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Poultry Science Feb 2024The concept of backyard poultry historically encompassed "food-producing animals." Nevertheless, a recent shift in livestock production paradigms within developed... (Review)
Review
The concept of backyard poultry historically encompassed "food-producing animals." Nevertheless, a recent shift in livestock production paradigms within developed countries is evident, as backyard poultry owners now raise their birds for purposes beyond self-consumption, raising animals in a familiar way, and fostering emotional bonds with them. Because backyard animals are frequently privately owned, and the resulting products are typically not marketed, very little information is available about the demographic profile of backyard owners and information on flocks' characteristics, husbandry, and welfare. Thus, this review aims to clarify the characteristics of backyard poultry, highlighting the prevalent infectious diseases and the zoonotic risk to which farmers are exposed. According to the FAO, there are different types of poultry production systems: intensive, sub-intensive, and extensive. The system conditions, requirements, and the resulting performance differ extensively due to the type of breed, feeding practices, prevalence of disease, prevention and control of diseases, flock management, and the interactions among all these factors. The presence and transmission of infectious diseases in avian species is a problem that affects both the animals themselves and public health. Bacterial (Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Mycoplasma), parasitic (helminths, louses, and mites), and viral (Avian influenza, Newcastle, Marek, Infectious Bronchitis, Gumboro, Infectious Laringotracheitis, and Fowlpox) are the most important pathogens involved in backyard poultry health. In addition, Avian influenza, Salmonella, Campylobacter, and E. coli, could be a risk for backyard farmers and/or backyard-derived products consumers. Thus, proper biosecurity implementation measures are mandatory to control them. While the principles and practices of on-farm biosecurity may be well-versed among commercial farmers, hobbyists, and backyard farmers might not be familiar with the necessary steps to protect their flocks from infectious diseases and curb their transmission. This sector represents the fourth category of poultry farming, characterized by the lowest biosecurity standards. Consequently, it is imperative to address the legal status of backyard poultry, educate owners about biosecurity measures, and promote proper veterinary care and disease control.
Topics: Animals; Poultry; Influenza in Birds; Chickens; Escherichia coli; Communicable Diseases; Poultry Diseases; Animal Husbandry
PubMed: 38056053
DOI: 10.1016/j.psj.2023.103284 -
JAMA Neurology Jan 2024Nonmotor symptoms of Parkinson disease (PD) often predate the movement disorder by decades. Currently, there is no blood biomarker to define this prodromal phase.
IMPORTANCE
Nonmotor symptoms of Parkinson disease (PD) often predate the movement disorder by decades. Currently, there is no blood biomarker to define this prodromal phase.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether α-synuclein in neuronally derived serum-extracellular vesicles identifies individuals at risk of developing PD and related dementia.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
This retrospective, cross-sectional multicenter study of serum samples included the Oxford Discovery, Marburg, Cologne, and Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative cohorts. Participants were recruited from July 2013 through August 2023 and samples were analyzed from April 2022 through September 2023. The derivation group (n = 170) included participants with isolated rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) and controls. Two validation groups were used: the first (n = 122) included participants with iRBD and controls and the second (n = 263) included nonmanifest GBA1N409S gene carriers, participants with iRBD or hyposmia, and available dopamine transporter single-photon emission computed tomography, healthy controls, and patients with sporadic PD. Overall the study included 199 participants with iRBD, 20 hyposmic participants with available dopamine transporter single-photon emission computed tomography, 146 nonmanifest GBA1N409S gene carriers, 21 GBA1N409S gene carrier patients with PD, 50 patients with sporadic PD, and 140 healthy controls. In the derivation group and validation group 1, participants with polysomnographically confirmed iRBD were included. In the validation group 2, at-risk participants with available Movement Disorder Society prodromal markers and serum samples were included. Among 580 potential participants, 4 were excluded due to alternative diagnoses.
EXPOSURES
Clinical assessments, imaging, and serum collection.
MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURES
L1CAM-positive extracellular vesicles (L1EV) were immunocaptured from serum. α-Synuclein and syntenin-1 were measured by electrochemiluminescence. Area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) with 95% CIs evaluated biomarker performance. Probable prodromal PD was determined using the updated Movement Disorder Society research criteria. Multiple linear regression models assessed the association between L1EV α-synuclein and prodromal markers.
RESULTS
Among 576 participants included, the mean (SD) age was 64.30 (8.27) years, 394 were male (68.4%), and 182 were female (31.6%). A derived threshold of serum L1EV α-synuclein distinguished participants with iRBD from controls (AUC = 0.91; 95% CI, 0.86-0.96) and those with more than 80% probability of having prodromal PD from participants with less than 5% probability (AUC = 0.80; 95% CI, 0.71-0.89). Subgroup analyses revealed that specific combinations of prodromal markers were associated with increased L1EV α-synuclein levels. Across all cohorts, L1EV α-synuclein differentiated participants with more than 80% probability of having prodromal PD from current and historic healthy control populations (AUC = 0.90; 95% CI, 0.87-0.93), irrespective of initial diagnosis. L1EV α-synuclein was increased in at-risk participants with a positive cerebrospinal fluid seed amplification assay and was above the identified threshold in 80% of cases (n = 40) that phenoconverted to PD or related dementia.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
L1EV α-synuclein in combination with prodromal markers should be considered in the stratification of those at high risk of developing PD and related Lewy body diseases.
Topics: Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; alpha-Synuclein; Biomarkers; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; Extracellular Vesicles; Lewy Body Disease; Parkinson Disease; REM Sleep Behavior Disorder; Retrospective Studies
PubMed: 38048087
DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2023.4398 -
Frontiers in Microbiology 2023Marek's disease (MD) caused by Marek's disease virus (MDV), poses a serious threat to the poultry industry by inducing neurological disease and malignant lymphoma in...
Marek's disease (MD) caused by Marek's disease virus (MDV), poses a serious threat to the poultry industry by inducing neurological disease and malignant lymphoma in infected chickens. However, the underlying mechanisms how MDV disrupts host cells and causes damage still remain elusive. Recently, the application of metabolomics has shown great potential for uncovering the complex mechanisms during virus-host interactions. In this study, chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEFs) infected with MDV were subjected to ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-MS) and multivariate statistical analysis. The results showed that 261 metabolites were significantly altered upon MDV infection, with most changes occurring in amino acid metabolism, energy metabolism, nucleotide metabolism, and lipid metabolism. Notably, MDV infection induces an up-regulation of amino acids in host cells during the early stages of infection to provide the energy and intermediary metabolites necessary for efficient multiplication of its own replication. Taken together, these data not only hold promise in identifying the biochemical molecules utilized by MDV replication in host cells, but also provides a new insight into understanding MDV-host interactions.
PubMed: 38029131
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1270762 -
Frontiers in Veterinary Science 2023
PubMed: 38026625
DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1326282 -
Journal of Virology Dec 2023Marek's disease virus (MDV) is a highly infectious and oncogenic virus that can induce severe T cell lymphomas in chickens. MDV encodes more than 100 genes, most of...
Marek's disease virus (MDV) is a highly infectious and oncogenic virus that can induce severe T cell lymphomas in chickens. MDV encodes more than 100 genes, most of which have unknown functions. This work indicated that the gene is necessary for MDV early cytolytic replication in B lymphocytes. In addition, we have found that the deletion mutant has a comparative immunological protective effect with CVI988/Rispens vaccine strain against very virulent MDV challenge. This is a significant discovery that LORF9 can be exploited as a possible target for the development of an MDV gene deletion vaccine.
Topics: Animals; B-Lymphocytes; Chickens; Gene Deletion; Herpesvirus 2, Gallid; Marek Disease; Marek Disease Vaccines; Poultry Diseases; Virus Replication
PubMed: 38014947
DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01574-23 -
Viruses Nov 2023Marek's disease (MD) is a highly infectious lymphoproliferative disease in chickens with a significant economic impact. 2, also known as Marek's disease virus (MDV), is...
Marek's disease (MD) is a highly infectious lymphoproliferative disease in chickens with a significant economic impact. 2, also known as Marek's disease virus (MDV), is the causative pathogen and has been categorized based on its virulence rank into four pathotypes: mild (m), virulent (v), very virulent (vv), and very virulent plus (vv+). A prior comparative genomics study suggested that several single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and genes in the MDV genome are associated with virulence, including nonsynonymous (ns) SNPs in eight open reading frames (ORF): UL22, UL36, UL37, UL41, UL43, R-LORF8, R-LORF7, and ICP4. To validate the contribution of these nsSNPs to virulence, the vv+MDV strain 686 genome was modified by replacing nucleotides with those observed in the vMDV strains. Pathogenicity studies indicated that these substitutions reduced the MD incidence and increased the survival of challenged birds. Furthermore, using the best-fit pathotyping method to rank the virulence, the modified vv+MDV 686 viruses resulted in a pathotype similar to the vvMDV Md5 strain. Thus, these results support our hypothesis that SNPs in one or more of these ORFs are associated with virulence but, as a group, are not sufficient to result in a vMDV pathotype, suggesting that there are additional variants in the MDV genome associated with virulence, which is not surprising given this complex phenotype and our previous finding of additional variants and SNPs associated with virulence.
Topics: Animals; Marek Disease; Virulence; Chickens; Herpesvirus 2, Gallid; Mardivirus
PubMed: 38005939
DOI: 10.3390/v15112263 -
BioRxiv : the Preprint Server For... Jan 2024Motor adaptation in cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical loops has been studied mainly in animals using invasive electrophysiology. Here, we leverage functional neuroimaging...
Motor adaptation in cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical loops has been studied mainly in animals using invasive electrophysiology. Here, we leverage functional neuroimaging in humans to study motor circuit plasticity in the human subcortex. We employed an experimental paradigm that combined two weeks of upper-extremity immobilization with daily resting-state and motor task fMRI before, during, and after the casting period. We previously showed that limb disuse leads to decreased functional connectivity (FC) of the contralateral somatomotor cortex (SM1) with the ipsilateral somatomotor cortex, increased FC with the cingulo-opercular network (CON) as well as the emergence of high amplitude, fMRI signal pulses localized in the contralateral SM1, supplementary motor area and the cerebellum. From our prior observations, it remains unclear whether the disuse plasticity affects the thalamus and striatum. We extended our analysis to include these subcortical regions and found that both exhibit strengthened cortical FC and spontaneous fMRI signal pulses induced by limb disuse. The dorsal posterior putamen and the central thalamus, mainly CM, VLP and VIM nuclei, showed disuse pulses and FC changes that lined up with fmri task activations from the Human connectome project motor system localizer, acquired before casting for each participant. Our findings provide a novel understanding of the role of the cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical loops in human motor plasticity and a potential link with the physiology of sleep regulation. Additionally, similarities with FC observation from Parkinson Disease (PD) questions a pathophysiological link with limb disuse.
PubMed: 37987000
DOI: 10.1101/2023.11.07.566031 -
Poultry Science Jan 2024The combined effects of the in ovo injection of commercial Marek's disease vaccine (MDV) and various levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) on the hatch variables,...
In ovo administration of the Marek's disease vaccine in conjunction with 25-hydroxyvitamin D and its subsequent effects on the performance and immunity-related characteristics of Ross 708 broiler hatchlings.
The combined effects of the in ovo injection of commercial Marek's disease vaccine (MDV) and various levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) on the hatch variables, immunological measurements, and gene expression of Ross 708 hatchling broilers were investigated. A total of 5 in ovo injection treatments that were applied at 18 d of incubation (doi) included: 1) noninjected (control); or a 50 μL solution volume of 2) MDV alone; or MDV combined with 3) 0.6 μg of 25OHD; 4) 1.2 μg of 25OHD; or 5) 2.4 μg of 25OHD. At hatch, hatchability of set and live embryonated eggs, hatchling body weight, hatch residue analysis, serum IgY and alpha-1 acid glycoprotein (AGP) concentrations, and the expression of genes related to immunity (INFα, INFβ, INFγ, TLR-3, and TLR-21) and vitamin D activity (1 α-hydroxylase, 24 hydroxylase, and vitamin D receptor) were determined. No significant treatment differences were observed for hatchability of set and live embryonated eggs, or for serum IgY and AGP concentrations. However, hatchling body weight was higher when MDV was combined with either 1.2 or 2.4 μg of 25OHD than when MDV was provided alone or in combination with 0.6 μg of 25OHD. Also, in comparison to the noninjected treatment group, the expression of the genes for 1 α-hydroxylase and 24 hydroxylase was improved when MDV was combined with either 1.2 or 2.4 μg of 25OHD. Lastly, expression of the genes linked to viral detection (TLR-3) and antibody production (INF-β) was increased in those treatments that contained any level of 25OHD. These results indicate that in comparison to controls, the effects of MDV were observed to be greater on hatchling BW and splenic gene expression when it was administered in combination with the 1.2 or 2.4 μg doses of 25OHD. Further research is needed to determine the posthatch effects of the administration of various levels of 25OHD in combination with MDV.
Topics: Animals; Chickens; Calcifediol; Marek Disease Vaccines; Toll-Like Receptor 3; Ovum; Body Weight; Mixed Function Oxygenases; Marek Disease
PubMed: 37939590
DOI: 10.1016/j.psj.2023.103199 -
Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine... Jan 2024Cardiac surgeries are known to induce an inflammatory response. Besides, dietary factors such as trace elements contribute to promoting cardiovascular health by... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
BACKGROUND
Cardiac surgeries are known to induce an inflammatory response. Besides, dietary factors such as trace elements contribute to promoting cardiovascular health by maintaining oxidative balance. Here we systematically review the literature about alterations in serum concentrations of zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), and selenium (Se) in response to cardiac surgeries.
METHODS
A systematic search was performed on databases until the end of December 2022. Studies assessing the changes of mentioned elements in adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery were included. Changes in the means and standard deviations of the elements before and after the cardiac surgery were utilized as desired effect sizes.
RESULTS
Among 1252 records found in the primary search, 23 and 21 articles were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis respectively. Seventeen studies evaluated the changes in serum Zn and Cu levels, and fifteen studies assessed Se levels. According to the results of quantitative analysis, Zn, Cu, and Se concentrations, one day after the surgery were significantly lower than preoperative values (WMD for Zn: 4.64 µmol/L [3.57-5.72], WMD for Cu: 1.62 µmol/L [0.52-2.72], and WMD for Se: 0.1 µmol/L [0.03-0.16]). The concentration of trace elements recovered gradually during the first-week post-operation and reached preoperative levels or even higher.
CONCLUSION
Serum trace elements dropped significantly soon after the cardiac surgery, but they reached their baseline levels mostly during the first week after the surgery. Future studies are warranted to elucidate the impact of alterations in serum concentration of trace elements on the outcomes and complications of open-heart surgeries.
Topics: Adult; Humans; Trace Elements; Zinc; Copper; Selenium; Cardiac Surgical Procedures
PubMed: 37897922
DOI: 10.1016/j.jtemb.2023.127331 -
European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry Dec 2023Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a global health problem in the medical sector that will increase over time. The limited treatment of AD leads to the search for a new...
Discovery of novel multifunctional ligands targeting GABA transporters, butyrylcholinesterase, β-secretase, and amyloid β aggregation as potential treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a global health problem in the medical sector that will increase over time. The limited treatment of AD leads to the search for a new clinical candidate. Considering the multifactorial nature of AD, a strategy targeting number of regulatory proteins involved in the development of the disease is an effective approach. Here, we present a discovery of new multi-target-directed ligands (MTDLs), purposely designed as GABA transporter (GAT) inhibitors, that successfully provide the inhibitory activity against butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE), β-secretase (BACE1), amyloid β aggregation and calcium channel blockade activity. The selected GAT inhibitors, 19c and 22a - N-benzylamide derivatives of 4-aminobutyric acid, displayed the most prominent multifunctional profile. Compound 19c (mGAT1 IC = 10 μM, mGAT4 IC = 12 μM and BuChE IC = 559 nM) possessed the highest hBACE1 and Aβ aggregation inhibitory activity (IC = 1.57 μM and 99 % at 10 μM, respectively). Additionally, it showed a decrease in both the elongation and nucleation constants of the amyloid aggregation process. In contrast compound 22a represented the highest activity and a mixed-type of eqBuChE inhibition (IC = 173 nM) with hBACE1 (IC = 9.42 μM), Aβ aggregation (79 % at 10 μM) and mGATs (mGAT1 IC = 30 μM, mGAT4 IC = 25 μM) inhibitory activity. Performed molecular docking studies described the mode of interactions with GATs and enzymatic targets. In ADMET in vitro studies both compounds showed acceptable metabolic stability and low neurotoxicity. Successfully, compounds 19c and 22a at the dose of 30 mg/kg possessed statistically significant antiamnesic properties in a mouse model of amnesia caused by scopolamine and assessed in the novel object recognition (NOR) task or the passive avoidance (PA) task.
Topics: Mice; Animals; Butyrylcholinesterase; Alzheimer Disease; Amyloid beta-Peptides; Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases; GABA Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; Cholinesterase Inhibitors; Molecular Docking Simulation; Structure-Activity Relationship; Drug Design; Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases; Acetylcholinesterase
PubMed: 37837674
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.115832