Short-term effect of supplemental yeast extract without or with feed enzymes on growth performance, immune status and gut structure of weaned pigs challenged with Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide

Background： This study investigated the response of piglets receiving a yeast extract without or with a multi-enzyme mixture compared with an antimicrobial growth promoter（AGP） on performance, immune status and gut structure after an E. coli lipopolysaccharide（LPS） challenge. Thirty-six pigs were allotted to six treatments including： a non-challenged control（NCC）; LPS-challenged control（CC）; CC ＋ AGP; CC ＋ yeast extract; CC ＋ enzymes; and CC ＋ enzymes ＋ yeast extract. On d 7, pigs were bled and thereafter injected with LPS or sterile saline. Blood samples were collected at 6, 48, and 96 h post-challenge. After 96 h post-challenge, pigs were euthanized to obtain duodenal, jejunal and ileal samples.Results： Overall（d 1 to 11）, compared with CC pigs, AGP attenuated the LPS-induced reduction in ADG（P = 0.004）,ADFI（P = 0.03） and gain/feed ratio（P = 0.01）. At 6 h post-challenge, AGP pigs had lower plasma urea N（PUN; P = 0.02）and serum TNF-α concentration（P = 0.07）, and higher platelet count（P = 0.04） and serum IL-10 concentration（P = 0.02） than CC pigs. At 48 h post-challenge, AGP pigs had lower PUN（P = 0.02） than CC pigs, whereas enzymes ＋ yeast extract interacted non-additively（P = 0.001） to reduce PUN. At 96 h post-challenge, AGP pigs had lower PUN（P = 0.02）and higher duodenal（P = 0.03）, jejunal（P = 0.01） and ileal（P = 0.07） villus height than CC pigs. In addition, enzymes ＋yeast extract interacted additively and non-additively to reduce ileal IFN-γ（P 0.10） were observed between AGP and enzymes ＋ yeast extract pigs on other measured parameters except for the downregulation of ileal IFN-γ（P ＆lt; 0.0001） and TNF-α（P = 0.003） in enzymes ＋ yeast extract pigs at 96 h post-challenge.Conclusions： The LPS challenged piglets receiving enzymes ＋ yeast extract showed beneficial responses in gut structure and immunity commensurate with those receiving antibiotics, though the latter had better overall growth performance.

Insights into the protective role of immunity in neurodegenerative disease

The immune system（IS）is set to provide protection against pathogens,surveillance against tumor cells and promotion of healing.Such functions can be efficiently performed thanks to the presence of a large network of cells with variable degrees of specialization.

The immunity-promoting activity of porcine placenta in mice as an immunomodulator for functional foods

This study was to explore the immunity-promoting activity of porcine placenta as a potential raw material for functional foods.Porcine placenta was subjected to the analysis for its bioactive substances,and their immunity-promoting activity was determined in mice supplemented with porcine placenta extract(PPE)and freeze-dried porcine placenta powder at high(PPH)and low(PPL)dosage.Results showed that porcine placenta contained placental peptides and 15 free amino acids,and the amounts of estrogen and progesterone in products developed from porcine placenta were within the limit of national standard.Mice model experiment revealed that compared with the control,the PPH treatment significantly improved the spleen index(P<0.05)by increasing the phagocytic rate of macrophages from 20%to 60%and the conversion rate of T lymphocytes from 8%to 60%.The q PCR analysis disclosed that the porcine placenta powder enhanced mice immunity via promoting the expression of Th1 cytokines of interleukin-2(IL-2)and IFN-γ,especially the former,by almost 8 times in the spleens of male mice,while inhibited Th2 cytokines of IL-4 and IL-10.This investigation has provided a reference for the development of porcine placenta as a raw material applied in functional foods to improve human immunity.

Immunization with Cop-1 promotes neuroprotection and neurogenesis after ischemic stroke

Cerebrovascular diseases are considered to be amongst the most serious public health issues,since they are the third leading cause of death（WHO,2014）and the most common cause of disability worldwide.Its monetary significance is evidenced by the economic burden imposed on health care systems,given that the cost of medical care for a patient that has suffered a stroke is around$25,741US dollars every 5 years（Luengo-Fernandez et al.,2012）.A stroke occurs as a result of a disturbance or interruption of cerebral blood flow that significantly reduces the supply of oxygen and glucose to the neural tissue. Consequently, several cell death mechanisms （secondary lesion mechanisms） such as necrosis, excitotoxicity, free radical production and inflammation are triggered （Castillo, 2000）.