ABSTRACT. Polymorphonuclear cells of the peripheral blood in the chicken significantly increased their phagocytosis when cultured with sugar cane extract (SCE; 250-1,000 µg/ml) for 24 hr. Chickens orally administered SCE (500 mg/kg/day) for 3 or 6 consecutive days at 1 week of age showed significantly higher body weight and gain in body weight/day and a lower food conversion ratio within the growing period of 6 weeks than physiological saline-administered control chickens. Furthermore, oral administration of SCE also resulted in significantly higher immune responses against sheep red blood cells and Brucella abortus. These results suggest that SCE has immunostimulating and growth promoting effects in chickens. KEY WORDS: growth promotion, immunopotentiation, sugar cane extract.J. Vet. Med. Sci. 64(11): 1061-1063, 2002 Vaccines and antibiotics have contributed to the control of a lot of different infectious diseases in veterinary and human medicine. Much consumption of many various chemicals and antibiotics has resulted in some problems such as the development of antibiotics-resistant bacteria and pollution of environment. It is imperative to develop the novel production system of economically important food animals based on the consideration of safe food, less polluted environment and recycle of natural resources.Various kinds of native, synthesized or recombinant biological response modifiers (BRM) have been evaluated on the basis of preventive and therapeutic effects on infectious or non-infectious diseases. Some native BRM [5,6,10,13] with immunostimulating activity such as bacterial derived components and chicken egg white derivatives (EWD) are effective in recovery of immunosuppression. There is almost little information concerning the biological activities of sugar cane, except the finding on activation of classical complement pathway in human serum by its lipopolysaccharide [7,8]. The purpose of the present study is to define immunological and nutritional features of sugar cane extract (SCE) as one of native BRM.Original materials including cane juice produced from sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum L.) in the raw sugar manufacturing process were subjected to the preparation of SCE. Dried SCE finally prepared by synthetic adsorbent chromatography and cation exchange column chromatograpy consisted of crude protein (16.9%), crude fat (0.5%), ash (36.1%) and nitrogen-free extracts (46.5%).The original concentration (10 mg/ml) of SCE was prepared in phosphate buffer saline. EWD kindly provided by Eisai Co., Ltd, Japan, were prepared in the same manner described previously [5], and used as a positive stimulator in the phagocytosis assay. At first, to examine the effect of SCE on phagocytosis, polymorphonuclear cells (PMN)-rich fraction from peripheral blood of inbred chickens (MHC; H.B15) was prepared as described previously [10]. The resultant PMN consisted of approximately 95% heterophils and 5% lymphocytes when their Giemsa-stained smear samples were cytologically examined. PMN suspended to a concentration o...
The pancreatic islet is a highly vascularized endocrine micro-organ. The unique architecture of rodent islets, a so-called core-mantle arrangement seen in two-dimensional images, led researchers to seek functional implications for islet hormone secretion. Three models of islet blood flow were previously proposed, all based on the assumption that islet microcirculation occurs in an enclosed structure. Recent electrophysiological and molecular biological studies using isolated islets also presumed unidirectional flow. Using intravital analysis of the islet microcirculation in mice, we found that islet capillaries were continuously integrated to those in the exocrine pancreas, which made the islet circulation rather open, not self-contained. Similarly in human islets, the capillary structure was integrated with pancreatic microvasculature in its entirety. Thus, islet microcirculation has no relation to islet cytoarchitecture, which explains its well-known variability throughout species. Furthermore, tracking fluorescent-labeled red blood cells at the endocrine-exocrine interface revealed bidirectional blood flow, with similar variability in blood flow speed in both the intra- and extra-islet vasculature. To date, the endocrine and exocrine pancreas have been studied separately by different fields of investigators. We propose that the open circulation model physically links both endocrine and exocrine parts of the pancreas as a single organ through the integrated vascular network.
Ticks feed exclusively on blood to obtain their nutrients, but the gene products that mediate digestion processes in ticks remain unknown. We report the molecular characterization and possible function of a serine carboxypeptidase (HlSCP1) identified in the midgut of the hard tick Haemaphysalis longicornis. HlSCP1 consists of 473 amino acids with a peptidase S10 family domain and shows structural similarity with serine carboxypeptidases reported from other arthropods, yeasts, plants and mammals. Endogenous HlSCP1 is strongly expressed in the midgut and is supposed to localize at lysosomal vacuoles and on the surface of epithelial cells. Endogenous HlSCP1, identified as a 53 kDa protein with pI value of 7.5, was detected in the membrane/organelle fraction isolated from the midgut, and its expression was upregulated during the course of blood‐feeding. Enzymatic functional assays revealed that a recombinant HlSCP1 (rHlSCP1) expressed in yeast efficiently hydrolyzed the synthetic substrates specific for cathepsin A and thiol protease over a broad range of pH and temperature values. Furthermore, rHlSCP1 was shown to cleave hemoglobin, a major component of the blood‐meal. Our results suggest that HlSCP1 may play a vital role in the digestion of the host's blood‐meal.
ABSTRACT. The effects of oral administration of sugar cane extracts (SCE) on Eimeria tenella oocysts infection in chickens were studied with 2 different experiments. In Experiment 1, 3-week-old inbred chickens (MHC; H.B15) were inoculated into the crop with SCE (500 mg/kg/day) for 1 day or 3 consecutive days, and then challenged with E. tenella sporulated oocysts (2 × 10 4 cells/chicken). In Experiment 2, 1-week-old chickens were orally administered SCE at the same dose for 3 consecutive days, and then initially infected with E. tenella sporulated oocysts (2 × 10 3 cells/chicken). At 2 and 3 weeks of age, these chickens were immunized intravenously with the mixed antigens of sheep red blood cells (SRBC) and Brucella abortus (BA). At 4 weeks of age, chickens were challenged with E. tenella sporulated oocysts (1 × 10 5 /chicken). Challenged chickens with E. tenella oocysts showed markedly decreased body weight gain/day, severe hemorrhage and great number of shedding oocysts in feces and high lesion scores. Oral administration of SCE and initial infection with oocysts (2 × 10 3 /chicken) resulted in a remarkable improvement in body weight gain/day, hemorrhage, the number of shedding oocysts and lesion score, compare to other infected groups. In addition, SCE-inoculated chickens with the initial infection showed a significant increase in antibody responses against SRBC and BA and also improvement in decreased relative proportions of + and CD4 cells in cecal tonsil lymphocytes of E. tenella-challenged chickens. Cecal tissues of chickens administered SCE and initially infected with E. tenella oocysts showed lower numbers of schizonts, gametocytes and oocysts than those of infected control chickens. These results suggest that SCE have immunostimulating and protective effects against E. tenella infection in chickens. KEY WORDS: Eimeria tenella, protective effect, sugar cane extract.
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