• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.8
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• pp.1209-1220
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• 2023

Objective: The use of probiotics as an alternative to antibiotics in animal feed has received considerable attention in recent decades. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have remarkable functional properties promoting host health and are major microorganisms for probiotic purposes. The aim of this study was to characterize LAB strains of the chicken digestive tract and to determine their functional properties for further use as potential probiotics in poultry. Methods: A total of 2,000 colonies were isolated from the ileum and cecal contents of the chickens based on their phenotypic profiles and followed by a preliminary detection for acid and bile tolerance. The selected 200 LAB isolates with exhibited well-tolerance in acid and bile conditions were then identified by sequencing the 16S rDNA gene, followed by acid and bile tolerance, antimicrobial activity, adhesion to epithelial cells and additional characteristics on the removal of cholesterol. Then, the two probiotic strains (L. ingluviei and L. salivarious) which showed the greatest advantage in vitro testing were selected to assess their efficacy in broiler chickens. Results: It was found that 200 LAB isolates that complied with all measurement criteria belonged to five strains, including L. acidophilus (63 colonies), L. ingluviei (2 colonies), L. reuteri (58 colonies), L. salivarius (72 colonies), and L. saerimneri (5 colonies). We found that the L. ingluviei and L. salivarius can increase the population of LAB and Bifidobacterium spp. while reducing Enterobacteria spp. and Escherichia coli in the cecal content of chickens. Additionally, increased concentrations of valeric acid and short chain fatty acids were also observed. Conclusion: This study indicates that all five Lactobacillus strains isolated from gut contents of chickens are safe and possess probiotic properties, especially L. ingluviei and L. salivarius. Future studies should evaluate the potential for growth improvement in broilers.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.1080-1095
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• 2024

In contemporary society, the increasing number of pet-owning households has significantly heightened interest in companion animal health, expanding the probiotics market aimed at enhancing pet well-being. Consequently, research into the gut microbiota of companion animals has gained momentum, however, ethical and societal challenges associated with experiments on intelligent and pain-sensitive animals necessitate alternative research methodologies to reduce reliance on live animal testing. To address this need, the Fermenter for Intestinal Microbiota Model (FIMM) is being investigated as an in vitro tool designed to replicate gastrointestinal conditions of living animals, offering a means to study gut microbiota while minimizing animal experimentation. The FIMM system explored interactions between intestinal microbiota and probiotics within a simulated gut environment. Two strains of commercial probiotic bacteria, Enterococcus faecium IDCC 2102 and Bifidobacterium lactis IDCC 4301, along with a newly isolated strain from domestic dogs, Lactobacillus acidophilus SLAM AK001, were introduced into the FIMM system with gut microbiota from a beagle model. Findings highlight the system's capacity to mirror and modulate the gut environment, evidenced by an increase in beneficial bacteria like Lactobacillus and Faecalibacterium and a decrease in the pathogen Clostridium. The study also verified the system's ability to facilitate accurate interactions between probiotics and commensal bacteria, demonstrated by the production of short-chain fatty acids and bacterial metabolites, including amino acids and gamma-aminobutyric acid precursors. Thus, the results advocate for FIMM as an in vitro system that authentically simulates the intestinal environment, presenting a viable alternative for examining gut microbiota and metabolites in companion animals.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.107-118
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• 2017

Although alternative test methods based on the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement) are being developed to replace animal testing in reproductive and developmental toxicology, they are still in an early stage. Consequently, we aimed to develop alternative test methods in male animals using mouse spermatogonial stem cells (mSSCs). Here, we modified the OECD TG 489 and optimized the in vitro comet assay in our previous study. This study aimed to verify the validity of in vitro tests involving mSSCs by comparing their results with those of in vivo tests using C57BL/6 mice by gavage. We selected hydroxyurea (HU), which is known to chemically induce male reproductive toxicity. The 50% inhibitory concentration ($IC_{50}$) value of HU was 0.9 mM, as determined by the MTT assay. In the in vitro comet assay, % tail DNA and Olive tail moment (OTM) after HU administration increased significantly, compared to the control. Annexin V, PI staining and TUNEL assays showed that HU caused apoptosis in mSSCs. In order to compare in vitro tests with in vivo tests, the same substances were administered to male C57BL/6 mice. Reproductive toxicity was observed at 25, 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg/day as measured by clinical measures of reduction in sperm motility and testicular weight. The comet assay, DCFH-DA assay, H&E staining, and TUNEL assay were also performed. The results of the test with C57BL/6 mice were similar to those with mSSCs for HU treatment. Finally, linear regression analysis showed a strong positive correlation between results of in vitro tests and those of in vivo. In conclusion, the present study is the first to demonstrate the effect of HU-induced DNA damage, ROS formation, and apoptosis in mSSCs. Further, the results of the current study suggest that mSSCs could be a useful model to predict male reproductive toxicity.

• Electronics and Telecommunications Trends
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.46-54
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• 2023

The announcement of the US Environmental Protection Agency that it will stop conducting or funding experimental studies on mammals by 2035 should prioritize ongoing efforts to develop and use alternative toxicity screening methods to animal testing. Toxicity screening is likely to be further developed considering the combination of human-induced pluripotent-stem-cell-derived organ-on-a-chip and multielectrode array (MEA) technologies. We briefly review the current status of MEA technology and MEA-based neuropharmacological drug screening using various cellular model systems. Highlighting the coronavirus disease pandemic, we shortly comment on the importance of early prediction of toxicity by applying artificial intelligence to the development of rapid screening methods.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.1525-1528
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to detect SNPs that were responsible for a carcass trait in Hanwoo populations. A non-parametric model applying a restricted partition method (RPM) was used, which exploited a partitioning algorithm considering statistical criteria for multiple comparison testing. Phenotypic and genotypic data were obtained from the Hanwoo Improvement Center, National Agricultural Cooperation Federation, Korea, in which the pedigree structure comprised 229 steers from 16 paternal half-sib proven sires that were born in Namwon or Daegwanryong livestock testing station between spring of 2002 and fall of 2003. A carcass trait, longissimus dorsi muscle area for each steer was measured after slaughter at approximately 722 days. Three SNPs (19_1, 18_4 and 28_2) near the microsatellite marker ILSTS035 on BTA6, around which the quantitative trait loci (QTL) for meat quality were previously detected, were used in this study. The RPM analyses resulted in two significant interaction effects between SNPs (19_1 and 18_4) and (19_1 and 28_2) at ${\alpha}$ = 0.05 level. However, under a general linear (parametric) model no interaction effect between any pair of the three SNPs was detected, while only one main effect for SNP19_1 was found for the trait. Also, under another non-parametric model using a multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) method, only one interaction effect of the two SNPs (19_1 and 28_2) explained the trait significantly better than the parametric model with the main effect of SNP19_1. Our results suggest that RPM is a good alternative to model choices that can find associations of the interaction effects of multiple SNPs for quantitative traits in livestock species.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.131-142
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• 2004

In recent years, adjuvants have received much attention because of the development of purified subunit and synthetic vaccines which are poor immunogens and require adjuvants to evoke the immune response. Therefore, immunologic adjuvants have been developed and testing for most of this century. During the last years much progress has been made on development, isolation and chemical synthesis of alternative adjuvants such as derivatives of muramyl dipeptide, monophosphoryl lipid A, liposomes, QS-21, MF-59 and immunostimulating complexes (ISCOMS). Biodegradable polymer microspheres are being evaluated for targeting antigens on mucosal surfaces and for controlled release of vaccines with an aim to reduce the number of doses required for primary immunization. The most common adjuvants for human use today are aluminum hydroxide and aluminum phosphate. Calcium phosphate and oil emulsions have been also used in human vaccination. The biggest issue with the use of adjuvants for human vaccines is the toxicity and adverse side effects of most of the adjuvant formulations. Other problems with the development of adjuvants include restricted adjuvanticity of certain formulations to a few antigens, use of aluminum adjuvants as reference adjuvant preparations under suboptimal conditions, non-availability of reliable animal models, use of non-standard assays and biological differences between animal models and humans leading to the failure of promising formulations to show adjuvanticity in clinical trials. The availability of hundreds of different adjuvants has prompted a need for identifying rational standards for selection of adjuvant formulations based on safety and sound immunological principles for human vaccines. The aim of the present review is to put the recent findings into a broader perspective to facilitate the application of these adjuvants in general and experimental vaccinology.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.249-254
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to investigate the acid tolerance, bile acid tolerance, and fermentation activity of lactic acid bacteria isolated from Kimchi in the presence of hydrolysates of whey protein concentrate. Kimchi isolates DK109, DK119, DK121, DK128, DK211, DK212, and DK215, which were identified as Lactobacillus sp., and L. casei DK128 showed the highest acid and bile acid tolerance. To produce whey hydrolysates, enzymes were added to a 10% (w/v) whey protein concentrate (WPC) solution at 1:50 (w/v, protein). The viabilities of the DK strains were determined in the presence of low pH and bile salts. Then, yogurt was produced via fermentation with L. casei DK128, an isolate from Kimchi, in the presence of the following additives: CPP, WPC, and WPC hydrolysates (WPCH) generated by alcalase (A) or neutrase (N). The produced yogurts were subjected to various analyses, including viable cell counts (CFU/mL), pH, titratable activity, and sensory testing. After 8 h of fermentation, the pH and titratable activity values of all test samples were 4.2 and 0.9, respectively. The viable counts of LAB were $3.49{\times}10^8$, $5.72{\times}10^8$, $7.01{\times}10^8$, and $6.97{\times}10^8$, for the Control, CPP, A, and N samples, respectively. These results suggest that whey proteins have potential as dietary supplements in functional foods and that WPCH could be used in yogurt as a low-cost alternative to CPP.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.16-26
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• 2024

Patients with kidney disease require frequent blood tests to monitor their kidney function, which is particularly difficult for young children and the elderly. For these people, the standard method is to evaluate serum creatinine or cystatin C or drug levels through venous sampling, but more recently, evaluation using dried blood spots has been used. This narrative review reports information from the literature on the use of dried blood spots to quantify the main markers used to detect kidney diseases. The ScienceDirect and PubMed databases were searched using the keywords: "dried blood on filter paper," "markers of renal function," "renal function," "creatinine," "cystatin C," "urea," "iohexol," and "iotalamate." Studies using animal samples were excluded, and only relevant articles in English or Spanish were considered. Creatinine was the most assessed biomarker in studies using dried blood spots to monitor kidney function, showing good performance in samples whose hematocrit levels were within normal reference values. According to the included studies, dried blood spots are a practical monitoring alternative for kidney disease. Validation parameters, such as sample and card type, volume, storage, internal patterns, and the effects of hematocrit are crucial to improving the reliability of these results.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.208-214
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• 2013

Purpose: Performances of a tractor diesel engine fueled by three different animal fats biodiesels were evaluated comparing with light oil tractor in terms of power, fuel consumption rate, exhaust gases, particulate matter amount and field work capacity. Methods: Animal fats based on pig biodiesel were manufactured manually and tested for its engine performance in the tractor diesel engine and fuel adoptability in the field works. Four different fuels, three different content of biodiesel (BD20, BD50, BD100) and light oil, were prepared and tested in the four strokes diesel engine. Power output, fuel consumption rate and exhaust gases of the four fuels in the diesel engine were compared and discussed. Results: Power output of light oil engine was the greatest showing 5.3% difference between light oil and BD100, but 0.37% better power than BD20 engine power. Less exhaust gases of $CO_2$, CO, $NO_X$ and THC were produced from animal fats biodiesel than light oil, which confirmed that biodiesel is environmental friendly fuel. For fuel adoptability in the tractor, biodiesel engine tractor showed its fuel competitiveness comparing with light oil for tractor works in the faddy field. Conclusions: With four different fuel types of animal-fats biodiesel, performances of a four cylinder diesel engine for tractor were evaluated in terms of power, exhaust gases, particulate matters (PM) and field work capacity. No significant differences observed in the engine performances including power output and exhaust gases emission rate. No significant power difference observed between the various fuels including light oil on the engine running, however, amounts of noxious exhaust gases including $CO_2$ and $NO_X$ decreased as biodiesel content increased in the fuels. Field performances of animal-fats biodiesel tractor were investigated by conducting plowing and rotary operation in the field. Tilling and rotary performance of light oil tractor and BD20 tractor in the field were compared, in which about 10% travelling speed difference on both operations were monitored that showed light oil tractor was superior to BD20 tractor by 10%. Animal-fats can be an alternative fuel source replacing light oil for agricultural machinery and an environmental friendly fuel to nature.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.435-440
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• 2013

Previous studies, including our own, have demonstrated that the intratesticular injection of hypertonic saline (20%) decreased serum testosterone level which was similar to the surgical castration in the rat, showing the state of chemical castration. In the present study, we further verify the efficacy of this less invasive method as an alternative of surgical orchidectomy in the andrological field. Sterilized 20% saline was directly injected into the adult male rats (750 ${\mu}l$ per testis). The tested rats were divided into 3 groups including intact group (intact), orchidectomy group (ORX) and saline injection group (SAL) after bilateral orchidectomy was performed at the same day of injection. All rats were sacrificed at 4 weeks after injection. The reproductive organs (testes, epididymis, seminal vesicles and prostates) were collected and used for DNA and protein pattern analyses. Also, patho-histological studies on the testes were performed. In contrast to the intact group, similar DNA damages of testis and seminal vesicle were appeared in ORX group and SAL group. The DNA degradations seemed to be the results of necrosis rather than apoptosis. In the protein pattern analysis, all the testing tissues exerted similar patterns in the ORX group and the SAL group compared to the those of intact group. Patho-histological studies revealed that severe degenerative changes in testicular seminiferous tubules and massive infiltration of immune cells in SAL group. The present study confirmed that direct injection of hypertonic saline into the testis caused the equivalent biochemical changes in the accessory sex organs as shown in the orchidectomized animals. These results suggest that hypertonic saline injection model could be a useful castration model which can substitute for surgical castration when its safety is secured through further study in the future.