Heat stress (HS) is a major stressor for laying hens. It causes enormous financial losses worldwide annually. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect and mechanism of a probiotic mixture of Bacillus subtilis and Enterococcus faecium on the performance of laying hens under HS. Eight hundred and fifty-six commercial laying hens (Hy-Line Brown, aged 40 weeks) were randomly allocated to three groups, Group C (26 C), Group H (33 C) and Group H þ P M (33 C þ probiotic mixture), respectively. The trial lasted for 20 days. Compared with Group H, we demonstrated that treatment with the probiotic mixture significantly increased the egg production rate, average daily feed intake (ADFI), and egg weight of laying hens under HS (p < .05). In addition, the eggshell thickness, eggshell strength and albumen height also improved. We further showed that these probiotics improved gut microbiota as well as enhanced intestinal integrity, which may be responsible for inhibiting the invasion of bacteria and improving the performance indices. The study suggests that this probiotic mixture may be an effective strategy for treating laying hens under HS. ARTICLE HISTORY

Recent studies have shown a relationship between the level of the sialic acid (Sia), N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) in red meat and its risk in cancer, cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases. Unresolved is the Sia concentration in different organs of piglets during development. Our aim was to determine the level of free and conjugated forms of Neu5Gc, N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) and ketodeoxynonulsonic acid (Kdn) in fresh and cooked spleen, kidney, lung, heart, liver, and skeletal muscle from 3-days-old (n = 4-8), 38-days-old (n = 10) and adult piglets (n = 4) by LC-MS/MS. Our findings show: (1) Lung tissue from 3 days-old piglets contained the highest level of total Sia (14.6 μmol/g protein) compared with other organs or age groups; (2) Unexpectedly, Neu5Gc was the major Sia in spleen (67-79 %) and adult lung (36-49 %) while free Kdn was the major Sia in skeletal muscle. Conjugated Neu5Ac was the highest Sia in other organs (61-84 %); (3) Skeletal muscle contained the lowest concentration of Neu5Gc in fresh and cooked meat; (4) Kdn accounted for <5 % of the total Sia in most organs; (5) During development, the total Sia concentration showed a 44-79 % decrease in all organs; (6) In adult piglets, the high to low rank order of total Sia was lung, heart, spleen, kidney, liver and skeletal muscle. In conclusion, the high level of Neu5Gc in all organs compared to skeletal muscle is a potential risk factor suggesting that dietary consumption of organ meats should be discouraged in favor of muscle to protect against cancer, cardiovascular and other inflammatory diseases.

No abstract

Recent studies have indicated that prostate cancer (PCa) with BRCA2 mutations is more aggressive. However, these reports mostly focused on Caucasus populations, and large-scale studies on BRCA mutations in Chinese PCa populations remain limited. Herein, we screened, from multiple centers in China, a total of 172 patients with PCa carrying BRCA1/2 germline mutations. The variant distribution and type, associated somatic variant, and frequency of the BRCA germline variants in these patients were analyzed retrospectively. We found that Chinese patients with PCa carrying BRCA1/2 germline mutations were diagnosed at an earlier age, i.e., 67 years (range, 34–89 years), and most had metastatic castration-resistant PCa (mCRPC) (54.65%, 94/172). The top three BRCA variants were frameshift, missense, and splicing variants. The overall pathogenic rates of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 variants were 17.46% (11/63) and 56.55% (82/145), respectively. Among the somatic mutations associated with BRCA2 germline mutations, the highest frequency was for FOXA1 (circulating tumor DNA [ctDNA] sequencing, 7.4%; tissue samples, 52%) and NCOR2 mutations (ctDNA sequencing, 7.4%; tissue samples, 24%); TP53 was the dominant somatic mutation associated with BRCA1 germline mutations (ctDNA sequencing, 25%; tissue samples, 17%). Ultimately, in Chinese patients, PCa with BRCA1/2 germline mutations tends to be more aggressive. Compared with BRCA1, BRCA2 has a higher frequency of germline pathogenic mutations. FOXA1, NCOR2, and TP53 somatic mutations associated with higher BRCA1/2 germline pathogenic mutations. Our description of BRCA germline mutations in the Chinese PCa patients provides more reference data for the precise diagnosis and treatment of Chinese PCa patients.