Effects of 5-aminolevulinic acid supplementation on milk production, iron status, and immune response of dairy cows.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) as a dietary supplement on milk yield and composition as well as iron status and immune response in lactating dairy cows. In this study 13 lactating Holstein cows were randomly assigned to either a control group or a treatment group supplemented with 10 mg of 5-ALA per kilogram of dry matter. During feeding, 5-ALA was mixed with a small amount of the total mixed ration and top-dressed. The experiments followed a crossover design with 2 periods. Each period consisted of an adaptation period of 12 d and a test period of 2 d. Dairy cows fed the diet supplemented with 5-ALA exhibited increased counts of white blood cells and granulocytes compared with the control group. The rate of phagocytosis and mitogen-induced proliferation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in cows fed 5-ALA were higher than in cows fed a basal diet. However, 5-ALA did not affect iron status or plasma biochemical composition. Supplementation with 5-ALA improved milk protein and milk casein contents; however, it had no effect on milk production, milk fat, lactose, total solids, or solids-not-fat, compared with the control. We conclude that dietary supplementation of 5-ALA to lactating dairy cows may have a positive effect on milk protein synthesis and the immune response.

Biodegradation of organophosphate pesticide chloropyrifos by Egyptian bacterial isolates.

Sixteen microbial isolates capable of growing on Dursban as a secondary substrate were isolated from three soil and sewage water samples collected from different localities polluted with pesticides. Six developed isolates only were capable of biodegrading Dursban and utilizing it as only sole source of carbon, energy and phosphorus. The six bacterial isolates were managed to grow on enrichment medium containing Dursban up to 40 ml/liter, for seven days at 25 degrees C. Each isolate exhibited growth and degradation of Dursban concentrations that best bacteria were identified as Pseudomonas stutzeri S7B4 and Flavobacterium balustinum S8B6. These two bacterial isolates were subjected to some environmental and nutritional parameters that affect the biodegradation process of Dursban. The optimum conditions includes :incubation period, 7 days; Dursban concentrations, 10 ml/l; inoculum size, 4 ml/l; incubation temperature, 35 degrees C; optimum pH value, 7; carbon source, fructose and ribose, respectively; nitrogen source, urea and peptone, respectively; amino acid, histidine; and vitamin, yeast extract, under shaking condition (200 rpm). Only the most potent microbial isolate Pseudomonas stutzeri was grown on their own mineral salts medium which contained 40 mlM/l in case of Dursban in the absence and presence of fructose as the best carbon source for two time intervals i.e. 7 and 15 days. Absence of phosphorus and the presence of many oxidized compounds revealed that the ability of P. stutzeri to biodegrade and detoxify Dursban using it as the sole phosphorus, carbon and energy sources. GC-MS analysis of all three treatments of Dursban-bioremediation process showed no detection of any phosphorus compounds especially Dursban in the three treatments, indicated that both bacterial strains i.e. P. stutzeri S7-B4 and F. balustinum S8B6 were able to utilize Dursban pesticide as carbon and phosphorus sources. Thus, it is possible to use both bacterial strains in the bioremediation of pesticides especially Dursban-contaminated sites.

Chronic renal failure and end-stage renal disease are associated with a high rate of mortality after heart transplantation.

The aim of the study was to analyze the etiology, the factors for progression of chronic renal failure to end-stage-renal disease (ESRD), and the influence of ESRD on the survival rate among a cohort of 59 heart transplant patients (HTP) referred for the management of chronic renal failure (CRF). At the time of the first nephrology consultation (6 +/- 4.25 years after cardiac transplantation) the mean creatininemia was 261.5 +/- 99 micromol/L and mean creatinine clearance (Cockcroft formula) was 32 +/- 15 mL/min. The cause of CRF were calcineurin inhibitor toxicity in 38.9% of patients, vascular events in 15.2%, hemolytic uremic syndrome in 5%, membranous glomerulopathy in 3.3%, diabetes in two patients, focal/segmental glomerulosclerosis in 3.3%, renal hypoplasia in 1.7%, and unknown in 27%. Evolution to ESRD occurred in 38.9% of patients: 17 patients started hemodialysis, three peritoneal dialysis, and two received a preemptive kidney transplantation. Creatininemia (micromol/L) at the time of nephrology referral was 229.2 +/- 72.6 versus 315.8 +/- 113.4 (P < .001) and creatinine clearance (mL/min) was 34.9 +/- 15.1 versus 27.3 +/- 13.7 (P = .049) for patients with CRF versus ESRD, respectively. Both proteinuria (g/24 hours) of 1 +/- 2.2 versus 2.3 +/- 1.8 (P = .02) and tobacco use in 35.1% versus 54.4% (P = .045) were significantly associated with progression of CRF, while age at the time of heart transplantation, cause of cardiac failure and renal failure, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, alcoholism, cirrhosis, and cerebral vascular accident were not. Death occurred in 18 HTP: 50% of patients with ESRD and 18.5% of patients with CRF-a 2.6 relative risk of of death in HTP patients with ESRD compared with HTP with CRF only (P < .01).