Ruminant livestock systems contribute significantly to emission of methane, a potent greenhouse gas as they waste a portion of the ingested energy (2–15%) as methane and a large proportion (75–95%) ...of the ingested nitrogen as ammonia. Recently, numerous researches have been conducted to evaluate plant secondary metabolites, including essential oils (EO), as natural feed additives in ruminant nutrition and to exploit their potential to improve rumen fermentation efficiency. Essential oils appeared to be very promising compounds as they selectively reduced methane production and protein breakdown in both in vitro and in vivo studies. However, in some studies, the use of EO as feed additives was accompanied with decreased feed degradability and lowered volatile fatty acid. These adverse effects could be attributed to their broad and often non-specific antimicrobial activities within the rumen. Future research should be directed to identification of the active and useful EO compounds, optimization of EO doses, and use of a whole-farm approach with a focus on animal welfare, performance and economic benefits.
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•Ruminants contributes 16–25% to the global greenhouse gases emissions.•Decrease methane emission and nitrogen excretion from ruminant livestock industry is urgently needed.•Essential oils have been shown to be promising feed additives in mitigating methane and ammonia emissions.•Essential oils have showed inconsistent results about feed degradability and VFA production.•The mode of action and activities of essential oils on rumen microbiome remain poorly understood.
Background： Rumen microbiome has a great influence on ruminant health and productivity. Different plant extracts have been tested for their ability to modulate the rumen microbiome to improve feed ...digestion and fermentation. Among the evaluated plant extracts, essential oils, tannins, and saponins appeared to have positive effects on rumen protein metabolism, volatile fatty acids production, and methane and ammonia production. Methods： The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of rosemary （Rosmarinus officinalis L.） leaves and essential oils on rumen microbial populations. Four ruminally cannulated sheep were used in a 4x4 Latin square design fed （21 d/period）： 1） a control diet composed of alfalfa hay and concentrate pellet （CTR）, 2） CTR supplemented with 7 g/d/sheep of rosemary essential oil adsorbed on an inert support （EO）, 3） CTR with 10 g/d/sheep of dried and ground rosemary leaves （RL）, and 4） CTR with 10 g/d of dried and ground rosemary leaves pelleted into concentrate （RL pellet）. Abundance of total bacteria, archaea, protozoa, and some select bacterial species or groups was quantified using qPCR, while the community of bacteria and archaea was profiled using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Results： No difference in abundance was noted for total bacteria, protozoa, or Rurninococcus flavefaciens between the control and the treatments, but the rosemary leaves, either in loose form or in pellet, decreased the abundance of archaea and the genus Prevotello （P 〈 0.001）. The rosemary leaves in loose form also decreased （P 〈 0.001） the abundance of Ruminococcus albus and Clostridium aminophilum, while the EO increased （P 〈 0.001） the abundance of Fibrobocter sucdnogenes. The community of bacteria and archaea was not affected by any of the supplements. Conclusions： Being able to affect the abundance of several groups of rumen microbes that are known to be involved in degradation of protein and fiber and production of methane and ammonia, rosemary leaves may be used to modulate rumen microbiome and its function.
•The essential oil combinations markedly decreased methane and ammonia production.•Only one of the essential oil combinations did not affect feed digestion.•The essential oil combinations reduced the ...abundance of archaea and protozoa.•These combinations reduced the abundance of some hyper-ammonia producing bacteria.•Some combinations modified the structure of the bacterial and archaeal communities.
Various essential oils (EO) have been individually evaluated to mitigate methane and ammonia production by rumen microbiota. Interactions between EO can affect their potency but such interactions largely remain unexplored. In the present study, EO from oregano, rosemary, Ceylon cinnamon, cinnamon leaves, cinnamon bark, dill seeds, and eucalyptus were chemically characterized and then evaluated in vitro, both individually (at 1.125ml/L culture) and in three-way EO combinations (at total EO 0.8ml/L, equal ratio), for their effects on fermentation, methanogenesis, ammoniagenesis, and bacteria and archaea. All the EO and their combinations decreased production of total gas (P<0.001), methane (P<0.001), and ammonia (except eucalyptus EO; P<0.001), but they (except the Ceylon cinnamon-dill seeds-eucalyptus EO combination) also decreased dry matter digestibility (P<0.001). The EO individually decreased the abundances of Prevotella spp. (P<0.001) but only oregano EO reduced the abundance of archaea (P<0.001). The EO combinations significantly decreased the abundances of archaea (P<0.001), protozoa (P<0.001), and select groups or species of different rumen bacteria to different extents. Changes in bacterial and archaeal communities in response to several EO combinations were also shown by DGGE analyses. Combination of EO from Ceylon cinnamon, dill seeds, eucalyptus, and probably others, at low concentrations may be a practical approach to mitigate methane emission and nitrogen excretion from ruminant without adverse effect on feed digestion or fermentation.
•Dietary essential oil mix improved lamb meat oxidative stability.•Meat redness was positively influenced by essential oil mix during storage.•Meat lipid oxidation was reduced by essential oil mix ...during storage.•Essential oil mix reduced the growth of total viable count.
Lamb meat hygiene and oxidation were considered in two groups of animals fed a diet with and without a mix of dill (Aneto graveolens L.), cinnamon bark (Cinnamomum Zeylanicum Blume) and eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus Labill.) essential oils. After 7 days of storage, a significant difference was observed on the Total Viable Count (TVC) of the meat surface (6.58 and 7.03 Log CFU/g for the meat from treated and untreated group, respectively), but not on the Enterobacteriaceae count (2.54 and 2.84 Log CFU/g). The effect on red meat color was evident after 7 days (redness values, 11.51 and 12.96 in untreated and treated group, respectively). The antioxidant effect of the essential oil mix was shown by the DPPH and ABTS assays, which revealed a higher antioxidant activity of the meat, and by the TBARs values, with lower levels observed in the meat of the supplemented group.
Intensive farming of broilers involves stressful conditions that reduce animal welfare and performance. New dietary strategies to improve performance and meat quality include the administration of ...plant extracts. Oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) is known for its antimicrobial, anti-fungal, insecticidal and antioxidant properties. However, studies on diet supplementation with oregano are mainly focused on the evaluation of animal performance, while partial information is available on transcriptomics and nutrigenomics and, in particular, Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) is not widely applied. In this study we tested the effect of an oregano aqueous extract supplemented diet on gene expression in broiler chickens. Whole liver transcriptome of 10 birds fed with a supplemented diet versus 10 controls was analyzed using the RNA-Seq technique. One hundred and twenty-nine genes were differentially expressed with an absolute log fold change >1. The analysis reveals a massive down-regulation of genes involved in fatty acid metabolism and insulin signaling pathways in broilers fed with the oregano aqueous extract supplementation. Down-regulated genes could be associated to chicken lean line, suggesting the potential beneficial effect of oregano supplementation in reducing both abdominal and visceral fat deposition. Down-regulation of insulin signaling pathway related genes suggest that dietary oregano supplementation might be an option in obesity and diabetes conditions.
•RNA-Seq reveals that oregano modulates liver transcriptome expression.•Fat metabolism and pathways are down regulated.•Insights on the molecular basis of lean body mass and visceral fat are speculated.
The effects of increasing concentrations of oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) essentials oil (EO) on ruminal gas emissions were tested in vitro using 50 mL serum ...bottles. Each bottle contained a 200 mg substrate (alfalfa hay and corn meal 1:1) and a 20 mL solution composed of a buffered medium and rumen fluid (1:2). The percentage of ruminal fermentation products was quantified by an infrared analyzer. The reduction of total gas production was 6% and 9% respectively when using the 1.5 and 2.0 g/L oregano EO measurements. The reduction of methane production was 55%, 72% and 71% respectively with regard to the 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 g/L oregano EO doses, while rosemary EO (2.0 g/L) reduced the methane production by 9%. The production of ammonia was significantly reduced (59%-78%) by all treatments with the exception of rosemary EO at the lowest dose. Dry matter and neutral detergent fiber degradability was reduced by most of the treatments (respectively 4%-9% and 8%-24%). The total volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration was markedly decreased by oregano EO and was not affected by rosemary EO. Both EOs mitigated rumen fermentations, but oregano EO gave rise to the highest reduction in methane and ammonia production. However, further research is needed to evaluate the use of these essential oils as dietary supplements by taking into account the negative effects on feed degradability.
Background Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the most lethal cancer with an aggressive metastatic phenotype and very poor clinical prognosis. Interestingly, a lower occurrence of PDAC has ...been described in individuals with severe and long-standing asthma. Here we explored the potential link between PDAC and the glucocorticoid (GC) budesonide, a first-line therapy to treat asthma. Methods We tested the effect of budesonide and the classical GCs on the morphology, proliferation, migration and invasiveness of patient-derived PDAC cells and pancreatic cancer cell lines, using 2D and 3D cultures in vitro. Furthermore, a xenograft model was used to investigate the effect of budesonide on PDAC tumor growth in vivo. Finally, we combined genome-wide transcriptome analysis with genetic and pharmacological approaches to explore the mechanisms underlying budesonide activities in the different environmental conditions. Results We found that in 2D culture settings, high micromolar concentrations of budesonide reduced the mesenchymal invasive/migrating features of PDAC cells, without affecting proliferation or survival. This activity was specific and independent of the Glucocorticoid Receptor (GR). Conversely, in a more physiological 3D environment, low nanomolar concentrations of budesonide strongly reduced PDAC cell proliferation in a GR-dependent manner. Accordingly, we found that budesonide reduced PDAC tumor growth in vivo. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that the 3D environment drives the cells towards a general metabolic reprogramming involving protein, lipid, and energy metabolism (e.g., increased glycolysis dependency). This metabolic change sensitizes PDAC cells to the anti-proliferative effect of budesonide, which instead induces opposite changes (e.g., increased mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation). Finally, we provide evidence that budesonide inhibits PDAC growth, at least in part, through the tumor suppressor CDKN1C/p57Kip2. Conclusions Collectively, our study reveals that the microenvironment influences the susceptibility of PDAC cells to GCs and provides unprecedented evidence for the anti-proliferative activity of budesonide on PDAC cells in 3D conditions, in vitro and in vivo. Our findings may explain, at least in part, the reason for the lower occurrence of pancreatic cancer in asthmatic patients and suggest a potential suitability of budesonide for clinical trials as a therapeutic approach to fight pancreatic cancer. Keywords: Pancreatic cancer, 3D spheroids, Metabolic reprogramming, Cell proliferation, Budesonide, Glucocorticoids
Objective
The primary aim of this article was to describe SARS‐CoV‐2 infection among pregnant women during the wild‐type and Alpha‐variant periods in Italy. The secondary aim was to compare the ...impact of the virus variants on the severity of maternal and perinatal outcomes.
Design
National population‐based prospective cohort study.
Setting
A total of 315 Italian maternity hospitals.
Sample
A cohort of 3306 women with SARS‐CoV‐2 infection confirmed within 7 days of hospital admission.
Methods
Cases were prospectively reported by trained clinicians for each participating maternity unit. Data were described by univariate and multivariate analyses.
Main outcome measures
COVID‐19 pneumonia, ventilatory support, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, mode of delivery, preterm birth, stillbirth, and maternal and neonatal mortality.
Results
We found that 64.3% of the cohort was asymptomatic, 12.8% developed COVID‐19 pneumonia and 3.3% required ventilatory support and/or ICU admission. Maternal age of 30–34 years (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.09–1.87) and ≥35 years (OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.23–2.13), citizenship of countries with high migration pressure (OR 1.75, 95% CI 1.36–2.25), previous comorbidities (OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.13–1.98) and obesity (OR 1.72, 95% CI 1.29–2.27) were all associated with a higher occurrence of pneumonia. The preterm birth rate was 11.1%. In comparison with the pre‐pandemic period, stillbirths and maternal and neonatal deaths remained stable. The need for ventilatory support and/or ICU admission among women with pneumonia increased during the Alpha‐variant period compared with the wild‐type period (OR 3.24, 95% CI 1.99–5.28).
Conclusions
Our results are consistent with a low risk of severe COVID‐19 disease among pregnant women and with rare adverse perinatal outcomes. During the Alpha‐variant period there was a significant increase of severe COVID‐19 illness. Further research is needed to describe the impact of different SARS‐CoV‐2 viral strains on maternal and perinatal outcomes.
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The rate of severe COVID‐19 disease increased during the Alpha‐variant period compared with the wild‐type period.
Linked article This article is commented on by J G Thornton, p. 232 in this issue. To view this mini commentary visit https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-0528.16981.
Small molecules that can modulate or stabilize cell-cell interactions are valuable tools for investigating the impact of collective cell behavior on various biological processes such as ...development/morphogenesis, tissue regeneration and cancer progression. Recently, we showed that budesonide, a glucocorticoid widely used as an anti-asthmatic drug, is a potent regulator of stem cell pluripotency. Here we tested the effect of different budesonide derivatives and identified CHD-030498 as a more effective analogue of budesonide. CHD-030498 was able to prevent stem cell pluripotency exit in different cell-based models, including embryonic stem-to-mesenchymal transition, spontaneous differentiation and 3D gastruloid development, and at lower doses compared to budesonide.
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