Influence of suckling and feeding on insulin, gastrin, somatostatin and VIP levels in peripheral venous blood of lactating sows

Blood samples were collected in peripheral venous blood of seven lactating sows, when their piglets were suckling. In four of the experiments samples were also taken when the sows were fed a meal. Gastrin, insulin, somatostatin and VIP levels were measured by radioimmunoassay. Insulin levels increased by approximately 100% for about 10 min in response to suckling, in some experiments even before the suckling occurred, i.e. when the sows saw, heard and smelled their piglets. In four of the sows suckling caused a biphasic twofold increase in gastrin levels - one immediate peak which lasted for a few min and a second peak of longer duration (about 30-60 min), whereas gastrin levels remained unchanged in three animals. Somatostatin levels usually reflected gastrin levels in a reciprocal way. Thus, a biphasic decrease of somatostatin levels occurred in the high gastrin responders. In contrast, somatostatin levels increased in the experiments, in which gastrin levels did not change. Immediate and short-lasting (a few minutes long) increases of VIP levels were also induced by suckling. Large litters and long suckling periods appeared to be related to greater changes of the levels of all the peptides measured. Feeding influenced insulin, gastrin and somatostatin levels in the same way as did suckling from both a qualitative and a quantitative point of view. In contrast, VIP levels were not increased by feeding. The possible functional effects of the suckling-induced release of gastrointestinal hormones and possible mechanisms of their release are discussed.     

Medialization laryngoplasty-A study of 15 cases

Type I thyroplasty has become a primary surgical choise for voice restoration in patients with glottal incompetence due to vocal cord palsy. In this study 15 such cases of different etiologies were taken up for medializatioin laryngoplasty and their preoperative und post operative. voice assessment were done. We found that there was significant improvement in loudness: hoarseness and breathiness. Postoperative maximum phonation time also increased to normal limits. There were no major complications of the surgery.     

Plasma levels of oxytocin increase in response to suckling and feeding in dogs and sows

The objective of the present study was to investigate whether oxytocin is released in response to feeding in analogy to the response induced by suckling. Therefore, repeated plasma samples were drawn from dogs and pigs during feeding and suckling and oxytocin levels were determined by radioimmunoassay. As expected suckling gave rise to immediate and short-lasting increases of oxytocin levels in both species. More surprisingly, feeding in female and male dogs as well as in lactating sows was accompanied by a similar-sized rise of oxytocin levels. The oxytocin peak sometimes occurred before the actual period of suckling or feeding, suggesting that the output of oxytocin had been conditioned to visual, olfactory or auditory stimuli associated with both types of situations. It is well known that oxytocin is released in lactating animals in response to touching of the teats. It is possible that also the presence of food in the gastro-intestinal tract activates neurogenic mechanisms which stimulates the release of oxytocin. Since oxytocin causes a release of insulin and VIP (vasoactive intestinal polypeptide), peptides which appear in the circulation following both suckling and feeding, it is suggested that oxytocin may be involved in the control of the suckling- and feeding-related output of these peptides.     

Theoretical predictions for low-temperature phases,softening of phonons and elastic stiffnesses,and electronic properties of sodium peroxide under high pressure

High-pressure phase stabilities up to 600 K and the related properties of Na₂O₂ under pressures up to 300 GPa were investigated using first-principles calculations and the quasi-harmonic approximation. Two high-pressure phases of Na₂O₂ that are thermodynamically and dynamically stable were predicted consisting of the Amm2 (distorted P$\bar{6}$2m) and the P2₁/c structures, which are stable at low temperature in the pressure range of 0–22 GPa and 22–28 GPa, respectively. However, the P$\bar{6}$2m and Pbam structures become the most stable instead of the Amm2 and P2₁/c structures at the elevated temperatures, respectively. Interestingly, the softening of some phonon modes and the decreasing of some elastic stiffnesses in the Amm2 structure were also predicted in the pressure ranges of 2–3 GPa and 9–10 GPa. This leads to the decreasing of phonon free energy and the increasing of the ELF value in the same pressure ranges. The HSE06 band gaps suggest that all phases are insulators, and they increase with increasing pressure. Our findings provide the P–T phase diagram of Na₂O₂, which may be useful for investigating the thermodynamic properties and experimental verification.

High-pressure phase stabilities up to 600 K and the related properties of Na₂O₂ under pressures up to 300 GPa were investigated using first-principles calculations and the quasi-harmonic approximation.     

Increase of insulin and decrease of glucagon levels in response to total and fractionated weaning in sows

The effect of weaning on plasma levels of insulin and glucagon as well as on plasma glucose levels was studied in sows after final weaning (all the piglets removed in week 5 of lactation) and fractionated weaning (7 out of 12 piglets removed in week 3 of lactation). Insulin levels rose from 24 +/- 6 to 106 +/- 22 microU ml-1 4 days after final weaning and from 11 +/- 1 to 128 +/- 20 microU ml-1 7 days after fractionated weaning. Glucagon levels fell from 60 +/- 20 and 42 +/- 8 to 35 +/- 10 and 24 +/- 5 pm in the two groups, respectively. Plasma glucose levels increased from 4.5 +/- 0.5 to 7.2 +/- 1.2 mM after fractionated weaning and remained unchanged after final weaning. One possible mechanism that can explain this pronounced insulin increase and decrease of glucagon is the elevation of plasma glucose, since milk is no longer emptied from the mammary gland and since insulin resistance occurs after weaning in rats. Another possible explanation could be a decreased number of insulin receptors in the mammary gland, since prolactin which is known to increase insulin receptors is decreased in weaned rats.     

Seasonal Variation in Nuclear DNA Integrity of Frozen–Thawed Spermatozoa from Thai AI Swamp Buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis)

In this study, we investigated the susceptibility of frozen–thawed swamp buffalo sperm nuclear DNA to undergo controlled acid‐induced denaturation in situ, as analysed by flow cytometry, and aimed to correlate the results with sperm head morphology over three seasons in tropical Thailand. Artificial insemination (AI) doses (n = 218) from 18 AI buffalo sires, prepared between 1980 and 1989 and 2003 and 2005, were tested and compared among three seasons, the rainy season, July–October; winter, November–February; and summer, March–June. The overall mean of DNA fragmentation index (DFI) (± SD) was 1.84 ± 1.68%, range from 0.19 to 7.92%, with 0.221 ± 0.021 of the x‐DFI ranging from 0.190 to 0.350 and 0.023 ± 0.009 of the SD‐DFI ranging from 0.010 to 0.070. The DFI was consistently low (range 1.40 ± 0.21% to 2.16 ± 0.21%; LSM ± SEM), with x‐DFI ranging from 0.216 ± 0.003 to 0.225 ± 0.003 and SD‐DFI ranging from 0.022 ± 0.001 to 0.024 ± 0.001 across the seasons. The DFI was low enough to be related to high fertility potential. However, DFI values varied statistically among seasons, being lower in the rainy season (1.40 ± 0.21%, P < 0.05) than in winter (2.16 ± 0.21%) or summer (2.00 ± 0.20%), and were also affected by the year of semen collection and processing (P < 0.001). The proportion of morphologically abnormal sperm head shapes was low, with no significant differences between seasons. However, DFI was significantly related to the proportion of loose abnormal sperm heads (r = 0.27, P < 0.01). In conclusion, frozen–thawed swamp buffalo sperm chromatin integrity is not seriously damaged by cryopreservation or affected by the seasonal variations in temperature and humidity seen in tropical Thailand.     

Medialization laryngoplasty-A study of 15 cases

Type I thyroplasty has become a primary surgical choise for voice restoration in patients with glottal incompetence due to vocal cord palsy. In this study 15 such cases of different etiologies were taken up for medializatioin laryngoplasty and their preoperative und post operative. voice assessment were done. We found that there was significant improvement in loudness: hoarseness and breathiness. Postoperative maximum phonation time also increased to normal limits. There were no major complications of the surgery.