Gingyo-san enhances immunity and potentiates infectious bursal disease vaccination

The modified Gingyo-san, a Chinese herbal medicine, has direct antibacterial effects against respiratory pathogens

BACKGROUND

Modified Gingyo-san (MGS) is empirically used to treat various respiratory infections. MGS has been reported to have antiinflammatory and antiviral activities; however, it is not known if it has an antibacterial activity. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to investigate the antimicrobial activity of MGS against respiratory pathogens.

METHODS

MGS, which is sold as an over-the-counter drug in Japan, was used for the study. Antimicrobial activity was evaluated using the disk diffusion method. Growth inhibitory activity was evaluated by measuring colony-forming units of the pathogens in the presence of MGS.

RESULTS

MGS inhibited the growth of Bacillus subtilis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Streptococcus pyogenes, which are gram-positive bacteria. Although the growth of most gram-negative bacteria was not inhibited by MGS, interestingly, the growth of Haemophilus influenzae was inhibited. MGS did not show any activity against Candida albicans or bacteriophage φX174.

CONCLUSIONS

In addition to the antiinflammatory and antiviral activities of MGS, which have already been reported, the data obtained from this study indicates that MGS has an antibacterial activity.

Therapeutic Potential of Andrographolide Isolated from the Leaves of Andrographis paniculata Nees for Treating Lung Adenocarcinomas

Andrographolide is one of the major diterpene lactones found in Andrographis paniculata Nees and exhibits remarkable inhibitory effects on various cancers. In this study, the antipulmonary cancer effects of andrographolide were studied in a lung tumor mouse model induced by human vascular endothelial growth factor A₁₆₅ (hVEGF-A₁₆₅). These results demonstrated that andrographolide significantly reduced the expression of hVEGF-A₁₆₅ compared with a mock group in the Clara cells of the lungs. In addition, andrographolide also decreased tumor formation by reducing VEGF, EGFR, Cyclin A, and Cyclin B expression on the transcriptional and translational levels. These results indicated that andrographolide treatment on the overexpression of VEGF can arrest the cell cycle, which induced pulmonary tumors in transgenic mice. In conclusion, the antiangiogenesis and chemotherapeutic potential of andrographolide may provide a cure for pulmonary tumors in the future.

Bursopentine as a novel immunoadjuvant enhances both humoral and cell-mediated immune responses to inactivated H9N2 Avian Influenza virus in chickens

There is an urgent need for identification of a new adjuvant capable of selectively promoting an efficient immune response for use with vaccines and especially subunit vaccines. Our pervious study showed that Bursopentine (BP5) is a novel immunomodulatory peptide and has the ability to significantly stimulate an antigen-specific immune response in mice. In this study, the potential adjuvant activities of BP5 were examined in chickens by coinjection of BP5 and an inactivated avian influenza virus (AIV) (A/Duck/Jiangsu/NJ08/05 [AIV H9N2 subtype]). The results suggested that BP5 markedly elevated serum hemagglutination inhibition (HI) titers and antigen-specific antihemagglutinin (anti-HA) antibody (IgG) levels, induced both Th1 (interleukin 2 [IL-2] and gamma interferon [IFN-γ])- and Th2 (IL-4)-type cytokines, promoted the proliferation of peripheral blood lymphocytes, and increased populations of CD3(+) T cells and their subsets CD4(+) (CD3(+) CD4(+)) T cells and CD8(+) (CD3(+) CD8(+)) T cells. Furthermore, a virus challenge experiment revealed that BP5 contributes to protection against homologous avian influenza virus challenge by reducing viral replication in chicken lungs. This study indicates that the combination of inactivated AIVs and BP5 gives a strong immune response at both the humoral and cellular levels and implies that BP5 is a novel immunoadjuvant suitable for vaccine design.

Application of porcine lipase secreted by pichia pastoris to improve fat digestion and growth performance of postweaning piglets

The aim of the study was to use Pichia pastoris to express a recombinant porcine lipase gene (pLip). The expression-secretion cassette was constructed using the P. pastoris GAPDH (glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate-dehydrogenase) promoter and an 89-residue prepro-alpha-factor secretion signal fused to the AOX1 terminator (the pGAPZalphaA vector). A total of 1,408 bp of pancreatic lipase cDNA was produced, which was located from the position of 4-nt upstream of ATG to 1408-nt inside the intact coding region of the pLip sequence. In an animal trial, three concentrations of recombinant lipase activity (0, 5,000 and 10,000 U/kg) were blended with the basal diet and fed to weaned piglets for six weeks. During the experimental period, the growth performance (bodyweight, feed intake, and feed efficiency) of the test groups was superior to that of the control group (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the group fed the diet blended with 10,000 U/kg of recombinant lipase showed significant (p < 0.05) increases in blood triglyceride (TG) concentration on the seventh day postweaning. These results suggested that the porcine lipase protein yielded by transformed yeast cells may improve fat digestibility and enhance the growth performance in postweaning piglets.