First case report of an acute hepatitis E subgenotype 3c infection during pregnancy in Germany.

Hepatitis E is usually a self-limiting disease and an important cause of acute hepatitis in endemic countries in Asia and Africa. However, the mortality rate for pregnant women infected with hepatitis E virus (HEV) in this area is about 25%. In Germany, sporadic cases of acute hepatitis E infections have been described and the number of autochthonous infections is increasing. Here we report an autochthonous HEV subgenotype 3c infection in a 27-year old pregnant woman. This is the first documented case of a hepatitis E infection during pregnancy in Germany. The patient presented in week 26 of gestation with acute hepatitis and elevated transaminases. During follow-up, she tested positive for anti-HEV antibodies. HEV viral load during the acute hepatitis was 2.3×10(6) copies/ml serum, however viremia declined and cleared rapidly. Sequence analysis revealed a HEV subgenotype 3c closely related to European isolates. The patient had not travelled outside Germany, had regular contact to animals, but the source of infection remains unclear. The newborn was delivered in week 40 of gestation in good health, HEV was not transmitted and liver enzymes were normal. In conclusion, hepatitis E should be considered in differential diagnosis in patients with acute hepatitis especially during pregnancy, even without travel history to countries with high endemicity.

Effect of feeding rumen-protected conjugated linoleic acid on carcass characteristics and fatty acid composition of sheep tissues.

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effectiveness of a rumen-protected CLA (pCLA) supplement and the impact of feeding this pCLA on carcass characteristics and tissue fatty acid composition of lambs. In Exp. 1, a CLA-80 preparation (80% pure CLA; contained similar proportions of cis-9, trans-11, and trans-10, cis-12 CLA), protected against rumen degradation, was fed to sheep, and the proportion of CLA reaching the duodenum was determined. A 3 x 3 Latin square design was used with 3 diets (1.4 kg of concentrate-based control diet, the same control diet plus 22 g of CLA-80, or the same control diet plus 110 g of pCLA/d), 3 feeding periods, and 3 rumen and duodenally cannulated sheep (Mule x Charolais males, 10 mo of age, BW 55.3 +/- 1.8 kg). After 7 d of feeding, sheep were ruminally infused with chromium EDTA and Yb acetate for 7 d, after which samples of duodenal digesta were collected every 6 h for 48 h to determine the quantity of CLA reaching the small intestine each day. The amounts of CLA cis-9, trans-11 and trans-10, cis-12, and combined isomers, flowing through the duodenum each day were greater (P = 0.01) in sheep fed pCLA. Approximately 65% of the pCLA avoided rumen biohydrogenation, with the ratio of the 2 main isomers remaining similar. In Exp. 2, 36 Mule x Charolais ewe lambs (approximately 13-wk old, average initial BW 29.3 kg) were fed 3 levels of the pCLA or Megalac, which were fed to provide an equivalent energy content at each pCLA level. Lambs were randomly assigned to 1 of 7 treatment groups, which were fed for 10 wk to achieve a growth rate of 180 g/d. Treatments included the basal diet and the basal diet plus 25, 50, or 100 g of pCLA/kg of diet or the equivalent amount of Megalac. In liver (P < 0.001) and all adipose tissue depots studied, the proportions of both CLA isomers increased (P = 0.02) with the amount of pCLA fed but were not altered with increasing of Megalac. Although there was no effect of treatment on cis-9, trans-11 CLA content, accumulation (P < 0.001) in the LM with increasing of pCLA supplementation was observed for the trans-10, cis-12 isomer. Although tissues had been enriched with CLA, there was no evidence of a reduction in adipose tissue or an increase in muscle mass in these sheep. However, an effect of pCLA on tissue fatty acid composition was consistent with an inhibition of stearoyl-CoA desaturase.