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Haemonchus contortus is an economic problem in sheep farms worldwide, mainly in the tropics and subtropics. A vaccine against haemonchosis, called Barbervax ® , was evaluated in ewes under two nutritional status, naturally infected with gastrointestinal nematodes. Ewes were divided into four groups: Supplemented Diet - Vaccine; Supplemented Diet - No vaccine; Basal Diet - Vaccine and Basal Diet - No vaccine. Their lambs were divided in Vaccinated and No vaccine. Ewes were immunised six times starting about 1 month of pregnancy with the first three doses at 3 week intervals and the last three shots at 4 week intervals. Supplemented ewes had higher body weight, body score and packed cell volume compared with those fed a basal diet. Both groups of vaccinated ewes showed a similar response in circulating anti-vaccine antibodies but the vaccine had no discernible effect on either body weight, body score and packed cell volume. There was a marked group difference in the number of ewes that received precautionary treatments with anthelmintic. All 14 Basal Diet - No vaccine ewes required treatment. In contrast only 7 ewes, in the Supplemented Diet - Vaccine group required anthelmintic treatment. In the Basal Diet - Vaccine and in the Supplemented Diet - No Vaccine groups, 12 and 13 ewes needed anthelmintic treatment, respectively. Vaccinated lambs showed much higher antibody titres resulting in 80% less Haemonchus spp. egg counts comparing with no vaccine lambs. Taken together these results clearly suggest that in pregnant and lactating ewes a combined protective effect between vaccination and improved nutrition resulted in fewer precautionary anthelmintic treatments. Thus, it was possible to achieve a more sustainable level of control of the haemonchosis, less dependent on anthelmintic drugs., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Obtaining sexed sperm from previously frozen doses (reverse-sorted semen [RSS]) provides an important advantage because of the possibility of using the semen of bulls with desired genetic attributes that have died or have become infertile but from whom frozen semen is available. We report the efficiency of RSS on the pregnancy rate and birth rate of calves in a large-scale program using ovum pick-up and in vitro embryo production (IVEP) from Bos indicus, Bos indicus-taurus, and Bos taurus cattle. From 645 ovum pick-up procedures (Holstein, Gir, and Nelore), 9438 viable oocytes were recovered. A dose of frozen semen (Holstein, Nelore, Brahman, Gir, and Braford) was thawed, and the sperm were sex-sorted and cooled for use in IVF. Additionally, IVF with sperm from three Holstein bulls with freeze-thawed, sex-sorted (RSS) or sex-sorted, freeze-thawed (control) was tested. A total of 2729 embryos were produced, exhibiting a mean blastocyst rate of 29%. Heifers and cows selected for adequate body condition, estrus, and health received 2404 embryos, and 60 days later, a 41% average pregnancy rate was observed. A total of 966 calves were born, and 910 were of a predetermined sex, with an average of 94% accuracy in determining the sex. Despite the lower blastocyst rate with freeze-thawed, sex-sorted semen compared with sex-sorted semen, (P < 0.05), the pregnancy rate (bull I, 45% vs. 40%; II, 35% vs. 50%; and III, 47% vs. 48% for RSS and control, respectively; P > 0.05) and sex-sorted efficiency (bull I, 93% vs. 98%; II, 96% vs. 94%; and III, 96% vs. 97% for RSS and control, respectively; P > 0.05) were similar for each of the three bulls regardless of the sperm type used in the IVF. The sexing of previously frozen semen, associated with IVEP, produces viable embryos with a pregnancy rate of up to 40%, and calves of the desired sex are born even if the paternal bull has acquired some infertility, died, or is located a long distance from the sexing laboratory. Furthermore, these data show the feasibility of the process even when used in a large-scale IVEP program., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The role of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular events is unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the direct effect of HCV on cardiovascular risk and correlate it with pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines in patients with HCV. HCV monoinfected patients, genotype 1, naive, non-obese (BMI<30) and non-diabetics were included and compared to controls (blood donors). Patients with prior diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, chronic renal failure, cancer and chronic use of lipid-lowering drugs or immunosuppressants were excluded. Age, BMI, systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic (DBP), fasting glucose and lipid levels were determined. Serum cytokines (IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-α) and Framingham score were also evaluated. 62 HCV patients, 34 (54.8%) were males and none of them was smoking. The Framingham scores (median and 25th and 75th percentiles) were 12% (6.5-14%), showing an intermediate cardiovascular risk in patients with HCV. There was significant direct correlation between Framingham and total cholesterol (p=0.043) and DBP (p=0.007). HDL-C (p=0.002) was inversely correlated with the Framingham score. HCV patients had higher levels of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and TNF-α) compared to controls (p<0.0001) and the relation of proinflammatory/anti-inflammatory TNF-α/IL10 and IL-6/IL10 were higher in HCV patients (p<0.01). The Framingham score was directly correlated to IL-6 and TNF-α, but differences were not statistically significant. Patients with HCV monoinfected, nonobese, naïve and non diabetic have an intermediate cardiovascular risk, as measured by the Framingham score and high levels of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and TNF)., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)