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Astragalus membranaceus (AM) is an edible medicinal resource in Korea, which has been traditionally used for cardioprotective, anti-inflammatory and longevity effects. This study was conducted to investigate metabolic changes and anti-inflammatory effects of AM by fermentation. AM was fermented with three microorganisms of Aspergilus strains isolated from Nuruk at 30□ for 6 days (FAM). The metabolites changes in pre and post fermentation of AM were analyzed by LC-MS. The pro-inflammatory factors such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and nitric oxide (NO) were measured in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW 264.7 cell line. As a result, the 28 identified metabolites in AM between pre and post fermentation process were detected in this study. The data revealed that the levels of sucrose and astraglaloside IV and calycosin decreased throughout the process while LPC and huangqiyenin B levels increased as expected and were the highest among the metabolites after the fermentation. The FAM reduced IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α and NO production without cytotoxicity. The results suggest that the fermentation process with Aspergilus strains can increase the functional metabolites and control the inflammatory factors in FAM. We expect the biotransformation technique of flavonoids in Astragalus membranaceus Radix may be used in the field of a healthy food industry.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent articular disease in the elderly. The process is characterized by changes in the structure and function of the articulation, mainly due to a degeneration that takes place in the articular cartilage (AC). OA is characterized by destruction of AC and is the most common clinical syndrome of joint pain accompanied by varying degrees of functional limitation and reduced quality of life. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of Saliva plebeia (SP) on AC degration of osteoarthritis induced rats. Salvia plebeia R.Br is an annual or biennial plant that grows in numerous countries, including Korea, China, and India. It is used as a traditional medicine to treat inflammatory diseases. The active components of SP comprise flavonoids, diterpenoids, and lignin. It is considered that appropriate treatment of SP inhibits surgical-induced OA through anti-inflammatory and AC preserve effects. In the histopathological observation, OA control rats showed marked increases of surface cartilage damages and clone formations, and decreases of chondrocytes and Safranin O stain intensities on the both femur and tibia AC. Significant increases of the Mankin scores were detected in surgical-induced OA control rats as compared with those of normal control rats. However, SP significantly improved surface cartilage damages, Mankin scores, mean femur and tibia AC thicknesses, and inflammatory cell numbers. It is expected that SP may be used as a novel potent therapeutic regime for various OA though detail mechanism studies should be needed in near future.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary Allium hookeri on intestinal immune response of young broiler chickens induced with necrotic enteritis (NE). One hundred fifty birds (1 day old) were randomly assigned to 6 groups (n =25 birds/treatment) and fed a basal diet (control) or basal diet supplemented with Allium hookeri (AH) root at 1 or 3% of the basal diet; AH1 and AH3, respectively. Birds were orally challenged with E. maxima 41A (1 × 104 cells/chicken) on day14 and followed by C. perfringens infection (1 × 109 CFU/chicken) on day18. NE-associated infection and intestinal immune response were assessed by average body weight gain, lesion score and oocyst shedding. The effect of dietary supplementation with AH on transcript levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, tight junction and mucin protein in the jejunum were quantified by qRT-PCR. At day 20, the birds fed 3 % of AH in diet (AH3) significantly weighted more than the control group though the NE-challenge significantly reduced average body weight gain compared to the uninfected control group. Among the NE-challenged groups, gut lesion score and oocyst shedding significantly decreased in the birds given with AH (1 or 3%) compared to the control group. Gene expression levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-8, IL-17α, and LITAF decreased in AH3 groups compared to the infected control group though the levels significantly increased in the NE infected groups. Interestingly AH significantly increased transcript levels of intestinal tight junction proteins and mucin at 1% of diet, not 3% of diet. These results suggest that dietary supplementation of AH can improve chicken health by controling immune response against NE and it depends on the dietary level of AH.

Chickens were immunized subcutaneously with an Eimeria recombinant profilin protein plus MontanideTM ISA 70 VG (ISA70) or MontanideTM ISA 71 VG (ISA 71) water-in-oil adjuvants, or with profilin alone. While immunization with profilin/ISA 70 vs. profilin alone altered the levels of more total transcripts compared with profilin/ISA 71 vs. profilin alone (509 vs. 296), the latter was associated with a greater number of unique biological functions, and a larger number of genes within these functions, compared with the former. Canonical pathway analysis identified 10 pathways related with genes encoding the altered transcripts in animals immunized with profilin/ISA 71 vs. profilin alone, compared with only 2 pathways in profilin/ISA 70 vs. profilin alone. Vaccination with profilin/ISA 71 was associated with greater body weight gain following E. acervulina infection, and decreased parasite fecal shedding after E. maxima infection, compared with profilin alone. Anti-profilin antibody levels were higher in sera of E. maxima- and E. tenella-infected chickens vaccinated with profilin/ISA 71 compared with profilin alone. The levels of transcripts encoding interferon-γ, interleukin (IL)-2, IL-10, and IL-17A were increased in intestinal lymphocytes from E. acervulina-, E. maxima-, and/or E. tenella-infected chickens vaccinated with profilin/ISA 71 compared with profilin alone.

Two mouse monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) which specifically detect chicken TL1A (chTL1A) were developed and characterized. Both mAbs identified a 32 kDa E. coli-derived, poly-histidine-tagged fusion protein by Western blot analysis. Both mAbs identified TL1A-secreting cells in the chicken thymus, cecal tonsil, and bursa of Fabricius by immunocytochemistry, and were used to measure serum TL1A levels in normal and necrotic enteritis (NE)-afflicted chickens by antigen capture ELISA. These mAbs inhibited chTL1A-induced spleen lymphocyte proliferation, nitric oxide production by HD11 chicken macrophages, and blocked the cytotoxic effect of chTL1A against LSCC-RP9 chicken B tumor cells. These new mAbs detecting chTL1A will be important immune reagents for basic and applied research in poultry immunology

The present experiment was conducted to study the effect of dietary Bacillus-based direct-fed microbials (DFMs) on macrophage functions and resistance against experimental coccidiosis in broiler chickens. Birds were fed diets containing one of eight Bacillus subtilis strains (designated Bs2084, LSSAO1, 3AP4, Bs18, 15AP4, 22CP1, Bs27, and Bs278) or one multiple-strain DFM product (AVICORR™) for 21 days, and then the chickens were uninfected or orally infected with 5000 Eimeria maxima (EM) oocysts. At day 21 (before EM challenge), strong phagocytosis ability using BSA-coated fluorescent latex beads and GFP-labeled salmonella was seen in animal given Bs18, 15AP4, Bs27, or Bs278 compared with the no DFM control group. At day 27 (6 days post infection), EM-induced reduction of body weight gain was significantly decreased by adding 15AP4 or Bs27 into broiler diets compared with no DFM/EM inoculated control. Serum Nitric oxide levels were increased in infected animals fed with Bs27 compared with the no DFM/EM inoculated control. The levels of Eimeria-specific antibody were increased in infected chickens fed with LSSAO1 compared with the no DFM/EM inoculated control. Finally, all experimental diets increased concanavalin A-induced splenocyte mitogenesis in infected broilers compared with the no DFM/EM inoculated control. In summary, dietary DFMs reduced the clinical signs of experimental avian coccidiosis and increased various parameters of immunity in broiler chickens.