Inflammation is one of the main causes of impaired health in livestock and some of its processes weaken animal productivity and impact human health. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of echinacea extract (cichoric acid – CA) on yak peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), inflammatory-related factors, and the toll-like receptor (TLR)4 signalling pathway induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in these PBMCs.

Piperlongumine (PL) is a bioactive alkaloid and medicinal compound of piperamide isolated from the long pepper (Piper longum Linn). It has demonstrated bactericidal action against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), the cause of pulmonary tuberculosis; nevertheless, immunomodulatory activity had not been identified for it in MTB-triggered granulomatous inflammation. This study investigated if piperlongumine could inhibit such inflammation.

Ozone is not harmful itself; however, it directly oxidises biomolecules and produces radical-dependent cytotoxicity. Exposure to ozone is by inhalation and therefore the lungs develop the main anti-inflammatory response, while ozone has an indirect impact on the other organs. This study investigated the local and systemic effects of the ozone-associated inflammatory response. Three groups each of 5 Wistar Han rats aged 6 months were exposed for 2h to airborne ozone at 0.5 ppm and a fourth identical group were unexposed controls. Sacrifice was at 3h after exposure for control rats and one experimental group and at 24 h and 48 h for the others. Lung and liver samples were evaluated for changes in expression of transforming growth factor beta 1, anti-inflammatory interleukin 10, pro-inflammatory tumour necrosis factor alpha and interleukin 1 beta and two nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of B cells subunit genes. Total RNA was isolated from the samples in spin columns and cDNA was synthesised in an RT-PCR. Expression levels were compared to those of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and analysed statistically. All variables changed non-linearly over time comparing experimental groups to the control. Conspicuous expression changes in the subunit genes and cytokines were observed in both evaluated organs. Locally and systemically, inflammation responses to ozone inhalation include regulation of certain genes’ expression. The mechanisms are unalike in lungs and liver but ozone exerts a similar effect in both organs. A broader range of variables influential on ozone response should be studied in the future.

Piperlongumine (PL) is a bioactive alkaloid and medicinal compound of piperamide isolated from the long pepper (Piper longum Linn). It has demonstrated bactericidal action against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), the cause of pulmonary tuberculosis; nevertheless, immunomodulatory activity had not been identified for it in MTB-triggered granulomatous inflammation. This study investigated if piperlongumine could inhibit such inflammation. Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain H37Rv was subjected to a broth microdilution assay. Piperlongumine at 5, 15, and 25 μg/mL, 0.2% dimethyl sulphoxide as control or 4 μM of dexamethasone were tested in vitro on MH-S murine alveolar macrophages. BALB/c mice were orally administered PL at 50, 100 and 150 mg/kg b.w. after trehalose-6,6-dimycolate (TDM) stimulation. Chemokine and cytokine concentrations were determined in lung supernatants. Flow cytometry and Western blot analysis were performed to determine phosphorylated spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathways. Piperlongumine inhibited inflammatory mediators and adherence of lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1 to MH-S cells following TDM activation. It also improved macrophage clearance of MTB. In TDM-stimulated MH-S cells, PL significantly influenced the macrophage inducible Ca²⁺-dependent lectin receptor (Mincle)-Syk-ERK signalling pathway. Oral dosing of PL effectively suppressed the development of pulmonary granulomas and inflammatory reactions in the TDM-elicited mouse granuloma model. PL as an inhibitor of MTB-triggered granulomatous inflammation may be an effective complementary treatment for mycobacterial infection.

The purpose of the study was to investigate post-mortem changes in dogs infected with Babesia canis and to establish the probable cause of death of the affected animals. Cadavers of six dogs that did not survive babesiosis were collected. Necropsies were performed and samples of various organs were collected for histological examination. Necropsies and histological examinations revealed congestion and oedemata in various organs. Most of the dogs had ascites, hydrothorax or hydropericardium, pulmonary oedema, pulmonary, renal, hepatic, and cerebral congestion, and necrosis of cardiomyocytes. These results suggested disorders in blood circulation as the most probable cause of death. However, the pulmonary inflammatory response and cerebral babesiosis observed in some of these dogs could also be considered possible causes of death. This study also showed a possible role for renal congestion in the development of renal hypoxia and azotaemia in canine babesiosis.

Several antidiabetic medications have been proposed as prospective treatments for cognitive impairments in type 2 diabetes patients, glibenclamide (GBC) among them. Our research aimed to evaluate the impact of GBC on hippocampal learning memory and inflammation due to enhanced neurotrophic signals induced by inhalation of sevoflurane. Rats (Sprague Dawley, both sexes) were assigned to four groups: a control (vehicle, p.o.), GBC (10 mg/kg b.w.; p.o.), low-dose sevoflurane and low-dose sevoflurane + GBC (10 mg/kg b.w.; p.o.) for 23 days. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL) staining was performed to analyse the count of apoptotic cells and ELISA was conducted to assess the protein signals. A Western blot, a Y-maze test, and a Morris maze test were performed, and the results analysed. Blood and tissues were collected, and isolation of RNA was performed with qRT-PCR. The Morris maze test results revealed an improvement in the length of the escape latency on days 1 (P < 0.05), 2 (P < 0.01), 3, and 4 in the low-dose Sevo group. Time spent in the quadrant and crossing axis and the percentage of spontaneous alterations showed a substantial decrease in the low-dose Sevo group which received GBC at 10 mg/kg b.w. Significant increases were shown in IL-6 and TNF-α levels in the low-dose Sevo group, whereas a decrease was evident in the GBC group. Our results indicate that glibenclamide may be a novel drug to prevent sevoflurane inhalation-induced impaired learning and reduce brain-derived neurotrophic factor release, which may be a vital target for the development of potential therapies for cognitive deficits and neurodegeneration.

Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly infectious viral disease affecting all cloven-footed domestic animals. The three foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) serotypes A, O and SAT2 are at present the greatest threat to susceptible animals in Egypt. The aim of the present study was, for the host factors associated with different FMDV infections in cattle during the acute phase, to compare these factors’ influence on the expression of the IL-10, TLR-2, TNF-α, CXCL10, CD48, NFATC4 and IFNG inflammatory and immune-related genes. Vesicular fluid and epithelium samples were obtained from at least three infected cattle on the same affected farm during three different FMDV outbreaks and were used for serotyping of the virus and for expression analysis of host genes. A two-step RT-PCR was used for diagnosis of the virus with primers specific for each serotype. In quantitative PCR analysis, the expression patterns of TLR-2 and IFNG were prominent, while NFATC4 expression was absent in all FMDV-infected cattle. The highest expression of CD48 was associated with increased expression of other inflammatory and immune-related genes (IL-10, TLR-2, TNF-α and IFNG), which may be an indication of rapid virus clearance. The use of vesicular fluid and epithelium for investigation of viral and immune-related gene expression levels in acute FMDV infection is possible. Host-dependent variation in the expression of the studied genes was observed in different FMDV serotype outbreaks.

Objective: The work aimed to determine the state of lipid peroxidation products and the activity of the antioxidant system in cats with aseptic inflammation and purulent-inflammatory processes of varying severity. Materials and Methods: The intensity of the process of lipid peroxidation- antioxidant system processes in blood plasma was evaluated using commercial kits. The level of diene conjugates (DC), the content of malondialdehyde (MDA), the level of medium-weight molecules were deter¬mined from lipid peroxidation indices. The state of antioxidant protection was assessed by indi¬cators of superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, catalase (CT), ceruloplasmin (CP) concentration, glutathione peroxidase activity, glutathione reductase (GLR), and total antioxidant activity (AOA). Results: With aseptic inflammation in the blood of cats, a slow activation of peroxidation reactions occurred. The DC indicator increased by 1.4 times, the SOD level rose by 1.38 times, the amount of GLR by 1.04 times, and the activation of total AOA by 9.06. In sepsis, the values of DC, MDA, and medium-weight molecules increased by 4.4, 8.4, and 8.8 times, respectively. With abscesses in the blood of cats, an increase in CT, CP, and GLR is observed against a background of a decrease in glutathione peroxidase. With purulent wounds, the total AOA of plasma increases by 2.5 times; with abscesses, the total AOA increases by 1.9 times, and with sepsis, it decreases by 1.5 times. Conclusion: With surgical infections in cats, deep biochemical changes or irreversible biochemical changes (in sepsis) occur that indicate a significantly enhanced catabolic orientation of metabolic processes and the accumulation of toxic metabolites, which leads to damage and a decrease in tissue regenerative capacity. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2021; 8(2.000): 210-217]

Fenbendazole (FBZ) is a commonly used anthelmintic in veterinary medicine that has recently been found to have anticancer effects in humans. On the other hand, few studies have examined the anti-inflammatory effects of FBZ, and its mechanism is unknown. In this study, mouse bone marrow cells (BMs) were treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a representative inflammation-inducing substance, to generate a situation similar to osteomyelitis in vitro. The effect of FBZ on inflammatory BMs was examined by measuring the metabolic activity, surface marker expression, cell nuclear morphology, and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) of BMs. FBZ decreased the metabolic activity and MMP of LPS-treated BMs. Annexin Ⅴ-fluorescein isothiocyanate/propidium iodide staining and Hoechst 33342 staining showed that FBZ reduced the number of viable cells and induced the cell death of inflammatory BMs. In addition, FBZ reduced the proportion of granulocytes more than B lymphocytes in LPS-treated BMs. Overall, FBZ induces cell death by destabilizing the MMP of LPS-induced inflammatory BMs. FBZ can play a role as an anthelmintic and anticancer agent and an anti-inflammatory agent.

This study aimed to identify potential biomarkers of canine pyometra and their correlations with clinical parameters. First, 90 dogs with pyometra and 26 healthy female dogs were compared. Then, paired samples (before and after ovariohysterectomy) from 22 dogs with pyometra and 9 healthy controls from the initial cohort were compared. Concentrations of acute inflammatory proteins, C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum amyloid A (SAA), and cell-free DNA (cfDNA), were significantly higher in dogs with pyometra than in clinically healthy dogs. Cell-free DNA was the most sensitive biomarker for systemic inflammation, based on the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis (area under the curve = 0.959). In addition, cfDNA and CRP were significantly associated with inflammation and organ injury-related clinical parameters. Following the surgical removal of the inflamed uterus, interleukin-6 (IL-6), high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), and procalcitonin (PCT) significantly decreased, whereas changes in CRP, SAA, and cfDNA were not significant. These findings indicate that cfDNA, CRP, and SAA are potential clinical biomarkers of systemic inflammation in dogs with pyometra and PCT, IL-6, and HMGB1 are potential biomarkers of clinical recovery.