Seroprevalence of Dirofilaria immitis in Cats from Liaoning Province, Northeastern China

The present study was performed to investigate the seroprevalence and risk factors for Dirofilaria immitis infection in cats from Liaoning province, northeastern China. From October 2014 to September 2016, sera of 651 cats, including 364 domestic cats and 287 feral cats (332 females and 319 males) were assessed. They were tested for the presence of D. immitis antigen using SNAP Heartworm RT test kit. In this population, the average prevalence was 4.5%. Age and rearing conditions (feral or domestic) were found to be associated with the prevalence of D. immitis. The prevalence was significantly higher in feral cats compared with domestic cats (8.4% vs 1.4%, P 0.05), but older cats (≥3 years old) showed a statistically higher prevalence compared with younger cats ( 0.05), all these results suggest that outdoor exposure time may be one of the most important factors for D. immitis prevalence in cats. Results reveal that D. immitis are prevalence in domestic and feral cats in northeastern China, which indicates that appropriate preventive measures should be taken to decrease the incidence of feline heartworm disease in Liaoning province, northeastern China.

Codon Usage Bias and Determining Forces in Taenia solium Genome

The tapeworm Taenia solium is an important human zoonotic parasite that causes great economic loss and also endangers public health. At present, an effective vaccine that will prevent infection and chemotherapy without any side effect remains to be developed. In this study, codon usage patterns in the T. solium genome were examined through 8,484 protein-coding genes. Neutrality analysis showed that T. solium had a narrow GC distribution, and a significant correlation was observed between GC12 and GC3. Examination of an NC (ENC vs GC3s)-plot showed a few genes on or close to the expected curve, but the majority of points with low-ENC (the effective number of codons) values were detected below the expected curve, suggesting that mutational bias plays a major role in shaping codon usage. The Parity Rule 2 plot (PR2) analysis showed that GC and AT were not used proportionally. We also identified 26 optimal codons in the T. solium genome, all of which ended with either a G or C residue. These optimal codons in the T. solium genome are likely consistent with tRNAs that are highly expressed in the cell, suggesting that mutational and translational selection forces are probably driving factors of codon usage bias in the T. solium genome.

Changes of cytokines in the Cricetulus barabensis and their albino mutant infected with trichinella spiralis / 中国比较医学杂志

Objective To explore the differences in immune responses between Cricetulus barabensis and their albino mutant infected with Trichinella spiralis.Methods The physiological parameters of blood , expression levels of IL-2 protein and IL-6 gene in the spleen were analyzed.Results The level of immune cells and cytokines of Cricetulus barabensis was higher than that in the albino mutant .Conclusions Cricetulus barabensis is a suitable model animal for research on long-term latent infection such as infection with Trichinella spiralis.

A Novel Recombinant BCG Vaccine Encoding Eimeria tenella Rhomboid and Chicken IL-2 Induces Protective Immunity Against Coccidiosis

A novel recombinant Bacille Calmette-Guerin (rBCG) vaccine co-expressed Eimeria tenella rhomboid and cytokine chicken IL-2 (chIL-2) was constructed, and its efficacy against E. tenella challenge was observed. The rhomboid gene of E. tenella and chIL-2 gene were subcloned into integrative expression vector pMV361, producing vaccines rBCG pMV361-rho and pMV361-rho-IL2. Animal experiment via intranasal and subcutaneous route in chickens was carried out to evaluate the immune efficacy of the vaccines. The results indicated that these rBCG vaccines could obviously alleviate cacal lesions and oocyst output. Intranasal immunization with pMV361-rho and pMV361-rho-IL2 elicited better protective immunity against E. tenella than subcutaneous immunization. Splenocytes from chickens immunized with either rBCG pMV361-rho and pMV361-rho-IL2 had increased CD4+ and CD8+ cell production. Our data indicate recombinant BCG is able to impart partial protection against E. tenella challenge and co-expression of cytokine with antigen was an effective strategy to improve vaccine immunity.

IL-18 augments protective immunity of Sj23 plasmid DNA vaccine against Schistosoma japonicum in mice / 中国兽医学报

Two recombinant plasmids pVAX/Sj23 and pVAX/mIL-18 containing Schistosoma japonicum 23 000 membrane protein (Sj23) and murine IL-18 were evaluated for their ability to induce immune responses and to protect against S. japonicum challenge in mice. All animals vaccinated with pVAX/Sj23 alone or plus pVAX/mIL-18 developed specific anti-SWAP (soluble worm antigen preparation) ELISA antibody and splenocyte proliferation response,and co-injection of pVAX/mIL-18 significantly increased the production of IFN-γ and IL-2 compared with pVAX/Sj23 alone, indicating that IL-18 enhances the Th1-dominant immune response. The challenge experiment showed that worm reduction rates in pVAX/Sj23 group compared with control group (pVAX1) was 26.5% and in the pVAX/Sj23 plus pVAX/mIL-18 group was 41.9% ,and the hepatic egg reduction rates were 42.7 and 49.6%,respectively. These results indicated that co-injection of an IL-18 plasmid with Sj23 DNA vaccine efficiently improves the protective effect against S. japonicum infection.

Expressing of bovine viral diarrhea-mucosal disease virus Changchun184 strain of E2 gene in BCG / 中国兽医学报

E2 gene of BVDV Changchun 184 strain was cloned and inserted into the shuttle expression plasmid vector pMV261,the recombinant shuttle plasmid pMV261-E2 was constructed.Then pMV261-E2 was transformed into BCG successfully and obtained recombinant BCG which was resistive to kanamyein.The recombinant BCG were identifieated by PCR.E2 gene expression in recombinant BCG was induced in 45℃,then the SDS-PAGE and western blotting was used to analyze the expression product.The results indicated the BVDV E2 gene was expressd in BCG successfully.

The therapeutic effect of Nitazoxanide on the dogs infected with Giardia canis / 中国兽医学报

To observe the therapeutic effect of Nitazoxanide(NTZ) on dogs infected with Giardia canis trophozoites.Eight dogs were infected with Giardia canis trophozoites and divided into four groups rondomly,G1:2 dogs treated with Nitazoxanide at a single dose of 1 mg/kg body weight;G2:2 dogs treated with NTZ at a single dose of 2 mg/kg;G3:2 dogs treated with NTZ at a single dose of 41 mg/kg;G4:2 dogs treated without drugs as control.All groups were examined for Giardia canis cysts by Zinc Sulfate Flotation.Each group was subjected to collect stool per day and counted cysts.The results of G2 and G3 were negative after 1th day.G1 were negative after 4th days.The results indicated that NTZ at a dose of 2 mg/kg and 4 mg/kg in dogs had a faourable effect on the dogs infected with Giardia canis.

The changes of ?_1-adrenoceptor in ischeamic rabbit myocardium / 中国病理生理杂志

We used (H~3)-prazosin on rabbits to determine the changes of ?_1-adrenoceptor number (Bmax) and affinity (k_D) before and after ischemia, Within 15min of ischemia, we demonstrated that Bmax increased to twfold in ischeamic regions. The increase persisted for 30 min of ischemla and then began to fall at 45 min of ischemia. At the same time, in the nonischemic regions Bmax did not change. The results also showed that ischemia did not alter K_D markedly in both nonischeamic and ischeamic regions.

Construction of a eukaryotic expressing vector containing CP15 gene of C.parvum and its expression in Hela cells / 中国免疫学杂志

Objective:To construct an eukaryotic expressing vector pCR3 1 15 containing CP15 gene of Crypstosporidium parvum(C.parvum) and express it in Hela cells Methods:CP15 gene of C parvum was obtained from pMD18 T 15 disgested by BglⅡ and was inserted into eukaryotic expressing vector pCR3 1(+) in BamHⅠ site,and then Hela cells were transfected with recombinant by liposomes The transcription and expressed products of CP15 in the transfected Hela cells were assayed by RT PCR,ELISA and indiret immunofluorescence assay after screening with G418 Results:It showed that pCR3 1 15 was constructed successfully CP15 gene was transcripted in transfectants and CP15 protein with obvious biological activity was highly expressed in Hela cells Conclusion:CP15 gene in recombinant vector is proved to be expressed in Hela cells and obvious biological activity of expression production in transfected cells was detected