Search

Background: Previous studies have revealed the effects of different physical activity (PA) types on visceral adipose tissue (VAT) accumulation in individuals with overweight/obesity. However, the independent association (especially the dose–response relationship) between PA and VAT in individuals with and without overweight/obesity remains less explored. Visceral adiposity index (VAI), calculated from waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), triglyceride and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, is a novel indicator of VAT. This study aims to elucidate the association between PA and VAI in participants with and without overweight/obesity. Methods: Participants who are overweight or obese and with complete data on VAI, PA, and other essential covariates from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database (2015–2018) were included in this study. PA was evaluated by the PA questionnaire and converted into metabolic equivalent task (MET) hours per week (MET-h/wk) based on the suggested MET scores. Multivariate linear regression models were used to identify the association between PA and VAI. Subgroup analyses, combined with interaction tests and restricted cubic spline (RCS) regression analyses, were utilized to explore the stability and nonlinearity of PA-VAI association, respectively. Results: A total of 4, 312 participants with complete data on PA and VAI was included in this study, with 3, 441 of them being overweight or obese. After adjusting for all potential covariates, increased PA was found to be significantly associated with remarkable lower level of VAI in all participants (β = -0.0004, P = 0.003), participants with (β = -0.0013, P = 0.012) and without (β = -0.0004, P = 0.003) overweight/obesity. Subgroup analyses and interaction tests revealed that the PA-VAI association was not modified by other covariates in individuals with overweight/obesity. Furthermore, RCS analyses revealed that PA was significantly, linearly and negatively associated with VAI in all participants, participants with and without overweight/obesity (all P < 0.05, all P for nonlinearity > 0.05). Noteworthily, as opposed to individuals without overweight/obesity, PA was significantly associated with lower VAI in participants with overweight/obesity after exceeding the threshold of 150 MET-h/wk. Conclusion: Increased PA was significantly associated with lower level of VAI, but a higher level of PA (> 150 MET-h/wk) was needed to obtain significantly lower level of VAI in individuals with overweight/obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Orf, also known as contagious ecthyma (CE), is an acute, contagious zoonotic disease caused by the orf virus (ORFV). The F1L protein is a major immunodominant protein on the surface of ORFV and can induce the production of neutralizing antibodies., Methods: The prokaryotic expression system was used to produce the recombinant F1L protein of ORFV, which was subsequently purified and used to immunize mice. Positive hybridoma clones were screened using an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The reactivity and specificity of the monoclonal antibody (mAb) were verified through Western blot and indirect immunofluorescence (IFA). The linear antigenic epitope specific to the mAb was identified through Western blot, using truncated F1L proteins expressed in eukaryotic cells. A multiple sequence alignment of the ORFV reference strains was performed to evaluate the degree of conservation of the identified epitope., Results: After three rounds of subcloning, a mAb named Ba-F1L was produced. Ba-F1L was found to react with both the exogenously expressed F1L protein and the native F1L protein from ORFV-infected cells, as confirmed by Western blot and IFA. The mAb recognized the core epitope 103 CKSTCPKEM 111 , which is highly conserved among various ORFV strains, as shown by homologous sequence alignment., Conclusion: The mAb produced in the present study can be used as a diagnostic reagent for detecting ORFV and as a basic tool for exploring the mechanisms of orf pathogenesis. In addition, the identified linear epitope may be valuable for the development of epitope-based vaccines., Competing Interests: HZ was employed by Xinyu Mengling Animal Husbandry Development Co., Ltd. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Zhang, Zhang, Feng, Ba, Yang, Gong, Yang, Zhang, Sun and Li.)

Orf is a zoonosis caused by the Orf virus (ORFV), which is endemic in goats, sheep, and wild ruminants worldwide. Orf infection is prevalent in China, with outbreaks reported in several provinces. Currently, there is limited information available regarding the characterization of ORFV strains in Jiangxi province. This study investigated an acute outbreak of Orf that occurred in 2021 in a goat herd in the Jiangxi province of China. Clinical signs in this case included lesions on the lips, nose, and inside the mouth. The presence of ORFV was confirmed from tissue samples by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The nucleotide sequences of the B2L and F1L genes were fully sequenced and used to construct phylogenetic trees. The results of this investigation identified the ORFV JXxy2021 as the cause of the outbreak. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that the ORFV strain JXxy2021 had the highest similarity to the ORFV strains GO and FJ-SL from the neighboring province of Fujian. This suggests that JXxy2021 was likely transmitted from Fujian province. The results have provided valuable information on the genetic characteristics of JXxy2021 and the endemic situations of Orf in China., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Zhang, Zhang, Meng, Feng, Gong, Yang, Yang, Xu, Zheng and Li.)