In chickens, elevated environmental temperature reduces food intake. We have previously reported that, during heat stress, the intestinal mucosa has an increased capacity to take up sugars. To investigate whether the effects of warm environment on sugar uptake are an intestinal adaptation to lower energy intake or a response attributable to heat stress, we examined the glucose transport kinetics of apical and basolateral membranes of the jejunum and the mucosal morphology of broiler chickens maintained in climatic chambers for 2 wk. Experimental groups were 1) control ad libitum (CAL), fed ad libitum and in thermoneutral conditions (20 degrees C); 2) heat stress ad libitum (HSAL), fed ad libitum and kept in a heated environment (30 degrees C); and 3) control pair-fed (CPF), maintained in thermoneutral conditions and fed the same amount of food as that consumed by the HSAL group. Both the CPF and the HSAL groups showed reduced body weight gain, but only the HSAL chickens had lower plasma thyroid hormones and higher corticosterone than CAL and CPF groups. The fresh weight and length of the jejunum were only reduced in the HSAL group. The activity and expression of apical sodium-dependent glucose transporter 1 (SGLT-1) were increased by approximately 50% in the HSAL chickens, without effects in the CPF group. No changes in K(d) or in SGLT-1 and glucose transporter-2 K(m) were observed in the pair-fed and heated birds. These results support the view that increased intestinal hexose transport capacity is entirely dependent on adaptations of apical SGLT-1 expression to heat stress and is not due to reduced food intake.

In this study, we investigated intestinal barrier function during inflammation as well as the effects of dietary supplementation with porcine spray-dried animal plasma (SDAP) proteins and porcine immunoglobulin concentrate (IC). Wistar Lewis rats were fed from d 21 (weaning) until d 34 or 35 either a control diet or a diet containing SDAP or IC. On d 30 and d 33, rats received an intraperitoneal dose of Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin B (SEB; 0.5 mg/kg body wt; groups SEB, SEB-SDAP, and SEB-IC). SEB reduced the potential difference across the jejunum by 60%, the short-circuit current by 70%, and Na-K-ATPase activity in intestinal mucosa (all P < 0.05). The fluxes of dextran flux (4 kDa) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP, 40 kDa) across the intestinal wall also increased in SEB-treated rats (P < 0.01, P = 0.068, respectively). SEB also increased HRP flux across the paracellular space (P < 0.05). Moreover, SEB-treated rats had a reduced expression of tight junction proteins, such as ZO-1 (10% reduction; P < 0.05) and beta-catenin (20% reduction; P < 0.05). Dietary supplementation with SDAP or IC prevented dextran (P < 0.05) and HRP (P < 0.05) paracellular flux across the intestinal epithelium. SDAP supplementation also prevented SEB effects on Na-K-ATPase activity (P < 0.05). In our model of SEB-induced intestinal inflammation, the increased permeability across the intestinal mucosa was due to the lower expression of tight junction proteins, an effect that can be prevented by both SDAP and IC supplementation.

Motivation Pairwise alignment of sequences is a fundamental method in modern molecular biology, implemented within multiple bioinformatics tools and libraries. Current advances in sequencing technologies press for the development of faster pairwise alignment algorithms that can scale with increasing read lengths and production yields. Results In this paper, we present the wavefront alignment algorithm (WFA), an exact gap-affine algorithm that takes advantage of homologous regions between the sequences to accelerate the alignment process. As opposed to traditional dynamic programming algorithms that run in quadratic time, the WFA runs in time O(ns), proportional to the read length n and the alignment score s, using O(s2) memory. Furthermore, our algorithm exhibits simple data dependencies that can be easily vectorized, even by the automatic features of modern compilers, for different architectures, without the need to adapt the code. We evaluate the performance of our algorithm, together with other state-of-the-art implementations. As a result, we demonstrate that the WFA runs 20-300x faster than other methods aligning short Illumina-like sequences, and 10-100x faster using long noisy reads like those produced by Oxford Nanopore Technologies. Availability The WFA algorithm is implemented within the wavefront-aligner library, and it is publicly available at https://github.com/smarco/WFA

The intestinal mucosa contributes to homeostasis by preventing the entrance of biological and chemical agents across the epithelium that could alter the stability of the system. This protective function is especially important at the time of weaning, when animals are exposed to infectious agents and to numerous stresses such as the change of environment and diet. Diets supplemented with spray-dried plasma or plasma protein fractions have been shown to improve growth performance of farm animals and have been proposed as an alternative to antibiotics. In this review, we summarize our findings on the mechanism of action of dietary plasma proteins using a rat model of intestinal inflammation, based on the administration of Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin B (SEB). Staphylococcal enterotoxin B activates the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT), increasing T-lymphocytes in Peyer's patches and the number of activated T lymphocytes in mesenteric lymph nodes (organized GALT). In the lamina propria SEB increased cytotoxic T gammadelta and natural killer cell populations of the diffuse GALT. Staphyloccocal enterotoxin B significantly increased proinflammatory cytokines in Peyer's patches and mucosa. Plasma protein supplements modulated the mucosal immune response in organized and diffuse GALT, protecting GALT from possible excessive activation by the SEB challenge. These effects are accompanied by a reduction of proinflammatory cytokine production, supporting the view that changes in cytokine production mediate the effects of dietary plasma proteins during intestinal inflammation. The increase in mucosal permeability and intestinal secretion induced by SEB was associated with decreased expression of mucosal tight-junction and adherent-junction proteins. Both plasma and plasma protein fractions prevented the effects of SEB on intestinal permeability, thus reducing the exposure of the host to microbial and food antigens across the interstitial space. These findings indicate that dietary plasma proteins modulate functional and structural properties of the intestinal mucosa.

Spray-dried plasma (SDP) is a complex mixture of active proteins that modulates the immune response of gut-associated lymphoid tissue. We examined whether SDP and Ig concentrate (IC) supplementation could modulate cytokine expression and inflammatory mediators in rats challenged with Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin B (SEB). Wistar-Lewis rats were fed diets supplemented with SDP (8% wt:wt), IC (1.5% wt:wt), or milk proteins (control diet) from weaning (d 21) to d 34 after birth. On d 32 and 35, the rats were given SEB (0.5 mg/kg; intraperitoneal). Six hours after the second SEB dose, jejunal mucosa and Peyer's patches (PP) from the small intestine were collected. The cytokines interferon-gamma (IFNgamma), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, transforming growth factor-beta (TGFbeta), and leukotrienne B(4) (LTB(4)) were analyzed using commercial kits. SEB increased the release of proinflammatory mediators (IFNgamma, TNFalpha, IL-6, and LTB(4)) in PP (P < 0.05) and in the mucosa (P < 0.05). In both tissues, SDP prevented the increase in IFNgamma, IL-6, and LTB(4) induced by SEB (P < 0.05). IC reduced the expression of TNFalpha and LTB(4) in PP and mucosa (P < 0.05). SDP supplementation increased IL-10 and mature TGFbeta concentrations in intestinal mucosa from both inflamed and noninflamed rats. Both SDP and IC increased the mature:total TGFbeta ratio (all P < 0.05). Both supplements were effective at preventing the SEB-induced increase in proinflammatory:antiinflammatory cytokine ratios in PP and mucosa and in serum. The preventive effects of plasma supplements on intestinal inflammation involve modulation of intestinal cytokines, characterized by an increased expression of antiinflammatory cytokines.

The aim of this study was to determine the potential modulatory effects of diets supplemented with spray-dried animal plasma (SDAP) or immunoglobulin concentrates (IC) on the immune response of rats challenged with Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin B (SEB). Lewis rats were fed diets containing 80 g of SDAP/kg diet, 22.7 g of IC/kg diet, or milk proteins (Control diet) from postnatal d 21 (weaning) for 14 d. On d 30 and 33, rats were given SEB (0.5 mg/kg body weight; i.p.). Organized gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) populations, intestinal secretion, mucosal and serum immunoglobulin concentrations, and neutrophil infiltration were studied. On d 35, blood was collected under anesthesia and samples of intestinal mucosa, Peyer's patches, mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN), and spleen were taken. SEB increased the water content of feces, which was prevented by diets containing either SDAP (P < 0.002) or IC (P < 0.001), indicating that plasma protein-supplemented diets can reverse the SEB-induced secretory response. In Peyer's patches, the diet containing SDAP partially prevented the SEB-induced increase in T lymphocytes (P < 0.1) and reduced the percentage of activated T helper cells (P < 0.05). In MLN, activated T lymphocytes were increased by SEB but they were not affected by diet. No effects of SEB or dietary supplementation on mucosal IgA and serum IgA and IgG were observed. The effects of SDAP supplementation on the lymphocyte populations of GALT in rats challenged with SEB support the view that SDAP can modulate the immune response and suggest that plasma protein supplementation can prevent GALT from possible activation by luminal bacterial superantigens.

We examined whether oral plasma protein supplements affect the innate immune response in a model of acute lung inflammation. Mice were fed diets supplemented with 8 % spray-dried plasma (SDP) or 2 % plasma Ig concentrate (IC) from day 19 (weaning) until day 34. The mice were challenged with intranasal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) at day 33 (and killed 24 h later for cytokine and leucocyte analyses) or at day 34 (and killed 6 h later for cytokine determinations). In bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), LPS increased the number of leucocytes by twenty-sevenfold, an effect that was partly prevented by both SDP and IC, and by twentyfold the percentage of activated monocytes, which was partly prevented by SDP. In the lung tissue, LPS increased the infiltrated leucocytes, and this effect was prevented in part by SDP. In unchallenged mice, both SDP and IC diets reduced the percentage of resident neutrophils and monocytes (P, 0·05). In the blood, both SDP and IC completely prevented LPS-dependent monocyte activation (CD14 þ ; P, 0·05). LPS dramatically increased the concentration of cytokines (TNF-a, IL-1a, IL-6, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor) and chemokines (CXCL1, CCL2, CCL3 and CCL4) in BALF. The acute response of cytokine production was reduced by 20-80 % by both SDP and IC. For chemokines, plasma supplements had no effect on LPS-induced CXCL1 expression but significantly reduced CCL2, CCL3 and CCL4 production (P,0·05). The results support the view that dietary plasma proteins can be used to attenuate endotoxin-associated lung inflammation.

We have previously shown that plasma protein supplementation prevents the activation of lymphocyte populations of Peyer's patches and mesenteric lymph nodes, which is known as organized gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT). Here, we examined the effects of spray-dried plasma proteins (SDAP) and Ig concentrate (IgC) supplements on lamina propria and intraepithelial lymphocytes (diffuse GALT) in a model of mild intestinal inflammation induced by the intraperitoneal administration of Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin B (SEB). Wistar-Lewis rats were fed diets supplemented with SDAP (8% wt:wt), IgC (1.5% wt:wt), or bovine milk proteins (control diet) from weaning (d 21) to d 34 after birth. On d 30 and 33, rats were given SEB (0.5 mg/kg body weight) or PBS (control). Experimental groups were designated control, SEB, SEB-SDAP, and SEB-IgC. Lymphocyte populations were analyzed by immunohistochemistry. In lamina propria, SEB increased the cytotoxic lymphocyte populations of T-gammadelta cells (38%; P < 0.001) and natural killer cells (59%; P < 0.05) and the number of activated T lymphocytes (148%; P < 0.001). Both SDAP and IgC decreased the effects of SEB on these lymphocyte subsets (P < 0.05). In the epithelium, SEB induced a 117% increase in intraepithelial-activated lymphocytes that was reduced by SDAP supplementation (P < 0.01). The effects of plasma supplements on intestinal lymphocyte populations suggest that oral plasma proteins can modulate the degree of activation of diffuse GALT.