Search

Heat stress (HS) has become a major concern for the poultry industry in many countries. HS impacts gut health by causing damaged mucosal microstructures, increased oxidative stress, weakened immunity, and heightened permeability to toxins and poultry pathogens. We investigated the potential benefits to broiler chickens subjected to HS of dietary supplementation with Bacillus subtilis 14823. Growth performance, gut barrier integrity, and expressions of inflammatory cytokines were analyzed. The results indicated that dietary supplementation with B. subtilis spores at concentrations of 1 × 10 6 CFU/g of feed (BS6 group) and 1 × 10 7 CFU/g of feed (BS7 group) improved body weight and body weight gain during d 0-42 (P < 0.05), while the feed intake of the BS7 group was highest (P < 0.05). Additionally, the BS6 group showed a better feed conversion ratio than the control (CON) group (P < 0.05). The BS7 group showed the lowest serum fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran levels (P < 0.05), and both the BS6 and BS7 groups showed lower corticosterone levels than the CON group (P < 0.05). Additionally, both the BS6 and BS7 groups demonstrated increased villi height and villus height/crypt depth ratio, along with decreased crypt depth in the duodenum and ileum (P < 0.05). However, only the BS7 group exhibited greater improvements than the CON group in the jejunum at d 35. Furthermore, at d 14 and 35, mRNA expressions of occludin, claudin-1, and tight junction protein-1 in the jejunum were upregulated (P < 0.05), and expression levels of five inflammatory cytokine genes were downregulated in the ileum (P < 0.05). Our findings provide new insights and evidence supporting the application of B. subtilis 14823 for enhancing growth performance, gut barrier integrity, and modulating inflammatory cytokines in broilers., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Objective: Wound in diabetes is difficult to heal since it possesses excessive inflammation. The aim of the study was to evaluate wound healing activity of chitosan-based hydrogel containing pyroligneous acid in diabetic animals., Significance: Pyroligneous acid, a byproduct of biochar production from palm kernel shell biomass, contained oxygenated compounds which, with extracting enrichment, could promote wound healing., Methods: Streptozotocin-induced diabetic male jcl: ICR mice were subjected to create wounds and treat with hydrogel containing pyroligneous extract at dose strengths of 0 (placebo), 100 and 150 µg/g-gel. Commercial gel (Intrasite ® ) was used as an active comparator. On 3-, 7-, 10- and 14-day post-wounding, wound contraction was rated and wound site tissues were collected. The specimens were H&E stained and microscopically examined to evaluate histological responses. The underline wound healing related cytokine and polypeptide expressions were determined using real-time PCR and western blot., Results: It was found that the extract accelerated the healing process in a dose-dependent manner where at dose strength of 150 µg/g-gel was as effective as active comparator. It increased gene expression of the cytokine and related proteins in TGF-β/SMAD signaling pathway and may further activate diabetic induced TGF-β downregulation to restore up to the level that healthy skin tissues express. It also enhanced the expressions of Akt, FAK, RhoA and Rac-1 and evidently activated phosphorylation of Akt and FAK., Conclusion: The study demonstrated the extract could be a novel biomaterial for healing of such a chronic inflammatory wound as the wound in diabetes.

Background: Decolonisation is considered a valuable means to reduce Staphylococcus aureus infection rates. However, previous topical strategies targeting the nose or skin had little success, and oral antibiotic-based decolonisation is ill advised because of eradication of the microbiota and development of antibiotic resistance. We previously showed that the probiotic Bacillus subtilis significantly diminished S aureus at the main intestinal colonisation site via specific bacterial interaction in mice; in this study, we tested this probiotic approach to control S aureus colonisation in humans., Methods: We did a single-centre, phase 2, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial in adults from the Songkhla region of Thailand who were colonised by S aureus. Eligible participants were adults (aged ≥18 years) without history of intestinal disease, antibiotic treatment, or hospital admission within the previous 90 days. Participants were excluded if they were pregnant, breastfeeding, taking probiotics, or had diarrhoea. Participants were allocated (1:1) to groups by computer randomisation in blocks of four, and research coordinators were masked to group allocation. Participants received 250 mg of probiotic B subtilis MB40 or placebo once per day for 30 days and S aureus colonisation was determined after the last dose was received. The primary outcome was colonisation by S aureus (continuous, mean decrease in colony-forming-unit count) in the intestine (by faecal counts) and nares (by nasal swabs) after intervention (30-day regimen of B subtilis probiotic). This trial is registered with the Thai Clinical Trials Registry, TCTR20210128003., Findings: The trial was done between Jan 29 and June 30, 2021, with enrolment taking place from Jan 29 to April 6, 2021. 115 participants were colonised by S aureus, either in the intestine (n=84), nose (n=50), or both (n=19), and were randomly assigned to treatment (n=55) and placebo groups (n=60). Oral probiotic B subtilis resulted in significant reduction of S aureus in stool (96·8%; p<0·0001) and nose (65·4%; p=0·0002). There were no differences in adverse effects or significant microbiome changes between the intervention and placebo groups., Interpretation: B subtilis probiotic eliminated more than 95% of the total S aureus colonising the human body without altering the microbiota. This probiotic strategy offers several key advantages over presently used decolonisation strategies for potential use in people with chronic or long-term risk of S aureus infection. Furthermore, by establishing a defining role of the intestinal colonisation site, our findings call for revisiting fundamental notions about S aureus colonisation., Funding: National Research Council of Thailand and US National Institutes of Health., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests We declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Polysaccharides from the red seaweed Gracilaria fisheri possess many functions, which include antioxidant, antiviral, and antibacterial activities. However, detailed data on their immunomodulatory activities are scarce. Here, we isolated sulfated galactans (SG) from G. fisheri. We found that the predominant SG from G. fisheri, termed SG-1, had an estimated molecular mass of 100 kDa and activated murine J774A.1 macrophages via the dectin-1 signaling pathway. Furthermore, we observed enhancement of nitric oxide (NO) secretion, increased expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA, and increased mRNA levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukins IL-1β and IL-6 by SG-1 in macrophages. Moreover, there was higher expression of intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) and co-stimulatory molecules (B7-1 and B7-2) mRNA. Treatment with G. fisheri SG-1 at 50 μg/mL generally achieved or exceeded the pro-inflammatory activities of 100 ng/mL lipopolysaccharide. Our study demonstrates immune-stimulatory activities of G. fisheri SG that may be of value for immune-potentiating treatment in humans or livestock., (Published by Elsevier B.V.)