Enhancement of the Immune Response to Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Vaccine in Young Rabbits by Advanced Vaccination and Chinese Herbal Adjuvants

Experiments were conducted to determine the effects of advanced vaccination and Chinese herbal adjuvants （CHA）, containing astragalus polysaccharides （APS） and ginsenosides （GS） on the immune response to rabbit hemorrhagic disease （RHD） vaccine in young rabbits. In experiment 1, 5 New Zealand rabbits of each group at 30, 35, 40, or 45 days of age were injected with 2 mL of inactivated RHD vaccine, respectively. The dynamic changes of antibody titers were tested by the hemagglutination inhibition （HI） method. In experiment 2, 30 New Zealand rabbits at 35 days of age were randomly assigned to 5 treatment groups, representing inoculation with 3 mL of non-adjuvant RHD vaccine, CHA-RHD vaccine, CHA-HA vaccine （half dose antigen）, aluminium adjuvant-RHD vaccine, and PBS, respectively. The dynamic changes of peripheral lymphocyte proliferation and serum antibody titers were tested by the MTT method and the HI method. The results showed that the titer of maternal HI antibody in the 35-day-old rabbits was lower than the protective level of 3 log2, while on days 7 to 49 after the vaccination, the antibody titers were higher than 3 log2. The CHA promoted the lymphocyte proliferation and enhanced the serum antibody titer （P〈 0.05）. These findings from the two experiments suggested that advanced vaccination and Chinese herbal adjuvants significantly enhanced the immune response to vaccine against RHD, and effectively protected the young rabbits against RHD challenge.

Chronic corticosterone disrupts the circadian rhythm of CRH expression and m^(6)A RNA methylation in the chicken hypothalamus

Background:Corticotropin-releasing hormone(CRH),the major secretagogue of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal(HPA)axis,is intricately intertwined with the clock genes to regulate the circadian rhythm of various body functions.N6-methyladenosine(m^(6)A)RNA methylation is involved in the regulation of circadian rhythm,yet it remains unknown whether CRH expression and m^(6)A modification oscillate with the clock genes in chicken hypothalamus and how the circadian rhythms change under chronic stress.Results:Chronic exposure to corticosterone(CORT)eliminated the diurnal patterns of plasma CORT and melatonin levels in the chicken.The circadian rhythms of clock genes in hippocampus,hypothalamus and pituitary are all disturbed to different extent in CORT-treated chickens.The most striking changes occur in hypothalamus in which the diurnal fluctuation of CRH mRNA is flattened,together with mRNA of other feeding-related neuropeptides.Interestingly,hypothalamic m^(6)A level oscillates in an opposite pattern to CRH mRNA,with lowestm^(6)A level after midnight(ZT18)corresponding to the peak of CRH mRNA before dawn(ZT22).CORT diminished the circadian rhythm of m^(6)A methylation with significantly increased level at night.Further site-specific m^(6)A analysis on 3’UTR of CRH mRNA indicates that higher m^(6)A on 3’UTR of CRH mRNA coincides with lower CRH mRNA at night(ZT18 and ZT22).Conclusions:Our results indicate that chronic stress disrupts the circadian rhythms of CRH expression in hypothalamus,leading to dysfunction of HPA axis in the chicken.RNA m^(6)A modification is involved in the regulation of circadian rhythms in chicken hypothalamus under both basal and chronic stress conditions.

Constant light in early life induces fear-related behavior in chickens with suppressed melatonin secretion and disrupted hippocampal expression of clock-and BDNF-associated genes

Background: Light management plays an important role in the growth and behavior of broiler chickens. Constant light in early post hatch stage has been a common practice in broiler industry for improving growth performance,while whether and how constant light in early life affects the behavior of broiler chickens is rarely reported.Results: In this study, newly hatched chicks were kept in either constant(24 L:0 D, LL) or(12 L:12 D, LD) photoperiod for 7 d and then maintained in 12 L:12 D thereafter until 21 days of age. Constant light increased the average daily feed intake but not the body weight, which led to higher feed conversion ratio. Chickens in LL group exhibited fear-related behaviors, which was associated with higher corticosterone, lower melatonin and 5-HT levels. Concurrently, constant light exposure increased the mRNA expression of clock-related genes and suppressed the expression of antioxidative genes in the hippocampus. Moreover, brain derived neurotrophic factor/extracel ular signal-regulated kinase(BDNF/ERK) pathway was suppressed in the hippocampus of chickens exposed to constant light in the first week post hatching.Conclusions: These findings indicate that constant light exposure in early life suppress melatonin secretion and disrupts hippocampal expression of genes involved in circadian clock and BDNF/ERK pathway, thereby contributing to fear-related behaviors in the chicken.

Urine metabonomic study for blood-replenishing mechanism of Angelica sinensis in a blood-deficient mouse model

This study aimed at determining the effects of Angelica sinensis(AS) on urinary metabolites in blood deficiency mice and exploring its replenishing blood mechanism. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry(GC-MS) was applied to detect metabolites in the urine samples in different collection periods. Principal component analysis(PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA) were used to investigate the differences in metabolic profiles among control group(CG), blood deficiency model group(MG), AS groups, and Colla Corii Asini group(CCAG). The potential biomarkers were identified based on the variable importance in the projection(VIP), T-test, and National Institute of Standards and Technology(NIST) and mass spectra library. The metabolites were analyzed using metabolomics pathway analysis(Met PA) to build the metabolic pathways. Our results indicated that, on the seventh day, the levels of glucose, lactic acid, pyruvic acid, alanine, acetoacetic acid, and citric acid changed significantly in blood deficiency mice. However, these metabolic deviations came to closer to normal levels after AS intervention. The reversing blood-deficiency mechanism of AS might involve regulating synthesis and degradation of ketone bodies, Pyruvate metabolism, TCA cycle, and Glycolysis / Gluconeogenesis. In conclusion, metabonomics is a robust and promising means for the identification of biomarkers and elucidation of the mechanisms of a disease, thereby highlighting its importance in drug discovery.