Endoscopic submucosal dissection in dogs in a World Gastroenterology Organisation training center

AIM: To evaluate if canine models are appropriate for teaching endoscopy fellows the techniques of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). METHODS: ESD was performed in 10 canine models under general anesthesia, on artificial lesions of the esophagus or stomach marked with coagulation points. After ESD, each canine model was euthanized and surgical resection of the esophagus or stomach was carried out according to "The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique, Russel and Burch". The ESD specimens were fixed with needles on cork submerged in a formol solution with the esophagus or stomach, and delivered to the pathology department to be analyzed. RESULTS: ESD was completed without complications using the Hook-knife in five esophageal areas, with a procedural duration of 124 ± 19 min, a length of 27.4 ± 2.6 mm and a width of 21 ± 2.4 mm. ESD was also completed without complications using the IT-knife2 in five gastric areas, with a procedural duration of 92.6 ± 19 min, a length of 32 ± 2.5 mm and a width of 18 ± 3.7 mm. CONCLUSION: ESD is feasible in the normal esopha- gus and stomach of canine models, which are appropriate for teaching this technique.

Absolute copy number differences of Y chromosomal genes between crossbred (Bos taurus×Bos indicus) and Indicine bulls

Background： The Y chromosome in mammal is paternally inherited and harbors genes related to male fertility and spermatogenesis. The unique intra-chromosomal recombination pattern of Y chromosome and morphological difference of this chromosome between Bos taurus and Bos indicus make it an ideal model for studying structural variation, especially in crossbred （Bos taurus x Bos indicus） bulls. Copy Number Variation （CNV） is a type of genomic structural variation that gives information complementary to SNP data. The purpose of this study was to find out copy number differences of four Y chromosomal spermatogenesis-related candidate genes in genomic DNA of crossbred and purebred Indicine bulls. Result： Four Y chromosomal candidate genes of spermatogenesis namely, sex determining gene on Ychromosome （SRY）, DEAD box po/ypeptide 3-Y chromosome （DDX3 Y）, Ubiquidn specific peptidase 9, Y-linked （ usPgY）, testis-specific protein on Y chromosome （TSPY） were evaluated. Absolute copy numbers of Y chromosomal genes were determined by standard curve-based quantitative real time PCR. Copy numbers of SRYand TSPYgenes per unit amount of genomic DNA are higher in crossbred than Indicine bulls. However, no difference was observed in DDX3Yand usPgYgene copy numbers between two groups. Conclusion： The present study demonstrates that the structural organization of Y chromosomes differs between crossbred and Indicine bulls which are reproductively healthy as observed from analysis of semen attributes. The absolute copy numbers of SRY and TSPY genes in unit mass of genomic DNA of crossbred bulls are significantly higher than Indicine bulls. No alteration in absolute copies ofDDX3Yand usPgYgene was found between the genome of crossbred and Indicine bulls. This study suggests that the DDX3Yand USPgYare likely to be single copy genes in the genome of crossbred and Indicine bulls and variation in Y chromosome length between crossbred and Indicine bulls may be due to the copy number variation of SRY gene and TSPYarray.

Rat Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Adipose Tissue Reduce Bleomycin-Induced Lung Remodeling in Late Stage

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is progressive fibrosing interstitial pneumonia of unknown cause, chronic and incurable interstitial lung disease, associated with high mortality rates and unresponsive to treatments currently available. The prevalence of IPF is estimated at approximately 20/100,000 in men and 13/100,000 in women, and the mean age at the time of diagnosis is 67 years and the median survival is 2 to 5 years. Therapies available to date, proved, therefore, only palliative measures with doubtful or unsatisfactory result. Many experimental models of pulmonary fibrosis are described. Bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis is a widely used experimental model to identify and validate new therapeutic targets. We have induced pulmonary fibrosis by intratracheal bleomycin and late instillation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) from adipose tissue as a therapeutic proposal was used. MSC have the capacity to modulate inflammatory and immune response. Furthermore, the long-term effect of MSCs could also regulate and control to collagen deposition of the myofibroblasts, a final and pivo cell of pulmonary fibrosis. MSC from adipose tissue is an effective therapy to decrease collagen synthesis and expression in late stage of bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis model, which may contribute to new therapeutic targets.

Immunotherapy using IL-2 and GM-CSF is a potential treatment for multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis

This study investigated the therapeutic effects of interleukin （IL）-2 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor （GM-CSF） co-administrated with antibacterial agents isoniazid （INH） and rifampin （RIF） to treat a mouse model of tuberculo- sis （TB） infection. A drug-susceptible TB strain, H37Rv was used to infect mice and the effectiveness of IL-2 and GM-CSF was initially evaluated based on survival rate, bacterial counts in lungs and spleens and the pathological condition of the lungs. Next, the therapeutic effect of the immunotherapy regimen was assessed in multidrug-resistant strain OB35-infected mice. In the H37Rv infection model, 1L-2 and GM-CSF monotherapies reduced bacterial numbers in the lungs by 0.82 （P〈0.01） and 0.58 （P〈0.05） lg colony-forming units （CFU）, respectively, and in the spleens by 1.42 （P〈0.01） and 1.22 （P〈0.01） lg CFU, re- spectively, compared with the untreated group. Mice receiving immunotherapy developed fewer lesions in the lungs compared with mice receiving antibacterial therapy alone. In the OB35 infection model, immunotherapy with either cytokine resulted in a significant reduction of bacterial load in the lungs and spleens and less severe lesions in the lungs compared with the untreated or antibacterial therapy treated mice. Notably, mice receiving immunotherapy with both cytokines had a 30% survival rate which was higher than that in other treated groups, and had significantly less CFUs in the lungs and spleens （1.02 and 1.34 lg CFU） compared with antibacterial therapy alone （P〈0.01）. This study demonstrated that immunotherapy with both IL-2 and GM-CSF may be useful to treat multidrug resistant tuberculosis （MDR-TB）.