Search results for " animal"
showing 10 items of 3438 documents
A New Frailty Score for Experimental Animals Based on the Clinical Phenotype: Inactivity as a Model of Frailty.
2016
The development of animal models to study human frailty is important to test interventions to be translated to the clinical practice. The aim of this work was to develop a score for frailty in experimental animals based in the human frailty phenotype. We also tested the effect of physical inactivity in the development of frailty as determined by our score. Male C57Bl/6J mice, individually caged, were randomly assigned to one of two groups: sedentary (inactive) or spontaneous wheel-runners. We compared the sedentary versus the active lifestyle in terms of frailty by evaluating the clinical criteria used in humans: unintentional weight loss; poor endurance (running time); slowness (running sp…
In vivo fluorescent cercariae reveal the entry portals of Cardiocephaloides longicollis (Rudolphi, 1819) Dubois, 1982 (Strigeidae) into the gilthead …
2019
Background Despite their complex life-cycles involving various types of hosts and free-living stages, digenean trematodes are becoming recurrent model systems. The infection and penetration strategy of the larval stages, i.e. cercariae, into the fish host is poorly understood and information regarding their entry portals is not well-known for most species. Cardiocephaloides longicollis (Rudolphi, 1819) Dubois, 1982 (Digenea, Strigeidae) uses the gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata L.), an important marine fish in Mediterranean aquaculture, as a second intermediate host, where they encyst in the brain as metacercariae. Labelling the cercariae with in vivo fluorescent dyes helped us to track the…
Blood fluke diseases in Pagellus spp. (Sparidae): Pathology and description of a new species of Skoulekia in the blackspot seabream P. bogaraveo (Brü…
2018
Abstract Pagellus bogaraveo (Brunnich) and P. erythrinus (L.) (Perciformes, Sparidae) are highly appreciated by Mediterranean consumers and good candidates for the Mediterranean aquaculture diversification. Parasitological and histological analyses of both sparid species, collected off Santa Pola (Spanish Mediterranean), have been performed in order to detect blood flukes (Trematoda, Aporocotylidae) and the pathologies related to their presence in these valuable hosts. Eggs of two different species of Skoulekia Alama-Bermejo, Montero, Raga and Holzer, 2011 have been found in both fishes: S. erythrini Palacios-Abella, Georgieva, Mele, Raga, Isbert, Kostadinova and Montero, 2017 in P. erythri…
Diabetic microangiopathy: Pathogenetic insights and novel therapeutic approaches.
2017
Diabetic microangiopathy, including retinopathy, is characterized by abnormal growth and leakage of small blood vessels, resulting in local edema and functional impairment of the depending tissues. Mechanisms leading to the impairment of microcirculation in diabetes are multiple and still largely unclear. However, a dysregulated vascular regeneration appears to play a key role. In addition, oxidative and hyperosmolar stress, as well as the activation of inflammatory pathways triggered by advanced glycation end-products and toll-like receptors, have been recognized as key underlying events. Here, we review recent knowledge on cellular and molecular pathways of microvascular disease in diabet…
Efficacy of interleukin 10 gene hydrofection in pig liver vascular isolated ‘in vivo’ by surgical procedure with interest in liver transplantation
2019
AIM Liver transplantation is the only curative strategy for final stage liver diseases. Despite the great advances achieved during the last 20 years, the recipient immune response after transplantation is not entirely controlled. This results in high rates of acute cell rejection and, approximately, 10% of early mortality. Therapeutic treatment could be improved by efficiently transfecting genes that encode natural immunosuppressant proteins, employing safe procedures that could be transferred to clinical setting. In this sense, interleukin 10 plays a central role in immune tolerance response by acting at different levels. METHODS hIL10 gene was hydrofected by retrograde hydrodynamic inject…
Hg and Se exposure in brain tissues of striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) and bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) from the Tyrrhenian and Ad…
2017
In this study we analyzed Hg and Se concentrations in dolphin brain tissues of fifteen specimens of striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) and eight specimens of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) stranded in the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Seas, in order to assess the toxicological risks associated with Hg exposure. High Hg concentrations were found in brain tissues of both analyzed specie (1.86–243 mg/kg dw for striped dolphin and 2.1–98.7 mg/kg dw for bottlenose dolphin), exceeding levels associated with marine mammals neurotoxicity. Althougth the results clearly suggest that the protective effects of Se against Hg toxicity occur in cetaceans’ brain tissues, a molar excess of mercury w…
Disentangling the effect of host genetics and gut microbiota on resistance to an intestinal parasite
2019
11 pages; International audience; Resistance to infection is a multifactorial trait, and recent work has suggested that the gut microbiota can also contribute to resistance. Here, we performed a fecal microbiota transplant to disentangle the contribution of the gut microbiota and host genetics as drivers of resistance to the intestinal nematode Heligmosomoides polygyrus. We transplanted the microbiota of a strain of mice (SJL), resistant to H. polygyrus, into a susceptible strain (CBA) and vice-versa. We predicted that if the microbiota shapes resistance to H. polygyrus, the FMT should reverse the pattern of resistance between the two host strains. The two host strains had different microbi…
Ultrastructural Alterations of Midgut Epithelium, but Not Greater Wing Fluctuating Asymmetry, in Paper Wasps (Polistes dominula) from Urban Environme…
2018
Polistes paper wasps can be used to monitor trace metal contaminants, but the effects of pollution on the health of these insects are still unknown. We evaluated, in a south-eastern area of Spain, whether workers of Polistes dominula collected at urban and rural sites differ in health of midgut tissue and in fluctuating asymmetry, an estimate of developmental noise. We found that wasps collected at the urban sites had abundant lead (Pb)-containing spherites, which were less visible in wasps from the rural sites. Evident ultrastructural alterations in the epithelium of the midgut of the wasps collected at the urban sites included broken and disorganized microvilli, a high amount and density …
Modulating endothelial adhesion and migration impacts stem cell therapies efficacy
2020
Abstract Background Limited knowledge of stem cell therapies` mechanisms of action hampers their sustainable implementation into the clinic. Specifically, the interactions of transplanted stem cells with the host vasculature and its implications for their therapeutic efficacy are not elucidated. We tested whether adhesion receptors and chemokine receptors on stem cells can be functionally modulated, and consequently if such modulation may substantially affect therapeutically relevant stem cell interactions with the host endothelium. Methods We investigated the effects of cationic molecule polyethylenimine (PEI) treatment with or without nanoparticles on the functions of adhesion receptors a…
Phage Biodiversity in Artisanal Cheese Wheys Reflects the Complexity of the Fermentation Process
2017
Dairy fermentations constitute a perfect âbreeding groundâ for bacteriophages infecting starter cultures, particularly strains of Lactococcus lactis. In modern fermentations, these phages typically belong to one of three groups, i.e., the 936, P335, and c2 phage groups. Traditional production methods present fewer chemical and physical barriers to phage proliferation compared to modern production systems, while the starter cultures used are typically complex, variable, and undefined. In the current study, a variety of cheese whey, animal-derived rennet, and vat swab samples from artisanal cheeses produced in Sicily were analysed for the presence of lactococcal phages to assess phage div…