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I solated spontaneous dissection of the celiac artery is reportedly rare, and even rarer when unaccompanied by aortic dissection. We report the finding of an isolated spontaneous dissection of the celiac artery in a patient with von Willebrand disease, and our diagnostic use of computed tomography (CT) and CT angiography in this case. Case ReportIn March 2011, a 47-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of persistent, dull pain in the upper left quadrant of the abdomen. The pain started after the patient ate, and it gradually worsened. About a week before admission, he had sharp epigastric pain that radiated to his back and lasted for approximately 10 minutes. He reported no fever, nausea, vomiting, rectal bleeding, melena, or dysuria. He had von Willebrand disease, upper gastrointestinal bleeding secondary to nonsteroidal drug use, trigeminal neuralgia, and no history of iatrogenic injury from instrumentation or trauma.The patient's vital signs were stable. Abdominal examination revealed left upper quadrant tenderness without guarding or rigidity. Initial laboratory data included a hemoglobin level of 16.5 g/dL, a white blood cell count of 10,700 cells/mm 3 with a normal differential count, a C-reactive protein level of 4.3 mg/L, an erythrocyte sedimentation rate of 23 mm/hr, and a normal partial thromboplastin time and prothrombin time. Further results were negative for autoimmune disease or vacuities. Contrast-enhanced CT of the abdomen and pelvis revealed an infarct in the posterior third of the spleen (Fig. 1), an opacified segmental branch of a splenic artery, and an eccentric thrombus and focal dissection involving the celiac artery with surrounding fat-stranding (Fig. 2). The dissection was also seen in the common hepatic artery (CHA). Computed tomographic angiograms revealed a normal aorta and an intimal flap within the celiac artery that extended into the splenic artery and the CHA, with small areas of thrombus along the left lateral wall of the celiac artery and the posterior wall of the CHA. The patient was discharged from the hospital on low-dose aspirin therapy, with follow-up CT angiography scheduled in 3 months. DiscussionContrast-enhanced CT is the primary technique for diagnosing celiac artery dissection; magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic resonance angiography, Doppler ultrasonography, and conventional angiography can also be used. On contrast-enhanced CT, findings might include an intimal flap, mural thrombus with or without aneurysmal dilation, segmental stenosis, and infiltration of the fat surrounding the vessel.

Granulosa cells (GCs) are essential for follicular growth, development, and atresia. The orexin-A (OXA) neuropeptide is widely involved in the regulation of various biological functions. OXA selectively binds to orexin receptor type 1 (OX1R) and mediates all its biological actions via OX1R. This study aimed to explore the expression of OXA and OX1R and their regulatory role in GCs proliferation, cell cycle progression, apoptosis, oocyte maturation, and underlying molecular mechanisms of these processes and elucidate its novel signaling pathway. Western blotting and RT-qPCR showed that OXA and OX1R were expressed during different developmental stages of GCs, and siRNA transfection successfully inhibited the expression of OX1R at the translational and transcriptional levels. Flow cytometry revealed that OX1R knockdown upregulated GCs apoptosis and triggered S-phase arrest in cell cycle progression. RT-qPCR and Western blotting showed significantly reduced expression of Bcl-2 and elevated expression of Bax, caspase-3, TNF-α, and P21 in OX1R-silenced GCs. Furthermore, the CCK-8 assay showed that knockdown of OX1R suppressed GCs proliferation by downregulating the expression of PCNA, a proliferation marker gene, at the translational and transcriptional levels. Western blotting revealed that knockdown of OX1R resulted in a considerable decrease of the phosphorylation level of the AKT and ERK1/2 proteins, indicating that the AKT/ERK1/2 pathway is involved in regulating GCs proliferation and apoptosis. In addition, OX1R silencing enhanced the mRNA expression of GDF9 and suppressed the mRNA expression of BMP15 in mouse GCs. Collectively, these results reveal a novel regulatory role of OXA in the development of GCs and folliculogenesis by regulating proliferation, apoptosis, and cell cycle progression. Therefore, OXA can be a promising therapeutic agent for female infertility.

The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of different levels of Lysine (Lys) on early growth, body conformation and immune response of three varieties of Aseel chicken. Five hundred and forty day old chicks were used in this experiment. Experimental treatments were three verities i-e Mianwali (MW), Peshawari (PW), and Lakha (LK) and three level of Lys i-e L1 (1.35), L2 (1.30) and L3 (1.25%). Treatments were arranged in factorial arrangement under randomized complete block design (RCBD) with sex as block. Each experimental group was replicated 6 times with 10 birds in each. Results indicated that PW variety showed a greater feed intake (FI) throughout the experiment, however, body weight gain (BWG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were remained unchanged within varieties. Lower FI was observed in birds fed diets containing 1.35, 1.30% digestible Lys. Birds fed diets containing 1.35, 1.30% digestible Lys showed higher (BWG (P<0.05) and improved FCR (P<0.05). Mianwali variety with 1.35, 1.30% digestible Lys diets, showed (252.0±17.4 and 251.4±7.15; 2.37±0.17 and 2.35±0.06) an interaction for BWG and FCR. Birds fed amino acid dense diets depicted improved body conformation traits (length of body, drum stick, shank keel bone, circumference of drumstick and shank, wing spread and breast width), whereas immune responses (were not influenced by the dietary treatments. In conclusion, it was found that 1.30% digestible Lys level with ideal amino acid ratio was better for improving early BWG and FCR in Mianwali Aseel.

BMPs (bone morphogenetic proteins) are multipurpose (transforming growth factor)TGF-superfamily released cytokines. These glycoproteins, acting as disulfide-linked homo- or heterodimers, are highly potent regulators of bone and cartilage production and repair, cell proliferation throughout embryonic development, and bone homeostasis in the adults. Due to the fact that genetic variation might influence structural functions, this study is aimed to determine the pathogenic effect of nonsynonymous single-nucleotide polymorphisms (nsSNPs) in BMP genes. The implications of these variations, investigated using computational analysis and molecular models of the mature TGF-β domain, revealed the impact of modifications on the function of BMP protein. The three-dimensional (3D) structure analysis was performed on the nsSNP Y316S, V386G, E387G, C389G, and C391G nsSNP in the TGF-β domain of chicken BMP2 and H344P, S347P, V357A nsSNP in the TGF-β domain of chicken BMP4 protein that was anticipated to be harmful and of high risk. The ability of the proteins to perform variety of tasks interact with other molecules depends on their tertiary structural composition. The current analysis revealed the four most damaging variants (Y316S, V386G, E387G, C389G, and C391G), highly conserved and functional and are located in the TGF-beta domain of BMP2 and BMP4. The amino acid substitutions E387G, C389G, and C391G are discovered in the binding region. It was observed that the mutations in the TGF-beta domain caused significant changes in its structural organization including the substrate binding sites. Current findings will assist future research focused on the role of these variants in BMP function loss and their role in skeletal disorders, and this will possibly help to develop practical strategies for treating bone-related conditions.