ABSTRACT
River buffalo (Bubalus bubalis bubalis) with a population over 135 million heads is an important livestock. Interleukin 8 (IL-8) is a member of the chemokine family and is an important chemoattractant for neutrophils associated with a wide variety of inflammatory diseases such as endometritis. Tissue samples from the mammary gland, uterus and ovary were obtained from river buffalo (Mediterranean type) with and without endometritis. Bacteriological examination showed the presence of both gram positive and negative in all buffalo with endometritis. RNA extraction and complementary DNA (cDNA) synthesis were conducted from all tissues. Specific primer for IL8 full coding regions was designed using known cDNA sequences of Bubalus bubalis, Genbank accession number AY952930.1. IL-8 gene expression was investigated in buffalo tissues. Expression of IL-8 in buffalo with endometritis was found to increase significantly over buffalo without endometritis only in the uterus (P = 0.0159). PCR products from uterus tissues (target organs) of buffalo with and without endometritis, were purified and sequenced. No polymorphic sites were detected in the investigated samples. IL-8 cDNA nucleotide sequences of buffalo with and without endometritis were 100% identical (accession number JX413057). Buffalo IL8 cDNAs were compared with corresponding sequences of member of subfamily Bovinae (buffalo and cattle) and subfamily Caprinae (sheep and goat). IL-8 species specific differences were identified.
ABSTRACT
The inhibitory effects of beta-glucan (betaG), one of the biological response modifiers, on the induction of chromosomal aberrations in the bone marrow and spermatogonial cells of mice treated with various anti-neoplastic drugs were investigated. beta-Glucan (100 mg/kg bw, i.p.) pre-treatment reduced the total number of cells with structural chromosomal aberrations scored after the treatment with cyclophosphamide (CP) (2.5 mg/kg bw, i.p.) adriamycin (ADR) (12 mg/kg bw, i.p.) and cis-diamminedichloroplatinum-II (cisplatin) (5 mg/kg bw, i.p.) by about 41.1, 26.9 and 57.7% in bone marrow and 44.4, 55 and 57.1% in spermatogonial cells, respectively. This protective effect of beta-glucan could be attributed to its scavenging ability to trap free-radicals produced during the biotransformation of these anti-neoplastic drugs. Beta-glucan also markedly restored the mitotic activity of bone marrow cells that had been suppressed by the anti-neoplastic drugs. These results indicate that in addition to the known immunopotentiating activity of beta-glucan, it plays a role in reducing genotoxicity induced by anti-neoplastic drugs during cancer chemotherapy.
