Circulating leukocytes can be used as an effective model to understand the heat stress response of different cattle types and buffaloes. This investigation aimed to determine the temporal profile of HSPs (HSP40, HSP60, HSP70, and HSP90) expression in circulating peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of Murrah buffaloes, Holstein-Friesian (HF), and Sahiwal cows in response to sublethal heat shock at 42°C. The viability data indicated HF PBMCs to be the most affected to the heat shock, whereas Sahiwal PBMCs were least affected, indicating its better survivability during the heat stress condition. The qRT-PCR expression data showed significant increase in mRNA expression of the analyzed HSPs genes after heat stimuli to the PBMCs under in vitro condition. In each case, the HSPs were most upregulated at 2 h after the heat stress. Among the HSPs, HSP70 was relatively more expressed followed by HSP60 indicating the action of molecular chaperones to stabilize the native conformation of proteins. However, PBMCs from different cattle types and buffaloes showed difference in the extent of transcriptional response. The level of expression of HSPs throughout the time period of heat stress was highest in buffaloes, followed by HF and Sahiwal cows. The higher abundance of HSP70 mRNA at each time point after heat stress showed prolonged effect of heat stress in HF PBMCs. The data presented here provided initial evidence of transcriptional differences in PBMCs of different cattle types and buffaloes and warrant further research.

Results of the present study indicate that probiotic Dahi skewed Th2-specific immune response towards Th1-specific response and suppressed IgE in serum. Collectively, this study shows the potential use of probiotics intervention in reducing the allergic response to whey proteins in mice. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

β-Casomorphins are a group of opioid peptides released during gastrointestinal digestion or food processing from the β-casein of milk protein. Consequently, milk can be divided into A1 and A2 "like" groups depending upon the presence or absence of proline or histidine at the 67th position of β-casein. A1 "like" milk is postulated to be a source of BCM-7 as histidine allows the cleavage at this position, while A2 "like" milk has proline that resists the hydrolysis. On one hand, BCM-7 has been implicated as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, type I diabetes, and neurological disorders. On the other hand, various physiological effects of these peptides have also been documented, i.e., secretion of mucus, increased activity of superoxide dismutase and catalase, increased levels of prolactin, and analgesic role. In addition, many evidences correlate these peptides with various immunological functions, such as development of innate immunity, lymphocyte proliferation and cellular immunity, role in autoimmune diseases, histamine release, and allergy. In conclusion, the role of β-casomorphins in physiological functions remains controversial and more research with improved diagnostic techniques is needed to unravel the mechanism and study physiological functions of β-casomorphins. Thus, health-related aspects of β-casomorphins (positive, negative, and immunological impacts) have been comprehensively reviewed in this article.

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary fungal metabolites that commonly contaminate crops and food by-products and thus, animal feed. Ingestion of mycotoxins can lead to mycotoxicosis in both animals and humans, and at subclinical concentrations may affect animal production and adulterate feed and animal by-products. Mycotoxicity mechanisms of action (MOA) are largely unknown, and co-contamination, which is often the case, raises the likelihood of mycotoxin interactions. Mitigation strategies for reducing the risk of mycotoxicity are diverse and may not necessarily provide protection against all mycotoxins. These factors, as well as the species-specific risk of toxicity, collectively make an assessment of exposure, toxicity, and risk mitigation very challenging and costly; thus, in-vitro cell culture models provide a useful tool for their initial assessment. Since ingestion is the most common route of mycotoxin exposure, the intestinal epithelial barrier comprised of epithelial cells (IECs) and immune cells such as macrophages, represents ground zero where mycotoxins are absorbed, biotransformed, and elicit toxicity. This article aims to review different in-vitro IEC or co-culture models that can be used for assessing mycotoxin exposure, toxicity, and risk mitigation, and their suitability and limitations for the safety assessment of animal foods and food by-products.

The experiment showed that boiling and sterilisation of cow and buffalo milk clearly affect the allergenicity by decreasing the humoral and cell-mediated responses in mice. All results indicated that CSN and WP of sterilised milk are less allergenic than those of raw milk in mice.

The present study aims to evaluate the suitability of 10 candidate genes, namely GAPDH, ACTB, RPS15A, RPL4, RPS9, RPS23, HMBS, HPRT1, EEF1A1 and UBI as internal control genes (ICG) to normalize the transcriptional data of mammary epithelial cells (MEC) in Indian cows. A total of 52 MEC samples were isolated from milk of Sahiwal cows (major indigenous dairy breed of India) across different stages of lactation: Early (5-15 days), Peak (30-60 days), Mid (100-140 days) and Late (> 240 days). Three different statistical algorithms: geNorm, Normfinder and BestKeeper were used to assess the suitability of these genes. In geNorm analysis, all the genes exhibited expression stability (M) values below 0.5 with EEF1A1 and RPL4 showing the maximum expression stability. Similar to geNorm, Normfinder also identified EEF1A1 and RPL4 as two of the most stable genes. In Bestkeeper algorithm as well, all the 10 genes showed consistent expression levels. The analysis showed that four genes, that is, EEF1A1, RPL4, GAPDH and ACTB exhibited higher coefficient of correlation to the Bestkeeper index, lower coefficient of variance and standard deviation, indicating their superiority to be used as ICG. The present analysis has provided evidence that RPL4, EEF1A1, GAPDH and ACTB could probably act as most suitable genes for normalizing the transcriptional data of milk-derived mammary epithelial cells of Indian cows.

Heat stress in hot climates is a major cause that negatively affects dairy animals, leading to substantial economic loss. The present study was aimed to analyze the effect of heat stress on cellular and molecular levels in dermal fibroblast of cattle and buffaloes. Primary fibroblast culture was established using ear pinna tissue samples of cattle (Bos indicus) and riverine buffaloes (Bubalus Bubalis). The cells were exposed to thermal stress at 42°C for 1 h and subsequently allowed to recover and harvest at 37°C at different time points (0, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 24 h) along with control samples. Different cellular parameters viz., apoptosis, proliferation, mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm), oxidative stress, along with expression pattern of heat responsive genes and miRNAs were determined. Cell viability and proliferation rate of heat-stressed fibroblasts decreased significantly (P < 0.05) albeit to a different extent in both species. The cell cytotoxicity, apoptosis, production of reactive oxygen species, and ΔΨm increased more significantly (P < 0.01) in heat stressed fibroblasts of buffalo than cattle. The pattern of heat shock proteins, inflammation/immune genes, and heat responsive miRNA showed differences in induction of their expression level in buffalo and native cattle fibroblasts. Conclusively, finding indicates that heat stress induces more profound impact on buffalo fibroblasts than native cattle fibroblasts. The differential response of cellular parameters, HSP genes, and miRNA expression could be due to better adaptive capacity of skin fibroblast of Bos indicus cattle in comparison with riverine buffaloes.

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