Elizabethkingia miricola infection in Chinese spiny frog (Quasipaa spinosa).

Elizabethkingia miricola is a Gram-negative rod which has been incriminated in severe infections in humans. Recently, a serious infectious disease was identified in Chinese spiny frogs (Quasipaa spinosa), in the Sichuan Province of China; the disease was characterized by corneal opacity, the presence of ascites and neurological symptoms. A Gram-negative bacillus was isolated from the liver, spleen and kidney of the diseased frogs. Experimental infection test revealed that the bacillus could infect the frogs Q. spinosa and the LD50 value was 1.19 × 106  cfu per frog. The isolated Gram-negative bacillus was identified as E. miricola according to phenotypic characteristics, 16S rRNA and gyrB gene sequence analysis. The isolated strain was only susceptible to florfenicol among all investigated chemotherapeutic agents. Histological examination revealed that E. miricola infection caused pathological lesions to multiple organs and tissues, especially in the liver, brain, kidney. These results confirmed that E. miricola is an emerging pathogen of Chinese spiny frogs.

Hepatoprotective potential of isoquercitrin against type 2 diabetes-induced hepatic injury in rats.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is a main complication of type 2 diabetes. Isoquercitrin are employed for antidiabetic therapies, but the effects on liver function and the hepatocytes are unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of isoquercitrin on the T2DM-induced hepatic injury in rats. Isoquercitrin (10 mg/kg/d, 30 mg/kg/d), sitagliptin phosphate (10 mg/kg/d) was given orally for 21 days. The administration of isoquercitrin at 10 mg/kg/d and 30 mg/kg/d showed a dose dependent. Compare to the negative control (treated with saline), rats medicated with isoquercitrin (30 mg/kg/d) and sitagliptin phosphate (10 mg/kg/d) improved the clinical symptoms, FBG and glucose tolerance, reduced serum ALT, AST and IR, but increased TP, Alb, SOD, GSH, MDA, HDL-C, INS and GLP-1. On histology, Rats of these to groups presented nearly normal liver tissue and Langerhans, degeneration, necrosis and apoptosis were markedly reduced. Instead, hepatocytes showed regenerate. These two groups also showed significant increase in mRNA expression of PKA, AKT, PKCa, InsR and PI3K, and a decrease in DPP-IV mRNA level. These results indicated that treatment with isoquercitrin protects against hepatic injury by T2DM.

Mitochondrial genomes of Heterakis gallinae and Heterakis beramporia support that they belong to the infraorder Ascaridomorpha.

Heterakis gallinae and Heterakis beramporia are the most prevalent nematode infecting native chicken breed, causing major economic losses. In the present study, the complete mitochondrial genomes (mt) of H. gallinae and H. beramporia were amplified by long-PCR and then sequenced. The complete mt genomes of H. gallinae and H. beramporia were 13,973bp and 14,012bp in size, respectively. Both mt genomes contain 12 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes and 2 ribosomal RNA genes. All genes are transcribed in the same direction and the gene arrangement is identical to Ascaridia spp. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 12 protein-coding genes revealed that the family Heterakidae (represented by H. gallinae and H. beramporia) was more closely related to the infraorder Ascaridomorpha than it was to the infraorder Oxyuridomorpha. The present study determined the complete mt genome sequences for two Heterakis species, providing useful markers for studying the systematics, population genetics, and molecular epidemiology of these Heterakis parasites.