Grape-Seed Proanthocyanidin Extract Reverts Obesity-Related Metabolic Derangements in Aged Female Rats

Obesity and ageing are current issues of global concern. Adaptive homeostasis is compromised in the elderly, who are more likely to suffer age-related health issues, such as obesity, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease. The current worldwide prevalence of obesity and higher life expectancy call for new strategies for treating metabolic disorders. Grape-seed proanthocyanidin extract (GSPE) is reported to be effective in ameliorating these pathologies, especially in young animal models. In this study, we aimed to test the effectiveness of GSPE in modulating obesity-related pathologies in aged rats fed an obesogenic diet. To do so, 21-month-old rats were fed a high-fat/high-sucrose diet (cafeteria diet) for 11 weeks. Two time points for GSPE administration (500 mg/kg body weight), i.e., a 10-day preventive GSPE treatment prior to cafeteria diet intervention and a simultaneous GSPE treatment with the cafeteria diet, were assayed. Body weight, metabolic parameters, liver steatosis, and systemic inflammation were analysed. GSPE administered simultaneously with the cafeteria diet was effective in reducing body weight, total adiposity, and liver steatosis. However, the preventive treatment was effective in reducing only mesenteric adiposity in these obese, aged rats. Our results confirm that the simultaneous administration of GSPE improves metabolic disruptions caused by the cafeteria diet also in aged rats.

Prevalence and level of infection by endoparasites in different categories of sheep in the Western Amazon

This study aimed to understand the epidemiology of the main gastrointestinal endoparasites affecting sheep raised in the municipality of Sena Madureira, Acre, Brazil. A total of 178 fecal samples were collected from sheep raised in an extensive system of 10 farms. The samples were grouped into lambs, ewe lambs, lambing ewes, ewes, and rams for laboratory analysis by the flotation technique for counting eggs per gram of feces (EGF), oocysts of Eimeria sp., and presence of eggs of Moniezia sp. The analyzed variables consisted of the prevalence of nematodes, cestodes, and coccidia and intensity of strongylid and coccidium infection by quantification (mean ± SE) of eggs and oocysts. Prevalence data were compared by the chi-square test and intensity of infection (mean ± SE) by the Scott-Knott test (SAEG 9.1), both with P < 0.05. The overall prevalence was 77.6%, reaching 64.15% for strongylids, 36.2% for coccidia, and 8.81% for cestodes (Moniezia sp.). Ewes had the lowest prevalence (52.5%), while lambs had a prevalence of 95.5%, not differing from the others (P < 0.05). The intensity of infection by nematodes showed that lambs had the highest EGF compared to ewes, with values of 1297±270 and 232±79, respectively. The categories lambing ewes, ewes, and rams presented an average EGF below what is indicated for treatment with drugs. The highest intensity of infection was observed for ewe lambs (5859±3648), exceeding acceptable rates. Sheep raised in Sena Madureira has a high prevalence for verminosis by strongylids and a low prevalence for coccidiosis and cestodiasis. Young animal categories present a high health risk for endoparasitoses, and management measures that collaborate with the prophylaxis and control of these diseases should be adopted.

THE DIPYLON OINOCHOĒ AND ANCIENT GREEK DANCE AESTHETICS

This article asks what the graffito incised on the Dipylon oinochoē (IG I2 919, eighth century b.c.e.) reveals about the nature of the dance competition that it commemorates. Through a systematic analysis of the evaluative and descriptive meaning of the adjective ἀταλός and its cognates in early Greek epic, it is argued that a narrower definition compared to previous suggestions can be established. The word refers to the carefreeness that is specific to a child or young animal, and its uses typically imply a positive evaluation which is connected not only to the well-being that this carefreeness entails but also to the positive emotion of tenderness and the sentiment of care that it engenders in a perceiver. It is concluded that, when used to specify the criterion by which a dance contest will be adjudicated, the term refers to an aesthetic property that is repeatedly praised in archaic Greek texts in other words: that of dancing with the adorable but short-lived carefree abandon of a child.

Influence of keeping technology on the weight gain of the Aberdeen-Angus breed young animals in the colostrum period

In beef cattle breeding, unlike dairy farming, the only product is a calf. Therefore, the industry's competitiveness directly depends on the annual retention from each cow and heifer calf, the preservation of calves, and the high growth energy of young animal growth throughout the rearing period. These indicators are influenced by many factors, one of which is the breeding technology. The colostrum period is the most critical; newborn calves that do not receive adequate attention at the beginning of this period die within the first two days of life or have growth retardation. Given this, it becomes urgent to establish the level of dependence between young animals' growth and the technology of keeping cows and calves during the colostrum period. The studies were performed on cows and calves of the Aberdeen-Angus breed having problems in interaction during the colostrum period due to a weak maternal instinct in cows or a sucking reflex in calves (problem pairs' cow-calf). The growth rates of bull-calves and heifers were studied: live body weight, average daily gains, absolute gains, and multiplicity of live weight gain. The factor of a new technological element - the transfer of problem pairs' cow-calf into correction sections, in the colostrum period, on the further growth of young growth was analyzed. Our studies have shown a potential difference (P=0.999) between the live weight of bull-calves, which in the colostrum period were transferred together with the cows to the correction sections, and those for which no correction sections were used. The advantage in live weight at the age of 18 months is 27% and 28% (P=0.999) in favor of bull-calves that were transferred; they prevailed by 28% (P>0.999) in average daily gains, and by 28% and 29% (P=0.999) in absolute terms. When compared by live weight at the age of 18 months, the heifers, which had been transferred to correction sections during the colostrum period, had an advantage of 26%. The average daily and absolute gains in these heifers were 29% greater than the heifers, which were not transferred.

Proteases in the diet of monogastric animals

There are many proteases, and about 2% of the human genome is involved in the regulation of their formation. The share of proteases involved in digestion accounts for only a small part. Despite this, the mechanisms of action of digestive proteases are less studied than carbohydrases and lipases. The incorporation of exogenous proteases into young animal feeds is often accompanied by improved utilization of protein and other nutrients. Exogenous proteases degrade inhibitors of the endogenous protease and lectins in feed. Alkaline proteases are of interest due to their broader substrate specificity and activity throughout the entire gastrointestinal tract. This group includes keratinases, which digest proteins inaccessible for cleavage by proteases and peptidases of animals. Keratinases digest agglutinins, glycinin and b-conglycinin and connective tissue proteins, which are resistant to the action of gastrointestinal enzymes and a number of exogenous proteases. The alleged reasons for the inconsistent results when using feed proteases are described. Their mediated positive effects not associated with proteolysis are indicated. It is advisable to use proteases with keratinolytic activity as fodder proteases.

Universal and taxon-specific trends in protein sequences as a function of age

Extant protein-coding sequences span a huge range of ages, from those that emerged only recently, to those present in the last universal common ancestor. Because evolution has had less time to act on young sequences, there might be 'phylostratigraphy' trends in any properties that evolve slowly with age. A long-term reduction in hydrophobicity and hydrophobic clustering was found in previous, taxonomically restricted studies. Here we perform integrated phylostratigraphy across 435 fully sequenced species, using sensitive HMM methods to detect protein domain homology. We find that the reduction in hydrophobic clustering is universal across lineages. However, only young animal domains have a tendency to have higher structural disorder. Among ancient domains, trends in amino acid composition reflect the order of recruitment into the genetic code, suggesting that the composition of the contemporary descendants of ancient sequences reflects amino acid availability during the earliest stages of life, when these sequences first emerged.

Somatosensory Crossmodal Plasticity in Superior Colliculus of Visually Deafferented Rats

Terminal fields of a certain pathway result denervated if the regeneration after the lesion of the pathway fails. If the lesion happened in a young animal, terminal fields of other nervous pathways that are spatially coincident or are close to the denervated field, growth of axon collaterals or reactive synaptogenesis could take place and reinervate deafferented neurons. In that way these denervated neurons can be recruited for functional compensatory responses and can convey information to areas that result enriched with additional inputs to be processed. The present paper reviews the plastic reactions that take place in the superior colliculus, a mesencephalic layered structure, after the neonatal suppression of its visual afferents that terminate in its superficial layers. The postlesional reactive ascending growth of somatosensory afferents that in control animals innervate intermediate and deep collicular layers invade the superficial layers and connect with visually deafferented cells that result recruited for descendent collicular responses and to send sensory information to the visual cortex via the colliculo-geniculate payhway. In that way in neonatally deafferented animals, somatosensory information gains additional territory to be processed. Two somatosensory connections to the superior collicuus will be discussed in this review. One ascending from the cuneitorm nucleus and the other descending that originates in the barrel cortex.

Investigating the role of the ghrelin axis in cognitive decline and dementia

Ghrelin is a 28-amino acid hormone that is generated in a wide number of tissues. Its active form, acyl-ghrelin is able to bind to its receptor GHS-R and exert a variety of functions. In the brain, acyl-ghrelin has been associated with neuroprotection, improved memory and adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN). However, the mechanisms controlling acyl-ghrelin-mediated AHN are still unknown. To elucidate this process, different markers of neurogenesis were assessed in a mouse model in which GHS-R+ neurones were ablated specifically from the rostral DG of the hippocampus (rDG), showing that rDG GHS-R+ neurones are essential for maintaining AHN. Acyl-ghrelin has also been shown to prevents the damage caused by neurodegeneration, at least in young animal models of disease. In this thesis, we demonstrated that in the geriatric Tg2576 mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease, acyl-ghrelin maintained an effect on β-amyloid (Aβ) plaques in the hippocampus, promoting a reduction of the Aβ plaques size in AD-like mouse model compared to WT mice. Collectively, research findings highlight the importance of circulating acyl-ghrelin in the brain. However, ghrelin exists in two distinct forms and acyl-ghrelin can be enzymatically modified to the ‘inactive' unacylated-ghrelin (UAG) by acyl-protein thioesterase 1 (APT1). Preventing APT1 mediated de-acylation and increasing acyl-ghrelin bio-availability may prevent the damage caused by neurodegeneration. Unpublished data from our group suggest that PalmostatinB, an APT1 inhibitor, increases levels of acyl-ghrelin in macrophage cells (that naturally produce ghrelin). Therefore, this and other APT1 inhibitors may be considered possible therapeutic agents for the treatment of cognitive decline and diseases associated with dementia. We confirmed that, among several APT1 inhibitors, PalmostatinB is able to increase the level of acyl-ghrelin in vitro. However, further research is warranted into APT1 inhibitors as a novel therapeutic approach to treating cognitive decline and dementia. Together, the data in this thesis support a role for the ghrelinergic system components in modulating brain functions.

Comparative assessment of reproductive abilities of crossbred heifers in the conditions of the Lower Volga Region

Aim. To study in a comparative aspect the reproductive abilities of crossbred heifers obtained as a result of industrial interbreeding. Material and Methods. Zootechnical and mathematical methods of analysis, as well as the documents of zootechnical breeding records available on the farm, cards of breeding bulls-producers were used in the course of research. The digital material was biometrically processed on a PC using the Microsoft Office Excel program. Results. Studies have shown that crossbred young animal of all four experimental groups were characterized by high growth rates and gain in live weight. At the same time, the most weighty and forward were the three-breed hybrid Hereford heifers of the III group with the genotype ½ hereford x ¼ charolais x ¼ simmenthal. However, the rapid gain in body weight did not affect the age of the onset and end of puberty in young animals of this group and amounted to 258.30 and 316.22 days. respectively. In crossbred heifers of Kalmyk breed of group I with a genotype of ½ kalmyks. x ¼ salers x ¼ simmenthal faster than all their peers, puberty began and ended (249.30 and 301.40 days, respectively), which made it possible to start inseminating them first (485.50 days). Conclusion. In crossbred first-calf heifers of all four genotypes, good maternal qualities were noted, which allows them to be used in the formation of broodstock in beef cattle breeding. To increase the production of beef and improve its quality, it is advisable to effectively use the genetic potential of the Kalmyk and Hereford breeds.