Background Clostridium perfringens-induced chicken necrotic enteritis (NE) is responsible for substantial economic losses worldwide annually. Recently, as a result of antibiotic growth promoter prohibition, the prevalence of NE in chickens has reemerged. This study was aimed to reduce NE through titrating dietary deoxycholic acid (DCA) as an effective antimicrobial alternative. Materials and methods Day-old broiler chicks were assigned to six groups and fed diets supplemented with 0 (basal diet), 0.8, 1.0 and 1.5 g/kg (on top of basal diet) DCA. The birds were challenged with Eimeria maxima (20,000 oocysts/bird) at d 18 and C. perfringens (109 CFU/bird per day) at d 23, 24, and 25 to induce NE. The birds were sacrificed at d 26 when ileal tissue and digesta were collected for analyzing histopathology, mRNA accumulation and C. perfringens colonization by real-time PCR, targeted metabolomics of bile acids, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), or terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay. Results At the cellular level, birds infected with E. maxima and C. perfringens developed subclinical NE and showed shortening villi, crypt hyperplasia and immune cell infiltration in ileum. Dietary DCA alleviated the NE-induced ileal inflammation in a dose-dependent manner compared to NE control birds. Consistent with the increased histopathological scores, subclinical NE birds suffered body weight gain reduction compared to the uninfected birds, an effect attenuated with increased doses of dietary DCA. At the molecular level, the highest dose of DCA at 1.5 g/kg reduced C. perfringens luminal colonization compared to NE birds using PCR and FISH. Furthermore, the dietary DCA reduced subclinical NE-induced intestinal inflammatory gene expression and cell apoptosis using PCR and TUNEL assays. Upon further examining ileal bile acid pool through targeted metabolomics, subclinical NE reduced the total bile acid level in ileal digesta compared to uninfected birds. Notably, dietary DCA increased total bile acid and DCA levels in a dose-dependent manner compared to NE birds. Conclusion These results indicate that DCA attenuates NE-induced intestinal inflammation and bile acid reduction and could be an effective antimicrobial alternative against the intestinal disease.

This paper assesses that new disposal technique should be adopted for the degradation of polymers and further research is required for the economical production of biodegradable plastics along with their enzymatic degradation.

Enterocytes function as both absorptive and protective components of intestine that come in close contact with a variety of enteric factors, such as dietary, microbial, and parasites, that have potential to affect the organismal health. Understanding how enterocytes interact with this complex array of factors may help improve gut health particularly in the context of poultry production where it is also linked to food safety issues. The enterocyte in vitro culture can help screen different factors and their interactions with microbiome, and potentially be utilized in the development of interventions strategies for pathogens such as antibiotic alternatives. We developed a method to culture primary chicken enterocytes and conducted their characterization using cytochemical and proteomic methods, and investigated their potential to respond to different chemical stimuli. Using selected micronutrients, microbial toxins, and metabolic modulators, we assessed their effects on the viability and morphological changes in enterocytes. We found that whereas some nutritional factors (calcitriol, retinoic acid) produced different morphological changes, toxins such as aflatoxin B1 and deoxynivalenol produced enterocyte degeneration and death, and the bacterial lipopolysaccharide had very little effect compared on the basis of their mass. Both cyclic AMP and phorbol myristate acetate exhibited some cachectic effects on enterocytes with the later showing more severe changes. Thyroxin induced distinct morphological changes making the cells more cuboidal and Na-butyrate produced no significant change in morphology. The cytochemical and proteomic characterization suggest that these enterocytes largely belong to epithelial cell categories which may be amenable to analysis of biochemical paths and mechanisms of action of different factors that affect these cells. Based on these results we conclude that chicken enterocyte culture can be a useful in vitro model to study intestinal physiology.

Objectives:The objective of the following study is to assess the knowledge of patients about the consequences of smoking on the general and oral health, to analyze the patient's perceptions about the role of dentists in smoking prevention, counseling and cessation and to analyze the willingness of smokers to quit smoking following dentist's advice.Materials and Methods:A descriptive study was conducted in a sample of 486 dental patients visiting Vokkaligara Sangha Dental College and Hospital, Bengaluruin the month of August 2011 using a self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square test was performed to analyze data.Results:The patients had good knowledge about the effects of smoking on general and oral health. Statistically significant difference was observed in the knowledge of smokers and non-smokers about the effects of smoking on ageing (P = 0.008) and oral cancer (P = 0.0012). Patients had a positive perception about the role of dentists in smoking cessation activities. Smokers exhibited a willingness to quit if suggested by the dentist.Conclusion:Patients perceive that dentists can play an important part in smoking cessation activities. Hence, dentists should not hesitate to give smoking cessation advice to their patients and grasp this opportunity to improve the general and oral health of the community.

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