Severity of experimental escherichia-coli mastitis in ketonemic and nonketonemic dairy-cows.

The severity of experimental Escherichia coli mastitis in relation to in vitro chemotaxis of polymorphonuclear leukocytes was investigated in cows during negative energy balance. The negative energy balance was induced by feed restriction. Cows were classified into two groups, ketonemic and nonketonemic, based on the beta-hydroxybutyrate concentration in the peripheral blood at the moment of inoculation. Bacterial growth in the inoculated quarter was used as a parameter to indicate the severity of experimental mastitis. In the nonketonemic cows, experimental mastitis ranged from moderate to severe. Severity of experimental mastitis was negatively related to preinfection chemotactic response of polymorphonuclear leukocytes. In contrast, the course of experimental mastitis in the ketonemic group was relatively severe in all cows, regardless of preinfection chemotactic response

Preinfection chemotactic response of blood polymorphonuclear leukocytes to predict severity of Escherichia-coli mastitis.

Experimental mastitis was induced by inoculating rear right quarters of 10 healthy cows with 10(3) cfu of Escherichia coli. The chemotactic responses of peripheral blood polymorphonuclear leukocytes at d -6, -5, -2, -1, and immediately prior to inoculation were measured. Chemiluminescence of polymorphonuclear leukocytes was measured immediately prior to inoculation. Severity of the experimental mastitis was assessed by bacterial growth in the inoculated quarters. Results of this study indicated that severity of the experimental mastitis may be predicted by the chemotactic response in vitro of polymorphonuclear leukocytes isolated from the peripheral blood at d 2, d 1, and immediately prior to inoculation. The number of circulating polymorphonuclear leukocytes immediately prior to inoculation also showed a negative relationship with the severity of mastitis. No relationship existed between preinfection chemiluminescence of polymorphonuclear leukocytes and the severity of the experimental mastitis. Preinfection chemotactic response of polymorphonuclear leukocytes and preinfection numbers of circulating polymorphonuclear leukocytes appeared to be valuable as predictors of severity of experimental E. coli mastitis in cows

Severity of Experimental Escherichia coli Mastitis in Ketonemic and Nonketonemic Dairy Cows

The severity of experimental Escherichia coli mastitis in relation to in vitro chemotaxis of polymorphonuclear leukocytes was investigated in cows during negative energy balance. The negative energy balance was induced by feed restriction. Cows were classified into two groups, ketonemic and nonketonemic, based on the beta-hydroxybutyrate concentration in the peripheral blood at the moment of inoculation. Bacterial growth in the inoculated quarter was used as a parameter to indicate the severity of experimental mastitis. In the nonketonemic cows, experimental mastitis ranged from moderate to severe. Severity of experimental mastitis was negatively related to preinfection chemotactic response of polymorphonuclear leukocytes. In contrast, the course of experimental mastitis in the ketonemic group was relatively severe in all cows, regardless of preinfection chemotactic response

Identification of emulsifier potato peptides by bioinformatics: application to omega-3 delivery emulsions and release from potato industry side streams

We are grateful for the financial support from Innovation Fund Denmark (Grant nr: 7045-00021B, PROVIDE project). We also acknowledge K.M.C. amba (Brande, Denmark) and A.K.V. amba (Langholt, Denmark) for providing the potato samples used in this study.In this work, we developed a novel approach combining bioinformatics, testing of functionality and bottom-up proteomics to obtain peptide emulsifiers from potato side-streams. This is a significant advancement in the process to obtain emulsifier peptides and it is applicable to any type of protein. Our results indicated that structure at the interface is the major determining factor of the emulsifying activity of peptide emulsifiers. Fish oil-in-water emulsions with high physical stability were stabilized with peptides to be predicted to have facial amphiphilicity: (i) peptides with predominantly α-helix conformation at the interface and having 18–29 amino acids, and (ii) peptides with predominantly β-strand conformation at the interface and having 13–15 amino acids. In addition, high physically stable emulsions were obtained with peptides that were predicted to have axial hydrophobic/hydrophilic regions. Peptides containing the sequence FCLKVGV showed high in vitro antioxidant activity and led to emulsions with high oxidative stability. Peptide-level proteomics data and sequence analysis revealed the feasibility to obtain the potent emulsifier peptides found in this study (e.g. γ-1) by trypsin-based hydrolysis of different side streams in the potato industry.Innovation Fund Denmark 7045-00021

Estimating internal pelvic sizes using external body measurements in the double-muscled Belgian Blue beef breed

In the double-muscled (DM) Belgian Blue beef (BBB) breed, caesarean section (CS) is being applied systematically as a management tool to prevent dystocia. As a matter of fact, CS is the only possible way of calving in the breed. High birth weight and a relatively small pelvic area are the main causes of dystocia and, in the DM-BBB breed, the reasons for the systematically applied CS. Selection for lower birth weight and larger pelvic sizes might reduce dystocia and routine CS. Few data on inner pelvic sizes of pedigree animals are available. Using external measurements to estimate the inner pelvic sizes might be an option to resolve this problem. In this study, animals of the DM-BBB breed were measured and weighed on farms and in abattoirs. External and internal pelvic sizes increased with live weight and age of the animals. Gender had a significant influence on inner pelvic traits. Increased muscular conformation was associated with decreased inner pelvic dimensions. Models with weight, gender, age, withers height and outer pelvic width (TcTc) can be used to estimate inner pelvic sizes (R-2 between 0.35 and 0.77). The estimated inner pelvic sizes can then be used to genetically evaluate pelvic traits in the DM-BBB breed. Improving weight, withers height and TcTc width in combination with lowering muscular conformation may help to decrease the high rate of caesarean section in the DM-BBB