The association of Curcuma and Scutellaria plant extracts improves laying hen thermal tolerance and egg oxidative stability and quality under heat stress conditions.

Chronic exposure to high ambient temperatures is detrimental to laying hen performance and egg quality. Plant secondary metabolites may alleviate effects, partly due to their antioxidant activities. Herein, we investigated the effects of dietary supplementation with a phytonutrient solution (PHYTO) consisting of a plant extract combination of Scutellaria baicalensis and Curcuma longa on young layers (25-32 wk of age) raised under naturally elevated temperature conditions. Four hundred, 24-wk-old Lohmann hens were allocated in 50 cages and, after a week of adaptation, were offered a diet either containing 2 g/kg of PHYTO or not, for 8 wk. Hen BW was measured at the beginning and end of the trial, and egg production and feed intake were recorded weekly. At week 32, four eggs per cage were collected to determine egg quality characteristics as well as the rate of lipid and albumen oxidation in fresh eggs. At the end of the trial, two hens per cage were blood sampled for assessment of biochemical markers, one of which was euthanized for histopathological evaluation of the liver and intestine and assessment of intestinal histomorphometry. The herbal mixture supplementation significantly increased egg production rate at weeks 28 and 29 and for the overall production period, and feed efficiency at weeks 26-29. In addition, the degree of liver necrosis and microvascular thrombosis was lower (P < 0.05) whereas intestinal villosity was greater in duodenal and jejunal segments (P < 0.05) in the PHYTO compared to the control group. Supplementation also reduced (P < 0.05) blood concentrations of corticosterone, alanine aminotransferase activity, and TBARS, and a reduction in catalase activity was observed. Egg quality characteristics were not affected, except for eggshell thickness, egg diameter, and eggshell breaking strength that were superior in the PHYTO group (P < 0.05). PHYTO supplementation significantly improved egg lipid oxidation status of fresh eggs. In conclusion, supplementation with PHYTO improved laying hen productivity and egg quality, which was associated with an improvement in laying hen thermotolerance.

Effect of the flavonoid baicalin on the proliferative capacity of bovine mammary cells and their ability to regulate oxidative stress.

BACKGROUND: High-yielding dairy cows are prone to oxidative stress due to the high metabolic needs of homeostasis and milk production. Oxidative stress and inflammation are tightly linked; therefore, anti-inflammatory and/or natural antioxidant compounds may help improve mammary cell health. Baicalin, one of the major flavonoids in Scutellaria baicalensis, has natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties in various cell types, but its effects on bovine mammary epithelial cells (BMECs) have not been investigated. METHODS: Explants from bovine mammary glands were collected by biopsy at the peak of lactation (approximately 60 days after the start of lactation) (n = three animals) to isolate BMECs corresponding to mature secretory cells. Cell viability, apoptosis, proliferative capacity and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production by BMECs were measured after increasing doses of baicalin were added to the culture media in the absence or presence of H2O2, which was used as an in vitro model of oxidative stress. RESULTS: Low doses of baicalin (1-10 µg/mL) had no or only slightly positive effects on the proliferation and viability of BMECs, whereas higher doses (100 or 200 µg/mL) markedly decreased BMEC proliferation. Baicalin decreased apoptosis rate at low concentrations (10 µg/mL) but increased apoptosis at higher doses. ROS production was decreased in BMECs treated with increasing doses of baicalin compared with untreated cells, and this decreased production was associated with increased intracellular concentrations of catalase and NRF-2. Irrespective of the dose, baicalin pretreatment attenuated H2O2-induced ROS production. DISCUSSION: These results indicate that baicalin exerts protective antioxidant effects on bovine mammary cells. This finding suggests that baicalin could be used to prevent oxidative metabolic disorders in dairy cows.

TRO40303, a mitochondrial-targeted cytoprotective compound, provides protection in hepatitis models.

TRO40303 is cytoprotective compound that was shown to reduce infarct size in preclinical models of myocardial infarction. It targets mitochondria, delays mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) opening and reduces oxidative stress in cardiomyocytes submitted to ischemia/reperfusion in vitro. Because the involvement of the mitochondria and the mPTP has been demonstrated in chronic as well as acute hepatitis, we investigated the potential of TRO40303 to prevent hepatocyte injury. A first set of in vitro studies showed that TRO40303 (from 0.3 to 3 µmol/L) protected HepG2 cells and primary mouse embryonic hepatocytes (PMEH) from palmitate intoxication, a model mimicking steatohepatitis. In PMEH, TRO40303 provided similar protection against cell death due to Jo2 anti-Fas antibody intoxication. Further studies were then preformed in a mouse model of Fas-induced fulminant hepatitis induced by injecting Jo2 anti-Fas antibody. When mice received a sublethal dose of Jo2 at 125 µg/kg, TRO40303 pretreatment prevented liver enzyme elevation in plasma in parallel with a decrease in cytochrome C release from mitochondria and caspase 3 and 7 activation in hepatic tissue. When higher, lethal doses of Jo2 were administered, TRO40303 (10 and 30 mg/kg) significantly reduced mortality by 65-90% when administered intraperitoneally (i.p.) 1 h before Jo2 injection, a time when TRO40303 plasma concentrations reached their peak. TRO40303 (30 mg/kg, i.p.) was also able to reduce mortality by 30-50% when administered 1 h postlethal Jo2 intoxication. These results suggest that TRO40303 could be a promising new therapy for the treatment or prevention of hepatitis.

Curcuma and Scutellaria plant extracts protect chickens against inflammation and Salmonella Enteritidis infection.

After a ban on the use of antibiotics as growth promoters in farm animals in the European Union in 2006, an interest in alternative products with antibacterial or anti-inflammatory properties has increased. In this study, we therefore tested the effects of extracts from Curcuma longa and Scutellaria baicalensis used as feed additives against cecal inflammation induced by heat stress or Salmonella Enteritidis (S. Enteritidis) infection in chickens. Curcuma extract alone was not enough to decrease gut inflammation induced by heat stress. However, a mixture of Curcuma and Scutellaria extracts used as feed additives decreased gut inflammation induced by heat or S. Enteritidis, decreased S. Enteritidis counts in the cecum but was of no negative effect on BW or humoral immune response. Using next-generation sequencing of 16S rRNA we found out that supplementation of feed with the 2 plant extracts had no effect on microbiota diversity. However, if the plant extract supplementation was provided to the chickens infected with S. Enteritidis, Faecalibacterium, and Lactobacillus, both bacterial genera with known positive effects on gut health were positively selected. The supplementation of chicken feed with extracts from Curcuma and Scutelleria thus may be used in poultry production to effectively decrease gut inflammation and increase chicken performance.

Neuromuscular defects and breathing disorders in a new mouse model of spinal muscular atrophy.

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is caused by insufficient levels of the survival motor neuron (SMN) protein leading to muscle paralysis and respiratory failure. In mouse, introducing the human SMN2 gene partially rescues Smn(-)(/)(-) embryonic lethality. However current models were either too severe or nearly unaffected precluding convenient drug testing for SMA. We report here new SMN2;Smn(-/-) lines carrying one to four copies of the human SMN2 gene. Mice carrying three SMN2 copies exhibited an intermediate phenotype with delayed appearance of motor defects and developmental breathing disorders reminiscent of those found in severe SMA patients. Although normal at birth, at 7 days of age respiratory rate was decreased and apnea frequency was increased in SMA mice in parallel with the appearance of neuromuscular junction defects in the diaphragm. With median survival of 15 days and postnatal onset of neurodegeneration, these mice could be an important tool for evaluating new therapeutics.