Effects of BioChlor and Fermenten on microbial protein synthesis in continuous culture fermenters

Meta analysis models were constructed from a data-set of 15 continuous culture fermenter trials and 118 observations on studies with either BioChlor (n = 23 observations) or Fermenten (n = 95) included at 10 and 3%, respectively, of dietary dry matter (DM) to evaluate effects of the ingredients BioChlor and Fermenten (B/F) on rumen function. Digestibility of crude protein was significantly increased by 11% with B/F treatment. This was reflected in significant increases in digestibility of DM and organic matter (OM) by 3.6 and 7.9%, respectively. Increased amounts of sugar in the diet in the presence of B/F tended to reduce digestibility of non-structural carbohydrates (NSC); however, the net effect on NSC digestion was small. There was no effect of treatment on most individual volatile fatty acids (VFA) or total VFA production. Propionate production, however, was significantly reduced in treated fermenters. The main effect of B/F as well as of starch and soluble fiber when combined with the treatment was to increase propionate production; however, the interaction between B/F treatment and sugar decreased propionate production markedly, resulting in a net decrease. The acetate-to-propionate ratio increased by 6% with B/F, largely as a result of the decrease in propionate. Production of nonammonia nitrogen was 1% less in B/F-treated fermenters, and interactions between treatment and starch, sugar, or soluble fiber were significant. Treated fermenters produced 15.7% more microbial nitrogen, in association with a significant 37% increase in rumen protein digestion. Interactions between treatment and starch, soluble fiber, or sugar influenced these results. The interaction of B/F and sugar resulted in a decrease in undegradable protein N and an increase in microbial nitrogen production. Ammonia nitrogen concentrations were increased by 24.6% in treated fermenters. Efficiency of microbial nitrogen production from DM, OM, or carbohydrate was significantly increased by B/F. Sugar content increased efficiency of microbial protein production/kg of OM digested or carbohydrate digested in the presence of treatment by >10 times the increase that was attributable to the interaction of treatment with starch. Treatment with B/F reduced moles of VFA produced/kg of microbial nitrogen produced by 16%. This effect was also substantially influenced by interactions between B/F and sugar. If the fermenter results are representative of those in vivo, milk production responses to treatment with B/F will depend on amounts of starch, soluble fiber, and, particularly, sugar in diets. Milk production responses will also depend on the quality of protein in the diet and the comparative benefit that increased flux of microbial nitrogen provides. Increased digestibility of OM should allow additional ruminant production benefits.

Immunologic and virologic responses to HAART in severely immunocompromised HIV-1-infected children

OBJECTIVE

To determine the long-term immunologic and virologic effects of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in children with AIDS.

DESIGN

A prospective observational study.

SETTING

Two pediatric HIV clinics.

PARTICIPANTS

Twenty-five protease-inhibitor naive HIV-infected children (aged 2-18 years) with advanced disease (CD4 < or =6%).

INTERVENTION

HAART (one protease inhibitor and one or more nucleoside analogs). Diphtheria and tetanus immunization in six patients after 18 months of therapy.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Changes in percentage of CD4 cells and plasma HIV-1 RNA levels; post-treatment assays of lymphoproliferative responses to recall antigens; CD4 cell memory phenotype.

RESULTS

Median duration of follow-up was 18.8 months (range, 7.5-28 months). At baseline the CD4 cell percentage was 2% (range, 0-6%), this increased significantly to 16% (range, 3-48%) above baseline at 12 months (P = 0.002). The mean maximum CD4 cell increase was 20.7% (range 4-48%) which corresponds to 657x10(6) cells/l (range, 30-2240x10(6) cells/l) above baseline. By contrast, the median viral load was not significantly lower at 12 months than at baseline (P = 0.34), and only 25% of the patients had sustained undetectable viral load. Of the reconstituted CD4 cells 70% were naive, and none of the subjects had lymphoproliferative responses to tetanus and diphtheria although 40% did develop responses to Candida, an environmental antigen. A single immunization with diphtheria and tetanus toxoid produced lymphoproliferative responses to tetanus in three out of six patients.

CONCLUSIONS

HAART was associated with sustained increases in CD4 cell counts, despite a high incidence of 'virologic failure'. CD4 counts and the proportion of naive cells were higher than have been reported in adults, which may be a reflection of greater thymic activity in children. Memory cell clones for antigens encountered in the past which are not prevalent before therapy could not be expanded without additional antigenic exposure.

CD31 immunoreactivity in mesenchymal neoplasms of the skin and subcutis: report of 145 cases and review of putative immunohistologic markers of endothelial differentiation

CD31 has recently been reported as a specific marker of endothelial differentiation among non-hematopoietic human neoplasms. In order to address this contention in particular regard to tumors of the skin and subcutis, the authors undertook a comparative study that surveyed 145 mesenchymal lesions. The antibodies used were directed against CD31 (clone JC/70A) and CD34 (clone My10), and these were compared with binding of Ulex europaeus I agglutinin (UEA). Proliferations that were included in the category of vascular tumors included cavernous and capillary hemangiomas (17 cases); lymphangiomas (8); epithelioid ("histiocytoid") hemangiomas (3), papillary endovascular hemangioendothelioma (1), angiosarcoma (7), and Kaposi's sarcoma of the mixed angiomatoid and spindle-cell type (17). CD31-immunoreactivity was observed in 35 of 53 vascular lesions; the neoplastic cells in a single angiosarcoma and the spindle cells in each case of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) were not labeled. In all of the latter tumors, however, staining for CD31 was identified in the endothelia of angiomatoid areas and non-neoplastic blood vessels. These results compared favorably with those seen with anti-CD34, which decorated 36 of 53 vascular tumors--including 8 of 17 KS cases--and UEA, which bound to the neoplastic cells of 36 lesions. In contrast, all of 92 non-endothelial tumors included in this study (34 nerve sheath tumors [30 benign; 4 malignant]; 39 fibrohistiocytic neoplasms [11 benign; 28 malignant]; 9 smooth muscle tumors [6 benign; 3 malignant]; 7 glomus tumors; and 3 giant cell fibroblastomas) were negative for CD31. UEA labeled 3 non-vascular neoplasms, whereas 38 lesions of that type were CD34-positive.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Early diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus infection in children less than 6 months of age: comparison of polymerase chain reaction, culture, and plasma antigen capture techniques

Three techniques were evaluated for their ability to detect human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in infants from birth to 6 months of age. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and HIV cocultivation were of comparable sensitivity, detecting 90% of all positive specimens. Both techniques found positive results in approximately 5% of samples from seroreverting children. Both assays detected HIV in only half of infected newborns, suggesting that this fraction of children was infected during gestation. Plasma p24 antigen was detected in three-fourths of all samples tested but in only half of infected children during the first 2 months of life and 88% of samples from children during the next 4 months. The specificity of p24 antigen detection was 100%.

Use of soy proteins in baked foods

Technology for the utilization of soy products in bakery foods is well established and reasonably simple. We can expect the functional properties and flavor of soy products to be continually improved through major research efforts in the soy industry. Large scale protein fortification programs will be forthcoming as the world population continues to grow, and economics dictate more and more efficient sources of nutrients. Before this will be realized, however, careful evaluations of the nutritional requirements and the technical, economic and political situations in a country will have to be made and the constraints removed before widespread use of fortified bakery foods in the commercial sector can be realized. In developed as well as developing countries, the near term constraints for usage of soy proteins in bakery products are represented by food regulations or laws which must be changed before the full nutritional and functional assets of soy proteins can be realized to the benefit of the baking industry.