ABSTRACT:The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of dietary supplementation of antibacterial peptide and zinc methionine on performance and some serum biochemical parameters of weaned piglets. Rongchang male piglets (28 days of age, initial weight 8.4 ± 0.65 kg) were used. All piglets were randomly allotted to four diets including the control group, the antibacterial peptide (AP) group containing 10 mg antibacterial peptide/kg diet, the zinc methionine (Zn-Met) group with 1 200 zinc methionine/kg diet (equal to 200 mg Zn 2+ /kg diet), the zinc methionine/antibacterial peptide (Zn/AP) group containing 10 mg antibacterial peptide and 1 200 mg zinc methionine/kg diet, respectively, in a 4-week feeding experiment. Each of these groups consisted of six replications with 8 pigs per replication. Average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) both improved in the antibacterial peptide group (P < 0.05, P < 0.05), zinc methionine group (P < 0.05, P < 0.05) and zinc methionine/antibacterial peptide group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05), as compared with the control. Dietary zinc methionine also significantly reduced the diarrhoea ratio of piglets (P < 0.05). The serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were increased (P < 0.05) and total cholesterol (TC) decreased (P < 0.05) in the antibacterial peptide group and zinc-methionine group, the high density lipoprotein (HDL) increased (P < 0.05) in the zinc methionine group, as compared with the control. The results indicated that antibacterial peptide and zinc methionine were effective in improving growth performance, enhancing immune function, blood vessel function and antioxidant enzyme activity of piglets.

ObjectivesEarlier research has evaluated the non-medical costs after lung cancer diagnosis. This study estimated the time costs and transportation costs associated with low-dose CT (LDCT) screening and diagnostic lung procedures in Taiwan.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingA tertiary referral medical centre.Participants and interventionsThe study participants were individuals aged 50–80 years who underwent LDCT screening or diagnostic lung procedures between 2021 and 2022. Participants completed a questionnaire including items on time spent on receiving care, time spent on travel and its cost and time taken off from work by the participant and any accompanying caregiver.Outcome measuresTime costs were valued using the age- and sex-specific average daily wage for employed participants/caregivers. Costs of informal healthcare sector consisted of time cost of the participant, transportation cost and time cost of the caregiver.ResultsA total of 209 participants who underwent LDCT screening (n=84) or non-surgical (n=12) or surgical (n=113) diagnostic lung procedures for the first time were enrolled. Considering the purchasing power parity, the average costs of informal healthcare sector were US$126.4 (95% CI 101.6 to 151.2), US$290.7 (95% CI 106.9 to 474.5) and US$749.8 (95% CI 567.3 to 932.4), respectively, for LDCT screening, non-surgical procedures and surgical procedures.ConclusionsThis study estimated time and transportation costs associated with LDCT screening and diagnostic lung procedures, which could be used for future analysis of cost-effectiveness of lung cancer screening in Taiwan.

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C‐ros oncogene 1 receptor tyrosine kinase (ROS1) rearrangement has been detected in patients with advanced non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Although ROS1 tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) provide a survival benefit for patients with ROS1‐rearranged advanced NSCLC, subsequent therapy remains limited. Small cell transformation is an important mechanism of drug resistance in epidermal growth factor receptor‐mutant NSCLC. However, its significance in mediating ROS1 resistance has not been determined yet. Here, we present the case of a 63‐year‐old man with ROS1‐rearranged advanced NSCLC who had disease progression with small cell transformation of the mediastinal lymph node after 8 months of treatment with crizotinib. More importantly, fluorescence in situ hybridization of post‐progression tumor biopsy demonstrated retention of ROS1 rearrangement. Tissue biopsy remains indispensable for patients who acquire resistance to ROS1 TKIs.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is often accompanied by clinical complications such as sarcopenia. Previous studies have indicated that oxidative stress and insulin resistance (IR) are highly associated with the pathogenesis of diabetic myopathy. α‐lipoic acid (ALA), a potent biological antioxidant, exists abundantly in a variety of plants and vegetables. This study aimed to investigate the ameliorative effect of ALA on muscle atrophy in type 2 diabetic rats induced by high‐fat diet feeding (HFD) plus streptozotocin (STZ) injection. The HFD/STZ‐induced diabetic rats were orally administered 50, 100, or 200 mg/kg body weight ALA once a day for 13 weeks. The results showed that ALA at the tested concentrations significantly increased the soleus muscle mass and muscle fibers in diabetic rats. Proinflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α, were found to decrease in both the serum and muscle of ALA‐treated diabetic rats. ALA significantly reduced the protein‐expression levels of phosphorylated c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase (pJNK)/JNK, forkhead box O3 (FOXO3), and muscle ring‐finger protein‐1 (Murf1); whereas, it enhanced the protein‐expression levels of phosphoinositide 3‐kinase (PI3K), phosphorylated protein kinase B (pAKT)/AKT, myogenin determination gene D (MyoD), the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), and myosin heavy chain (MyHC) in the soleus muscle of diabetic rats. The results from this study suggested that ALA treatment may preserve soleus muscle mass, alleviate muscle atrophy by suppressing the TNF‐α/JNK pathway, and ameliorate the PI3K/AKT pathway in HFD/STZ‐induced type 2 diabetic rats.