Orally administered Lactobacillus casei exhibited several probiotic properties in artificially suckling rabbits.

OBJECTIVE: Lactobacilli in rabbit intestine is rare and its function on rabbit gut health is not fully understood. The present study aimed to evaluate in vivo the probiotic potential of Lactobacillus casei for suckling rabbits. METHODS: Two healthy 5-day-old suckling rabbits with similar weights from each of 12 New Zealand White litters were selected and disturbed to control group and treatment group. All rabbits were artificially fed. The treatment group had been supplemented with live Lactobacillus casei in the milk from the beginning of the trial to 13 days of age. At 15 days of age, healthy paired rabbits were slaughtered to collect intestinal samples. RESULTS: 1) Oral administration of Lactobacillus casei significantly increased the proportion of Lactobacilli in the total intestinal bacteria (P < 0.01) and obviously reduced that of Escherichia-Shigella (P < 0.01); 2) treatment increased the length of vermiform appendix (P < 0.05); 3) a higher percentage of degranulated paneth cells was observed in the duodenum and jejunum when rabbits administered with Lactobacillus casei (P < 0.01); and 4) the expression of toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), Lysozyme (LYZ) and defensin-7-like (DEFEN) in the duodenum and jejunum was stimulated by supplemented Lactobacillus casei (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: orally administered Lactobacillus casei could increase the abundance of intestinal Lactobacilli, decrease the relative abundance of intestinal Escherichia-Shigella, promote the growth of appendix vermiform, stimulate the degranulation of paneth cells and induce the expression of defensin-7-like and Lysozyme. The results of the present study implied that Lactobacillus casei exhibited probiotic potential for suckling rabbit.

Comparing the effect of intestinal bacteria from rabbit, pig, and chicken on inflammatory response in cultured rabbit crypt and villus.

Rabbit is susceptible to intestinal infection, which often results in severe inflammatory response. To investigate whether the special community structure of rabbit intestinal bacteria contributes to this susceptibility, we compared the inflammatory responses of isolated rabbit crypt and villus to heat-treated total bacteria in pig, chicken, and rabbit ileal contents. The dominant phylum in pig and chicken ileum was Firmicutes, while Bacteroidetes was dominant in rabbit ileum. The intestinal bacteria from rabbit induced higher expression of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in rabbit crypt and villus (P < 0.05). TLR2 and TLR3 expression was obviously stimulated by chicken and pig intestinal bacteria (P < 0.05) but not by those of rabbit. The ileal bacteria from those three animals all increased the expression of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) in crypts and villus (P < 0.05). Chicken and pig ileal bacteria also stimulated the expression of anti-inflammatory factors interferon beta (IFN-ß) and IL-10 (P < 0.05), while those of rabbit did not (P > 0.05). In conclusion, a higher abundance of Gram-negative bacteria in rabbit ileum did not lead to more expressive pro-inflammatory cytokines in isolated rabbit crypt and villus, but a higher percentage of Lactobacillus in chicken ileum might result in more expressive anti-inflammatory factors.

[The effects of the GH, IGF-I and IGF-IBP3 gene on growth and development traits of Nanyang cattle in different growth period].

This study was conducted to identify polymorphisms of the Nangyang cattle's growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and insulin-like growth factor-I binding protein 3(IGF-IBP3) gene by the single nucleotide Polymorphisms and Polymerase chain reaction-based restriction fragment length polymorphism and to study association of polymorphisms identified in these genes with growth traits of the birth, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, 24 months and 36 months. Results from the analysis showed a significant association of the BB genotype in the promoter of GH gene (GH-P5) with higher body length and body height during from 6 month to 18 month. From 24 month to 36 month, the IGF-IBP3 locus has a dominance modulation and control effect on backbody in Nanyang Cattle, and the BB genotype with higher Rump width than AA.

[HPLC-fluorescent spectrometric determination of serum mexiletine concentration after derivatization with fluram].

AIM: To establish an HPLC-fluorescent spectrometric method for the determination of mexiletine hydrochloride in plasma after derivatization with fluram. METHODS: Fluram acetone solution was added to the deproteinized plasma with acetone to obtain the derivative of mexiletine. The HPLC method was performed on a column of Allitima C18 (150 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 microns) with the mobile phase of methanol-water-diethylamine-phosphoric acid buffer (2.4 mol.L-1, pH 4.0) (70:28:2), and the detective wavelength were set at Ex 392 nm and Em 480 nm. RESULTS: Mexiletine has a liner range over the concentration range from 0.100-6.400 mg.L-1. The lowest detectable concentration of this method was 5 micrograms.L-1 (S/N > or = 4). The intra-day and inter-day RSDs were 1.34%-5.31%, respectively. CONCLUSION: This method is simple, selective and can be used for therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) and pharmacokinetic studies of mexiletine.