Morphometric traits of the heart in standard and mutational colour variants of American mink ( Neovison vison ) / Características morfométricas del corazón en las variantes de color estándar y mutacional del visón americano ( Neovison vison )

The aim of this study was to estimate the values of morphological traits of myocardium in American minks. The study was conducted on 342 male mink hearts and 416 female mink hearts. Mink coat coloration resulting from mutation or crossbreeding of mutational variants with each other and sex were assumed as a source of variation. Carcass, lung and heart weights, heart height, width, depth and circumference, as well as left and right ventricular wall weights and thickness at two locations were determined. The values of 10 indices characterising the relative size of the heart were estimated. The results showed no normal distribution of the heart traits examined. The greatest average heart weight was characteristic of male mutational colour variant minks (17.40 ± 2.34 g). These hearts were heavier by more than 8 % than those of male standard colour variant minks. The hearts of male mutational colour variant minks were characterised by the greatest left and right ventricle weights (P≤0.01) compared to those of male standard colour variant minks, in which in turn the greatest left and right ventricle wall thickness was larger than that in standard colour variant minks. It was found that a greater difference calculated between mean left ventricle wall thickness and mean right ventricle wall thickness in standard colour variant minks may provide more evidence of its adaptation to a greater effort, referring thus to their evolutionary history than to the occurrence of signs of multistage myocardial hypertrophy.

El objetivo de este estudio fue estimar los valores de los rasgos morfológicos del miocardio en el visón americano. El estudio se realizó en 342 corazones de visón macho y 416 corazones de visón hembra. La coloración de la capa de visón resultante de la mutación o el cruce de variantes mutacionales entre sí, y el sexo se asumieron como una fuente de variación. Se determinaron los pesos de la canal, los pulmones y el corazón, la altura del corazón, el ancho, la profundidad y la circunferencia, así como los pesos y el grosor de las paredes de los ventrículos izquierdo y derecho en dos ubicaciones. Se estimaron los valores de 10 índices que caracterizan el tamaño relativo del corazón. Los resultados no mostraron una distribución normal de los rasgos de los corazones examinados. El mayor peso promedio del corazón fue característico de los visones de variante de color mutacional macho (17,40 ± 2,34 g). Estos corazones eran más pesados en más de un 8 % que los de los visones con variante de color estándar machos. Los corazones de los visones de variante de color mutacional macho se caracterizaron por los mayores pesos de los ventrículos izquierdo y derecho (P≤0,01) en comparación con los de los visones de color estándar machos, en los que a su vez el mayor grosor de las paredes de los ventrículos izquierdo y derecho fue mayor que el de las variantes de colores estándar. Se observó que una mayor diferencia entre los grosores medio de las paredes de los ventrículos izquierdo y derecho en las variantes de color estándar, puede proporcionar más pruebas de su adaptación a un mayor esfuerzo, refiriéndose así a su historial evolutivo, pese a la aparición de signos de hipertrofia miocárdica multietapa.

Commonly Used Vomiting Animal Models / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Vomiting is a common clinical symptom. Long-term severe vomiting could seriously reduce the life quality of patients, so it is necessary to be intervened with antiemetic drugs. Traditional Chinese medicine has a long history in the treatment of vomiting with remarkable a curative effect. It has the advantages of multi-component, multi-target and multi-system synergistic antagonism. However, due to the active substance and unclear mechanism, it is urgent to adopt an internationally recognized vomiting model system to evaluate the antiemetic characteristics, elucidate the vomiting mechanism, and provide reference for better clinical application. Therefore, this paper systematically introduces several vomiting animal models that are widely used at home and abroad. According to the authors' own experimental experience, this paper focuses on the rat and mice pica models for reference of relevant researchers. Specifically, ferrets are an internationally recognized ideal vomiting animal model, and the golden standard for evaluating the effects of antiemetic drugs, suncus murinus is the smallest mammalian vomiting model. Rodents have no vomiting reflexes, but studies have shown that its pica behavior is equivalent to the vomiting behavior of other species. Because the easy availability and operation, the model has been promoted and applied in mainland China. Guizhou mini-pig model is a self-developed medium-sized mammalian vomiting model with a similar anatomical structure and vomiting characteristics to human, and worthy of popularization and application. In conclusion, different vomiting models have their own characteristics that need to be optimized according to the purpose of experiments and samples.

Establishment and application of a multiplex PCR assay for detection of Aleutian disease parvovirus, enteritis parvovirus and canine distemper virus in the mink / 中国比较医学杂志

Objective Aleutian disease, mink enteritis and canine distemper are the three major diseases affecting health of mink. This study intends to establish a multiplex PCR assay for simultaneously detecting of these three viruses. Methods According to the conservative sequences reported in GenBank, three pairs of specific primers were designed to amplify the DNA templates of Aleutian mink disease parvovirus (ADV), mink enteritis parvovirus (MEV), and RNA templates of canine distemper virus (CDV), and optimized the amplifying conditions. Results The specific objective strips of 601 bp ( ADV) , 205 bp ( MEV) and 451 bp ( CDV) were amplified simultaneously. The sensitivity test showed that the lowest nucleic acid detection limits were 2. 67 × 104 copies perμL for ADV, 3. 02 × 104 copies perμL for MEV, and 1. 72 × 105 copies perμL for CDV. The results of test of the clinical samples showed that the multiple PCR and single PCR assay were consistent. Conclusions The established multiplex PCR assay in this study can be used to rapidly detect the clinical samples of ADV, MEV and CDV single or mixed infections.

Three Distinct Episodes of Thumb Felon in a Fur Industry Worker.

Aims: To present and discuss the etiology of three distinct episodes of thumb felon in a fur industry worker, in association with the required precautions. Case Presentation: A 61-year-old man working in a fur industry was treated for three distinct episodes of a felon of the right thumb within an 8-month period. He was treated successfully with surgical drainage and antibiotics following each episode. He was symptom-free and returned to work about two months following each episode. Felon formation, in all cases, was due to a Streptococcus constellatus infection secondary to mink hair penetration through the distal nail groove of his thumb. Using protective gloves, no further relapses have occurred during a 5-year follow-up. Discussion: A felon is an abscess of the pulp of a finger or thumb usually due to percutaneous trauma. Streptococcus constellatus, which is included in the Streptococcus milleri group, is often associated with various pyogenic infections. In the reported case, the lack of hand protection during fur processing was the cause of mink hair infiltration into the pulp of the patient’s thumb through the distal nail groove and of the three episodes of felon formation due to the secondary infection by Streptococcus constellatus. Conclusion: Lack of hand protection during fur processing could make hands vulnerable to micro-injuries and secondary infections.

Prion diseases: A challenge to animal health.

Prion diseases are known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE), a group of rare, rapidly progressive, and fatal neurologic diseases. The agents responsible for human and animal prion diseases are abnormal proteins (prion or proteinaceous infectious particle) that can trigger chain reactions causing normal proteins in the brain to change to the abnormal protein. These abnormal proteins are resistant to enzymatic breakdown, and they accumulate in the brain, leading to damage. All have long incubation periods followed by chronic neurological disease and fatal outcomes, have similar pathology limited to the CNS include convulsions, dementia, ataxia (balance and coordination dysfunction), and behavioral changes, and are experimentally transmissible to some other species.

Proceedings of MinK-related peptides / 中国药理学通报

MinK-related peptides is a unique family of ion channel ancillary subunits,that modify voltage-gating,conductance and pharmacology of ion channel subunits.This article reviews MinK-related peptides on the gene and protein structure,subunits from a variety of subfamilies,and the potential role in physiology and pathology.

MiRP1 regulates electrophysiological properties of HCN1 and HCN2 in CHO cells in vitro / 第三军医大学学报

Objective To investigate the modulation of electrophysiological properties of hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated channels(HCN) HCN1 and HCN2 by transfecting MinK-related peptide 1(MiRP1) in Chinese hamster ovarian(CHO) cells.Methods CHO cells were co-transfected with plasmid DNA encoding either of the cardiac HCN isoforms(HCN1,HCN2) with MiRP1 to observe the effect of MiRP1 on HCN whole-cell currents.Whole-cell patch clamp technique was used to record the 2 channel currents of the transfected cells.Results MiRP1 significantly increased whole-cell current density of HCN2 [(37.8?4.8) pA/pF(n=11) vs control(25.9?1.7) pA/pF(n=10);at-140 mV,P0.05].Moreover,MiRP1 accelerated the activation kinetic of HCN1 [tau(180.9?8.6) ms vs control(306.1?45.6) ms;at-80 mV,P

Review and evaluation of vomiting animal models / 中国药理学通报

Only limited species of animals with vomiting reflex are available for the vomiting animal models. From 1980s some new vomiting models have been developed, such as in ferret, which is convinced its vomiting behavior is closest to human being; Suncus murinus(house musk shrew)is the smallest mammal used in vomiting model and the most sensitive animal to motion sickness; rat, although without vomiting reflex, but consuming non-nutritive substance such as kaolin(pica) can be considered to be an index of nausea and vomiting; mink, from the same genus as ferret, can be a substitute of ferret in vomiting model. It should be noted that the sensitivity profile to different emetic stimuli is species-dependent.

Effects of haloperidol on potassium channel in myocytes of New Zealand rabbits / 中国药理学通报

0.05).mRNA level of KvLQT1,ERG,and mink genes decreased compared with that of normal group(P