Efficacy of powdered alfalfa leaves to ameliorate the toxic effects of aflatoxin B1 in turkey poults.

This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of an adsorbent material based on powdered alfalfa leaves added in the aflatoxin B1 (AFB1)-contaminated diet of turkey poults on production parameters, blood cell count, serum biochemistry, liver enzymes, and liver histology. For this purpose, three hundred and fifty female Nicholas-700 poults were randomly assigned into five treatments: (1) Control, AFB1-free diet; (2) AF, diet contaminated with 250 ng AFB1/g; (3) Alfalfa, AFB1-free diet + 0.5% (w/w) adsorbent; (4) AF+alfalfa, diet contaminated with 250 ng AFB1/g + 0.5% (w/w) adsorbent, and (5) AF+ yeast cell wall (YCW), diet contaminated with 250 ng AFB1/g + 0.5% (w/w) of yeast cell wall (a commercial mycotoxin binder used as reference material). The in vivo efficacy of powdered alfalfa leaves was assessed during a 28-day period. In general, the addition of powdered alfalfa leaves in the AFB1-free diet gave the best performance results (body weight, body weight gain, and feed intake) and improved the values of total protein, glucose, calcium, creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen. Moreover, the addition of powdered alfalfa leaves in the AFB1-contaminated diet enhanced body weight and body weight gain and significantly reduced the feed intake, compared to the AF and AF+YCW groups. Additionally, significant alterations in serum parameters were observed in poults intoxicated with the AFB1, compared to the Control group. Furthermore, typical histopathological lesions were observed in the liver of the AF group, which were significantly ameliorated with the addition of powdered alfalfa leaves. Conclusively, these results pointed out that low inclusion of powdered alfalfa leaves in the contaminated feed counteracted the adverse effects of AFB1 in turkey poults.

The effect of moderate-dose aflatoxin B1 and Salmonella Enteritidis infection on intestinal permeability in broiler chickens.

The effect of dietary aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and Salmonella Enteritidis infection on intestinal permeability was investigated. Two hundred 1-day-old male Ross 308 broiler chickens were randomly divided into 4 treatments of 5 replicates each (10 birds per replicate), which were fed ad libitum for 3 weeks with the following treatments: control, chickens fed an AFB1-free diet; AF, chickens fed an AFB1-contaminated diet at 470 ng/g; SE, chickens fed an AFB1-free diet and challenged with 108 cfu of S. Enteritidis per bird at 18 days old; AF + SE, chickens fed an AFB1-contaminated diet and challenged with 108 cfu of S. Enteritidis per bird at 18 days old. At day 21 of age, chicks received an oral gavage dose of fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran (FITC-dextran) to evaluate gastrointestinal leakage. Blood and intestinal samples were collected to evaluate serum biochemistry and total intestinal IgA secretion, respectively. Liver tissues were aseptically collected to assess bacterial invasiveness and for histomorphological studies. The results showed that chickens receiving AFB1 presented a significant increment (up to 2.4-fold) in serum FITC-dextran concentration (p < 0.05). Nevertheless, S. Enteritidis infection had no additional effect on gastrointestinal leakage. Furthermore, the ingestion of AFB1 had no impact on the invasive potential of S. Enteritidis. These results suggest that moderate-dose AFB1 adversely affects intestinal barrier function resulting in increased gut permeability in broiler chickens.

Meduloblastoma: nuestra experiencia / Medulloblastoma: our experience

Los tumores del Sistema Nervioso Central, ocupan el segundo lugar en frecuencia dentro de la oncología paediátrica, solo superados en números por las Leucemias Agudas. Estos son una población heterogénea representada por tumores considerados benignos o malignos; dentro de los clasificados como malignos el más frecuentees el meduloblastoma. Su frecuencia está representada en 10 de nuestros registros tumorales neuropatológicos. Objetivo: presentar resultados obtenidos en un estudio propectivo de tratamiento para niños con meduloblastoma, ingresados en el Hospital Garrahan desde junio de 1991 a diciembre de 2005. Material y Metodos: Las estrategias terapéuticas fueron distintas según el grupo etario, se definieron 2 grupos según la edad: mayores y menores de 36 meses. A su vez cada grupo se dividio en grupos de riesgo estándar (RE) y de riesgo alto (RA) según tuvieran o no diseminación metastásica al diagnóstico. La diferencia fundamental en la terapéutica fue el uso de radioterapia seguida de quimioterapia adyuvante versus la quimioterapia solamente para los niños mayores y menores de 36 m respectivamente después de la cirugía. Resultados: ingresaron un total de 203 pacientes: 170 mayores y 33 menores de 36 m de edad, fueron evaluados 116 niños mayores; 74 de RE y 42 de RA y 24 niños menores; 18 y 6 de RE y RA respectivamente. La SLE /SG alcanza en los grupos de más de 36 m fue de 5 años 75 / 75 para el RE y de 44 y 51 para el RA a 5 años. En los menores de 36 meses los resultados fueron muy pobres, con una SLEa 5 y 10 años de 39 y 19 para el grupo de RE y de solo 16 a 1año pra el grupo RA. Se analizó el patrón de recaída de cada subgrupo y según ello se planteó la orientación de una nueva conducta terapéutica.

Prevalence of undernutrition and iron deficiency in pre-school children from different socioeconomic regions in the city of Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico.

Lack of adequate food and in particular high quality protein, is one of the causes of malnutrition in children which could result in retarded growth. Iron deficiency is common in populations where protein sources are of vegetable origin; however in northern Mexico where the bean consumption is high, anemia is not a problem. The primary staples in the Mexican diet are corn tortillas and beans. The objective of this study was to evaluate the anthropometric condition of children 4-6 years old living in the city of Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico and to determine the prevalence of anemia. Mean Z scores for children 4-6 years old living in poor conditions in the city of Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico showed significant differences between socioeconomic groups (p<0.002) for height/age (H/A) and weight/age (W/A) (p<0.001) after adjusting for age and sex. Weight/height (W/H) was not different (p=0.30). By using the Waterlow classification system, 28.8% of the pre-school children of this study were stunted and only 0.9% were classified as wasted. There were no children that presented both stunting and wasting. Iron deficiency was very prevalent in both boys and girls, ranging from 56-79% depending on the indicator used. When classified by the combination of serum ferritin, % transferrin saturation and hemoglobin values, 23.7% of the children were classified as anemic, 11.9% in a state of iron deficiency and 13.6% with low iron reserves.

Population dynamics and stock assessment for Octopus maya (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae) fishery in the Campeche Bank, Gulf of Mexico.

The octopus (Octopus maya) is one of the most important fish resources in the Mexican Gulf of Mexico with a mean annual yield of 9000 ton, and a reasonable number of jobs created; O. maya represents 80% of the total octopus catch, followed by Octopus vulgaris. There are two artisanal fleets based on Octopus maya and a middle-size fleet that covers both species. Catch-at-length structured data from the artisanal fleets, for the 1994 season (August 1st to December 15th) were used to analyze the O. maya population dynamics and stock and to estimate the current level of exploitation. Von Bertalanffy growth parameters were: L infinity = 252 mm, mantle length; K = 1.4 year-1; oscillation parameters C = 1.0, WP = 0.6; and tz = 0.842 years. A rough estimate of natural mortality was M = 2.2, total mortality from catch curve Z = 8.77, and exploitation rate F/Z = 0.75. This last value suggests an intensive exploitation, even when yield per recruit analysis indicates both fleets may increase the minimum legal size on about 10% to increase yields. The length-based VPA also shows that the stock is being exploited under its maximum acceptable biological limit. These apparently contradictory results are explained by biological and behavioral characteristics of this species. Because most females die after reproduction, a new gross estimation of natural mortality was computed as M = 3.3. The new estimate of exploitation rate was F/Z = 0.57. This new value coincides with results from the length-VPA and the Thompson and Bell methods, the former suggesting that a reduction of 20% in fishing mortality may provide larger yields. This fishery resource is fully exploited and current management measures must be revised to sustain and probably optimize yields.

Chemical composition of a mixture of single-cell protein obtained from Kluyveromyces fragilis and whey proteins.

A mixture of Kluyveromyces fragilis biomass and coagulated whey proteins was obtained by fermentation of whole whey. This product had a chemical composition similar to that of washed products reported in the literature with high-crude protein and low-ash contents. The product had a high content of sulphur-containing amino acids and tryptophan, which are usually limiting in yeast biomass. Lysine content was inexplicably lower than the expected value, being the limiting amino acid in this case. The chemical score of the protein was 91%. From the biomass-whey proteins product a protein isolate could be recovered with a yield of 80%. The protein content of the isolate was 75%, and the nucleic acids were reduced by 90.8%. The cell-wall debris were also considerably reduced.