The purpose of this study was to determine the effects and mechanisms of vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) and additive effects of electroacupuncture (EA) on colonic inflammation in a rodent model of IBD. Chronic inflammation in rats was induced by intrarectal TNBS (2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid). The rats were then treated with sham ES (electrical stimulation), VNS, or VNS + EA for 3 wk. Inflammatory responses were assessed by disease activity index (DAI), macroscopic scores and histological scores of colonic tissues, plasma levels of TNFα, IL-1β, and IL-6, and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity of colonic tissues. The autonomic function was assessed by the spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) derived from the electrocardiogram. It was found that ) the area under curve (AUC) of DAI was substantially decreased with VNS + EA and VNS, with VNS + EA being more effective than VNS ( < 0.001); ) the macroscopic score was 6.43 ± 0.61 in the sham ES group and reduced to 1.86 ± 0.26 with VNS ( < 0.001) and 1.29 ± 0.18 with VNS + EA ( < 0.001); ) the histological score was 4.05 ± 0.58 in the sham ES group and reduced to 1.93 ± 0.37 with VNS ( < 0.001) and 1.36 ± 0.20 with VNS + EA ( < 0.001); ) the plasma levels of TNFα, IL-1β, IL-6, and MPO were all significantly decreased with VNS and VNS + EA compared with the sham ES group; and) autonomically, both VNS + EA and VNS substantially increased vagal activity and decreased sympathetic activity compared with sham EA ( < 0.001, < 0.001, respectively). In conclusion, chronic VNS improves inflammation in TNBS-treated rats by inhibiting proinflammatory cytokines via the autonomic mechanism. Addition of noninvasive EA to VNS may enhance the anti-inflammatory effect of VNS. This is the first study to address and compare the effects of vagal nerve stimulation (VNS), electrical acupuncture (EA) and VNS + EA on TNBS (2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid)-induced colitis in rats. The proposed chronic VNS + EA, VNS, and EA were shown to decrease DAI and ameliorate macroscopic and microscopic damages in rats with TNBS-induced colitis via the autonomic pathway. The addition of EA to VNS provided a significant effect on the behavioral assessment of inflammation (DAI, CMDI, and histological score) but not on cytokines or mechanistic measurements, suggesting an overall systemic effect of EA.View this article's corresponding video summary at https://youtu.be/-rEz6HMkErM.

There is a substantial incidence of IBD in China. Although still lower than in the West, the emergence of IBD will necessitate specific health care planning and education and offers the possibility of identifying causative factors in a population with a rapidly increasing incidence.

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We evaluated the biochemical composition of juvenile cultured and wild silver pomfret Pampus argenteus. Cultured silver pomfret (SF) had significantly (P<0.05) lower crude protein content and higher crude lipid content than wild SF. Concentrations of almost all amino acids, except glycine and arginine, were significantly higher (P<0.05) in wild SF compared to cultured SF. Further, wild SF had a significantly (P<0.05) higher concentration of total amino acids (TAA), essential amino acids (EAA), and a higher essential amino acid index (EAAI) than cultured SF. Saturated fatty acids (SFA) in cultured SF were significantly higher than in wild SF. However, the content of poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and n-3 fatty acids in wild SF was significantly higher than in cultured SF. Mono-unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) in cultured and wild SF were not significantly different. Fatty acids C16:0 and C18:1 were the principal fatty acids of the SFAs and MUFAs, respectively, in both cultured and wild SF. The results will be useful for determining the dietary requirements for culture of SF.

The effects of dietary probiotics on growth performance, innate immunity and digestive enzymes of silver pomfret were investigated. Compared to the control, diets supplemented with Bacillus subtilis, Lactobacillus plantarum and Clostridium butyricum caused significant improvements of growth performance, including final weight, weight gain, specific growth rate and feed conversion rate. A better growth performance among probiotic treatments was obtained in fish fed B. subtilis. To reveal the effects of these three probiotics on innate immunity of silver pomfret, lysozyme activity, SOD activity and IgM concentrations were examined. Results showed that silver pomfret fed diets containing C. butyricum, L. plantarum and B. subtilis had led to an enhanced innate response, notably higher lysozyme activity, SOD activity and IgM concentrations, as recorded after 30 and 60 days of feeding. In addition, study of different digestive enzymes viz lipase, protease and amylase activities showed significant higher values in fish fed the probiotic diets in comparison to the untreated group. These findings demonstrated that administration of C. butyricum, L. plantarum and B. subtilis can improve growth performance through enhanced immune response and digestive enzyme activity in silver pomfret. Furthermore, the B. subtilis is highly recommended as dietary probiotics in silver pomfret.