The increasing antimicrobial resistance of pathogenic bacteria in Veterinary Medicine encourages the search for natural biocompounds as alternatives for their control. The phytochemical characterization and evaluation of the antibacterial activity of propolis produced in Ecuador remain poorly documented. In this study, the concentrations of polyphenols and flavonoids were determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu and aluminum chloride methods, respectively; The primary flavonoids were identified using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode-array detection and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS), alongside gas chromatography electron ionization-mass spectrometry; and the in vitro antibacterial activity of an ethanolic propolis extract from Chone, Manabi, Ecuador, against Streptococcus agalactiae was evaluated. Antibacterial activity was assessed using the agar well diffusion method at concentrations of 350, 450, and 550 mg/mL of propolis extract; the data were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn tests (alpha = 0.05). The extract contained between 65.98 and 85.98 mg of polyphenols expressed as mg GAE/g of dry extract and 22.82 mg of flavonoids expressed as mg QE/g of dry extract. Chromatographic analysis revealed that pinocembrin, galangin, chrysin, quercetin, kaempferol, and apigenin were the flavonoids present, which have been associated with the biological properties of propolis. The greatest inhibitory response was observed at 550 mg/mL of propolis extract, with a median inhibition zone of 39 mm (H = 12.58; P = 0.0019). The integration of the phytochemical profile and microbiological response demonstrates the potential of Ecuadorian propolis as a source of bioactive compounds for the development of bioproducts with potential applications in the control of bacterial pathogens of importance in Veterinary Medicine and aquaculture.
Tramadol is widely used in companion animal clinical practice; however, evidence supporting its analgesic efficacy in rabbits remains limited, despite the growing popularity of this species as a pet. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the intraoperative and postoperative analgesic effects of tramadol administered either as a single dose or as a continuous infusion in rabbits undergoing orchiectomy. Twenty-one male Lionhead rabbits, with a mean age of 5 +/- 1 months, were included in the study and acclimated for one month to minimize stress-related responses. Animals were randomly assigned to three treatment groups (n = 7/group): T1, control group without tramadol administration; T2, a single preoperative intravenous dose of tramadol (5 mg & centerdot;kg(-1)); and T3, an intravenous loading dose of 2 mg & centerdot;kg(-1) followed by a continuous infusion of 0.022 mg & centerdot;kg(-1)& centerdot;min(-1). Analgesic efficacy was assessed by measuring serum cortisol and blood glucose concentrations before and after surgery, as well as by monitoring heart rate and respiratory rate at four time points duringthe 15-minute surgical procedure. Postoperative pain assessment was performed using the Rabbit Grimace Scale (RbtGS), together with heart rate and respiratory rate measurements recorded every 30 min for a total of four evaluations. The results demonstrated that tramadol significantly reduced (P<0.05) most evaluated parameters compared with the control group. During surgery, T2 and T3 produced comparable analgesic effects; however, T2 provided superior postoperative analgesia. In conclusion, preoperative intravenous administration of tramadol at a dose of 5 mg & centerdot;kg(-1) provided effective pain control in rabbits undergoing orchiectomy.
Gastric ischemia-reperfusion (GI/R) injury was established by 30 min of celiac artery occlusion followed by 60 min of reperfusion. Gastric tissues were evaluated biochemically for superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and malondialdehyde (MDA), as well as histopathological and immunohistochemically for transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β), toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) expression. GI/R markedly increased MDA levels while reducing SOD and CAT activities compared with the control group. Histopathological examination showed epithelial cell loss, mucosal edema, hemorrhagic damage, and inflammatory cell infiltration in the groups subjected to GI/R injury. Immunoreactivities of TGF-β, TLR4, and NF-κB were significantly increased after GI/R injury. Pre-treatment with Centaurium minus oil significantly improved activities of antioxidant enzymes, reduced lipid peroxidation, attenuated histopathological damage, and suppressed expression of TGF-β, TLR4, and NF-κB. These findings indicate that C. minus oil exerts gastroprotective effects against GI/R injury by enhancing antioxidant defenses and attenuating TLR4/NF-κB-mediated inflammatory responses. Therefore, C. minus oil may represent a promising natural therapeutic agent for the prevention of gastric ischemia-reperfusion injury.
The study looked at how the number of cells called plasma cells changes with age in cats. These plasma cells produce antibodies called IgA, IgG and IgM. The researchers took samples from parts of the body such as small intestine, lymph nodes, spleen and tonsils from 11 healthy cats. The cats were of ages ranging from 1 day to 13 years. They used a technique to see which plasma cells were producing which antibodies. They found that in kittens there were hardly any plasma cells. From 17 days old these immune cells started to appear and as the kittens got older there were more and more of them. The researchers found that in parts of the body like spleen and lymph nodes plasma cells that produced IgG were the common. In the intestine plasma cells that produced IgA became more common as cats got older. Plasma cells are important. The plasma cells that produced IgM were found in both intestine and other parts of the body. They were present at all ages. Plasma cells produce IgM. They also found that there were no plasma cells that produced IgA in tonsils and very few in spleen. These findings show that in cats the number and type of plasma cells change with age and depend on the part of the body. Plasma cells are important for cats. This pattern is like whats seen in animals. It gives us information on how the immune system of cats develops. Cats have systems, like other animals.
Kefir harbours a mixed community of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts, and the postbiotics obtained from it have attracted interest as natural functional ingredients with antimicrobial and health-promoting properties. It is not established, however, whether a postbiotic obtained directly from whole kefir grains differs from one produced by Lactobacillus strains isolated from the same grains. The objective of this study was therefore to compare the metabolite profile and the antimicrobial activity of a kefir-derived postbiotic (KP) and a Lactobacillus-derived postbiotic (LP). Cell-free preparations were obtained by controlled fermentation, centrifugation and membrane filtration. Their metabolite composition was characterized qualitatively by Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS), and their antimicrobial activity was determined by viable count reduction against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC43303 y Candida albicans ATCC10231 after 12 h of contact. Both preparations reduced the viable counts of both test organisms. KP reduced S. aureus by 2.99 ± 0.04 log10 CFU/mL and C. albicans by 1.74 ± 0.05 log10 CFU/mL, whereas LP reduced both organisms to below the detection limit of the plating method, corresponding to reductions of at least 3.02 ± 0.01 and 4.11 ± 0.01 log10 CFU/mL, respectively. The difference between the two preparations was statistically significant against C. albicans (P < 0.001) but not against S. aureus (P = 0.28), where both preparations approached the detection limit of the assay. The metabolite profiles of the two preparations largely overlapped: 18 of the annotated compounds formed a shared core that contained the principal antimicrobial organic and aromatic acids, while only a small number of features differentiated them, namely ascorbic acid and acetylated aromatic amino acids in KP, and free valine and short peptides in LP. Because the LC-MS characterization was qualitative and based on a single injection per preparation, and because no uninoculated- medium blank was analysed, these compositional differences should be regarded as preliminary. Within these limitations, the results suggest that the microbial source may influence both the metabolite profile of kefir postbiotics and, against C. albicans, their antimicrobial performance, and that both preparations merit further evaluation as natural antimicrobial agents for food applications.
