogonal projections to latent structures-discriminate analysis (OPLS-DA) and S-plots showed that triacylglycerols (TGs), phosphatidylcholines, cholesteryl esters, diacylglycerols, and free fatty acids (FFAs) were the major lipid species contributing to these discriminations. The alleviation of NAFLD is mainly associated with decreases in hepatic cholesterol, TGs with polyunsaturated fatty acids, and alterations of free hepatic FFA. In conclusion, phytosterols, at a dose comparable to that suggested for humans by the FDA for the reduction of plasma cholesterol levels, are shown to protect against NAFLD in this long-term (33-week) study.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) following IR can up-regulate TLR4/MD-2 gene and protein expression in KCs, and synthesize cytokine TNF-alpha. Anti TLR4 antibody can inhibit the production of TNF-alpha induced by LPS. TLR4 and its partner molecule MD-2 may play an important role in Kupffer cell activation and IR injury.

Pseudorabies virus (PRV) infection can elicit nervous system disorders. Curcumin has been reported to have neuroprotective effects. However, whether curcumin can protect neurons against PRV infection and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In the present study, for the first time, the protective effects of curcumin against PRV-induced oxidative stress, apoptosis, and mitochondrial dysfunction in rat hippocampal neurons and the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)/tropomyosin-related kinase B (TrkB) pathway were investigated. Results indicated that PRV with a titer of 3.06 × 106 TCID50 (50% tissue culture infective dose) induced oxidative damage of hippocampal neurons 2 h post-infection and that 10 μM curcumin improved the viability of PRV-infected hippocampal neurons. Blocking the BDNF/TrkB pathway reversed the neuroprotective effects of curcumin, which were imparted by decreasing the PRV-induced upregulation of nitric oxide synthase expression, repressing the PRV-activated mitochondrial apoptotic pathway, and mitochondrial dysfunction. To conclude, curcumin exhibited a neuroprotective role against PRV infection by upregulating the BDNF/TrkB pathway. This study provides insight into the anti-PRV neuroprotective application of curcumin and the underlying mechanism in the prophylaxis and treatment of neurological disorders caused by PRV infection.

BackgroundRecent evidence identifies the hippocampus, a brain structure commonly associated with learning and memory, as key to the regulation of food intake and the development and consequences of obesity. Intake of a high fat diet (HFD) results in altered consumptive behavior, hippocampal damage, and cognitive deficits. While many studies report the effects of HFD after chronic consumption and in the instance of obesity, few examine the events that occur following acute HFD consumption. In this study, male rats were fed either a control diet (10% fat by kcal) or HFD (45% fat by kcal) for 72 h. At the end of the 72-h period, serum and tissues were collected and weighed. Brains were rapidly frozen or formalin-fixed in preparation for qRT-PCR or immunohistochemistry, respectively.ResultsAcute intake of HFD resulted in higher serum levels of leptin and cholesterol, with no significant changes in final body weight or adipose tissue mass. In the dorsal hippocampus, transcription of the neuroprotective peptide galanin was significantly upregulated along with a trend for an increase in brain-derived neurotrophic factor and histone deacetylase 2 in the rats fed HFD. In the ventral hippocampus, there was a significant increase in histone deacetylase 4 and a decrease in galanin receptor 1 in this group. Results from immunohistochemistry validate strong presence of the galanin peptide in the CA1/CA2 region of the dorsal hippocampus.ConclusionsThese results provide evidence for a distinct response in specific functional regions of the hippocampus following acute HFD intake.

Livestock and poultry farming is a major source of agricultural pollution. However, our knowledge of the constraining factors of the geographic distribution of pollutants from livestock and poultry farming is still limited. In this study, using the optimized pollutant generation coefficients, we estimated the annual pollutant productions of eight livestock and poultry species at the provincial level in 2005 and 2013 and their growth rates during the study period in China; using canonical correlation analysis, we also explored the association between the eight pollutant measurements as dependent variables and 14 factors (including resource endowment, developmental level, and economic structure factors) as independent variables. Results indicate that there exist spatial disparity in the distribution of pollutants from livestock and poultry farming across regions, with provinces in the Huang-Huai-Hai region and the southwestern region accounting for approximately 50 % of the total productions in the nation. Cattle, pig, and poultry constitute the primary pollution sources in terms of livestock and poultry farming not only at the national level but also at the province level. While the species constitute and their respective growth rates of the pollutants can be also characterized by spatial disparity across regions, canonical correlation analysis shows that the observed regional patterns of the pollutants can be largely explained by the resource endowment factors (positive effects) and the developmental level factors (negative effects). In addition, we found that the development of livestock and poultry farming is negatively associated with the growing rate of both the resource endowment and the socioeconomic factors. This indicates that there exist different driving patterns in the gross and increment of the pollutant productions. Our research has significant implications for the appropriate environmental protection policy formulation and implementation in livestock sector.

BackgroundMolecular genetic studies of Bombyx mori have led to profound advances in our understanding of the regulation of development. Bombyx mori brain, as a main endocrine organ, plays important regulatory roles in various biological processes. Microarray technology will allow the genome-wide analysis of gene expression patterns in silkworm brains.ResultsWe reported microarray-based gene expression profiles in silkworm brains at four stages including V7, P1, P3 and P5. A total of 4,550 genes were transcribed in at least one selected stage. Of these, clustering algorithms separated the expressed genes into stably expressed genes and variably expressed genes. The results of the gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) analysis of stably expressed genes showed that the ribosomal and oxidative phosphorylation pathways were principal pathways. Secondly, four clusters of genes with significantly different expression patterns were observed in the 1,175 variably expressed genes. Thirdly, thirty-two neuropeptide genes, six neuropeptide-like precursor genes, and 117 cuticular protein genes were expressed in selected developmental stages.ConclusionMajor characteristics of the transcriptional profiles in the brains of Bombyx mori at specific development stages were present in this study. Our data provided useful information for future research.

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