Effects of Vitamin A and K3 on Immune Function and Intestinal Antioxidant Capacity of Aged Laying Hens

This study was conducted to investigate effects of vitamin A (VA) and vitamin K3 (VK3) on immune function and intestinal antioxidant capacity of aged laying hens. In a 3 × 3 factorial arrangement, the diets of 1080 Roman Pink laying hens (87 weeks old) was formulated with deficient, adequate and excess VA and VK3, including 0, 7000 and 14000 IU/kg VA and 0, 2.0 and 4.0 mg/kg VK3 for 8 weeks. Interactive effects between VA and VK3 were observed that VA and VK3 decreased the splenetic mRNA expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and tumour necrosis factor α (TNF-α), but increased the plasma immunoglobulin G (IgG) content and jejunal mRNA expression of nuclear factor-like 2 (Nrf2). Hens fed adequate or excess VA had higher spleen index, mRNA expression of interleukin-10 (IL-10) in spleen, sIgA content, catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase and total dismutase (T-SOD) activity, and mRNA expression of polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (pIgR) in jejunum and lower mRNA expression of IL-1ß in jejunum and iNOS, TNF-α in spleen. Furthermore, adequate or excess VK3 significantly increased plasma IgG content, the CAT, T-SOD and total antioxidant capacity activities, up-regulated the mRNA expression of pIgR, Nrf2, SOD1 and CAT in jejunum and down-regulated the mRNA expression of iNOS and TNF-α in spleen.(AU)

Human papillomavirus type 16 variants isolated from vulvar Bowenoid papulosis.

Tissues from two cases of Bowenoid papulosis of the vulva were found to contain human papillomavirus (HPV) 16 DNA by Southern blot hybridization. Analysis of the hybridization pattern revealed differences in a restriction fragment of one specimen as compared to the HPV 16 DNA prototype. To investigate if these differences could interfere with the expression of such oncogenic viral genomes, the corresponding DNA fragments were cloned and further analyzed. After amplification by PCR and DNA sequencing, a 213 base pairs duplication was mapped in the long control region (LCR) of this HPV 16 variant. One single PCR fragment was obtained from the other Bowenoid papulosis, which is identical in size with the same region in the HPV-16 prototype. The duplication in the HPV-16 LCR analyzed in this study maps upstream of a region containing several regulatory elements.