多元福利措施改善巴马小型猪福利状况的实验评价

目的 研究多元福利措施(组合应用音乐、香薰、营养、玩具、生物活性垫料等环境丰富元素)对实验小型猪整体福利状况的综合改善作用.方法 将来自6窝的12头雌性巴马小型猪(每窝2头)分别编入常规饲养组和优化饲养组饲养9周,测定两组的应激分子表达、免疫平衡、血常规指标和生长情况.结果 相比于常规饲养组,优化饲养组具有更低的皮质醇水平和干扰素-γ/白细胞介素-4比值,糖皮质激素受体(GR) mRNA和热休克蛋白70 (HSP70) mRNA表达更少,红细胞数(RBC)、血红蛋白(HGB)、红细胞比容(HCT)、平均红细胞体积(MCV)、平均红细胞血红蛋白含量(MCH)、白细胞数(WBC)、中性粒细胞(NEUT)和嗜酸性粒细胞(E0)较高.结论 采用多元福利措施的优化饲养有助降低日常饲养中小型猪的应激水平,提高抗应激能力,同时可引起免疫平衡和血常规指标相应改变.     

B淋巴细胞活化因子特异的单链DNA适体的人工进化

目的: 进化筛选与B淋巴细胞活化因子（B cell activating factor belonging to the TNF family，BAFF）特异结合的单链DNA适体，鉴定其结合力。方法:应用指数方式富集的配体系统进化（systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment, SELEX）技术，将随机序列寡核     

Environmental conditions influence hippocampus-dependent behaviours and brain levels of amyloid precursor protein in rats

Sprague-Dawley rats were reared in enriched (EC; group housing, exposure to stimulating objects, frequent handling) or restricted (RC; individual housing, no exposure to stimulating objects, minimal handling) environments starting on day 23 of life. At six months of age, they underwent behavioural tests to assess 'cognitive' and 'stimulus-response' memory, selective attention, and inflammatory pain processing. Alterations in synapses and cell survival may occur as a result of environment differences; therefore we assessed the brain levels of several proteins implicated in neurite outgrowth, synaptogenesis, and cell survival. Brains were dissected and analysed for amyloid precursor protein (APP) and other synaptic and cytoskeletal proteins using Western blotting. The performance of EC animals in a hidden platform water maze task, and in a test of selective attention (both of which are thought to involve the hippocampus) was superior to that of RC animals. In contrast, performance of RC animals on two stimulus-response tasks, the visible platform water maze test and simple visual discrimination (both of which are thought to be hippocampal independent) was indistinguishable from that of EC animals. Male EC rats displayed a different behavioural response to formalin during the inflammatory phase of nociception--the phase affected by hippocampal processing; a similar trend was observed in females. Female but not male RC rats exhibited elevated plasma corticosterone levels; adrenal weights were unaffected by environmental conditions. Region-specific increases in brain levels of APP, neurofilament-70 (NF-70), and platelet-activating factor receptor (PAF-R) were found in EC rats. These data suggest that enriched animals manifest enhanced functioning of certain hippocampus-mediated behaviours when compared with that of their restricted counterparts; and that brain levels of various synaptic and structural proteins involved in neurite outgrowth, cell survival, and synaptogenesis, are affected by environmental factors.     

改良IME-FICC方法对乳腺癌外周血微转移的检测

【目的】探讨一种改良IME-FICC（免疫磁珠富集-免疫荧光细胞化学）法检测乳腺癌外周血微转移癌细胞及其意义。【方法】通过与磁珠共价结合的表皮细胞黏附分子（EpCAM）抗体富集外周血中表达EpCAM的癌细胞，结合免疫荧光化学法检测细胞角蛋白（CK）8／18阳性的癌细胞（呈绿荧光）。放置MCF-7乳腺癌细胞于正常人外周血标本中以检验本方法癌细胞回收率及敏感度，检测20例正常女性志愿者及12例Ⅳ期乳腺癌患者治疗前的外周血标本，探索其特异性及临床应用可行性。【结果】免疫磁珠富集后癌细胞回收率达86％～93％．可在10^7外周血单个核细胞中检测到1个癌细胞，特异性为100％。Ⅳ期乳腺癌患者外周血中CK8／18阳性细胞检出率75％。【结论】改良IME-FICC法是一种简便、省时、敏感性及特异性高的检测方法，有较大的临床应用前景。     

Attendance at cultural events and physical exercise and health: a randomized controlled study

The aim of this study was to assess the specific biomedico-social effects of participating in cultural events and gentle physical exercise effects apart from the general effect of participating in group activities. This was a randomized controlled investigation using a factorial design, where attending cultural events and taking easy physical exercise were tested simultaneously. The 21 participants, aged between 18 and 74 y were from a simple random sample of people registered as residents in Ume?, a town in northern Sweden. Among the 1000 in the sample, 21 individuals (11 men, 10 women) were recruited into the experiment. Two out of the 21 subjects dropped out and were discounted from our analysis. Nine people were encouraged to engage in cultural activity for a two-month period. Diastolic blood pressure in eight of these nine was significantly reduced following the experiment. There were no marked changes observed in either systolic or diastolic blood pressure in those not required to engage in any form of extra-cultural activity. A decrease in the levels of both adrenocorticotropical hormone (ACTH) and s-prolactin was observed in culturally stimulated subjects, whereas the average baseline s-prolactin level of 7 ng/l for the non-culturally stimulated group was unchanged after the experiment. Physical exercise produced an increase in the high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol level and in the ratio of HDL to LDL (low density lipoprotein). It was concluded that cultural stimulation may have specific effects on health related determinants.     

Assessment of gastric emptying in the mouse using the [13C]-octanoic acid breath test

1. Gastric emptying studies in small laboratory animals are hampered by the deficiency of a technique that is non-invasive and repeatable. The aim of the present study was to adapt the non-invasive [13C]-octanoic acid breath test, which has been validated in humans, to assess both liquid and solid gastric emptying in the mouse. 2. Gastric emptying rates were investigated for a liquid meal (Intralipid; Kabi Pharmacia AB, Stockholm, Sweden; n = 7) and two solid meals (egg yolk and mouse chow; n = 7) incorporating [13C]-octanoic acid. All meals were analysed for natural enrichment of [13C]. Mathematical analysis of the 13CO2 excretion rate allowed the determination of gastric emptying parameters. 3. Gastric emptying of Intralipid was more rapid than egg yolk (P < 0.0001). Gastric emptying of mouse chow could not be assessed due to intragastric separation of [13C]-octanoic acid and natural [13C] enrichment of the pellet. 4. The [13C]-octanoic acid breath test can reproducibly assess both liquid and solid gastric emptying non-invasively in the mouse. This method can now be used to assess gastric emptying in drug studies and disease studies for which there are established mouse models.     

Sex differences in effects of environmental stimulation on brain weight of previously undernourished rats

Neonatally undernourished male and female rats were housed under differential (enriched vs standard) environmental conditions during refeeding from 30 days post-partum (dpp). Animals were killed at 170 dpp and whole brain, forebrain and cerebellar weights compared with those of normally-fed, differentially housed control animals. A sex difference was observed in the response to environmental enrichment. Enriched females showed significantly increased brain weights, irrespective of previous nutritional history. Enriched males failed to show any significant alteration in brain weight. Autopsy results indicated that the enriched condition was stressful to males but not to females.The results cast doubt on the notion that infantile undernutrition may limit later effects of differential experience on the brain.     

Environmental enrichment and development of cage stereotypy in Orange-winged Amazon parrots (Amazona amazonica)

Stereotypies are abnormal repetitive behaviors that often develop in animals housed in impoverished environments. Stereotypy represents the interaction of several complex developmental phenomena. To characterize the temporal nature of stereotypy increase (escalation) and decrease (attenuation), we monitored changes in stereotypy performance in young Orange-winged Amazon parrots reared either in barren cages or cages provided with enrichments designed to facilitate foraging and locomotion. Unenriched parrots developed significantly more stereotypy than enriched parrots, and the mean time to stereotypy onset and the rate and magnitude of stereotypy increase also differed between the two groups. We then provided enrichment to the birds that had been reared in the barren cages. Following a 4-week delay, stereotypy was significantly reduced. These results show that stereotypy can be both prevented and reversed with appropriate environmental modification and illustrate how studying this behavior at many points over time can provide insights into its ontogeny.     

Enriched environment and acceleration of visual system development

Rearing mice from birth in an enriched environment leads to a conspicuous acceleration of visual system development appreciable at behavioral, electrophysiological and molecular level. Little is known about the possible mechanisms of action through which enriched environment affects visual system development. It has been suggested that differences in maternal behavior between enriched and non-enriched conditions could contribute to the earliest effects of enriched environment on visual development and that neurotrophins, BDNF in particular, might be involved. Here, we examined Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) levels in the visual cortex during development and showed that an increase occurs in the first week of life in enriched pups compared to standard reared pups; BDNF levels at birth were equal in the two groups. This suggests a postnatal rather than a prenatal effect of environment on BDNF. A detailed analysis of maternal care behavior showed that pups raised in a condition of social and physical enrichment experienced higher levels of licking behavior and physical contact compared to standard reared pups and that enhanced levels of licking were also provided to pups in an enriched environment where no adult females other than the mother were present. Thus, different levels of maternal care in different environmental conditions could act as indirect mediator for the earliest effects of enrichment on visual system development. Some of the effects of different levels of maternal care on the offspring behavior are long lasting. We measured the visual acuity of differentially reared mice at the end of the period of visual acuity development (postnatal day 45) and at 12 months of age, using a behavioral discrimination task. We found better learning abilities and higher visual acuity in enriched compared to standard reared mice at both ages.     

Large-scale monocyte enrichment coupled with a closed culture system for the generation of human dendritic cells

Conventional methods for generating monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DC) for clinical trials utilize the property of plastic adherence to select monocytes from leukapheresis samples. This method is labor-intensive and has the potential for contamination at various steps. We evaluated a large-scale monocyte enrichment procedure using a cell selector (Isolex 300i(R)) followed by culture in a sterile bag system (Stericell(R)) for generation of DC. DC generated in tissue culture flasks after monocyte selection by plastic adherence were compared to those generated in Stericell(R) bags after monocyte enrichment by negative selection with the Isolex(R) 300i. DC were matured with lipopolysaccharide and pulsed with a peptide derived from the melanoma antigen gp100. Peptide-pulsed DC cultured by the two techniques were evaluated for phenotype, viability, ability to induce allogeneic and peptide-specific autologous proliferative responses as well as peptide-specific cytotoxic T-cell responses. The mean monocyte yield from leukapheresis collections was 17+/-2.4%, which increased to 52+/-11% after Isolex(R) selection. The DC yield of plated mononuclear cells from flasks or bags was 2.7+/-0.96% and 4.84+/-2.65%, respectively. DC cultured by both methods expressed high levels of CD86, CD80, CD40, CD83, CD44, CD11c and CD58, and was comparable in their ability to induce allogeneic and peptide-specific autologous proliferative responses as well as gp100 peptide-specific cytotoxic T-cell responses. These results indicate that potent monocyte-derived DC can be generated in a closed culture bag system after monocyte enrichment by immunomagnetic negative selection. Due to the closed nature of the enrichment and culture systems, the potential for contamination is minimized. This protocol is well suited for culturing large numbers of DC for clinical immunotherapy trials.