A 11 year-old, female, shih-tzu mixed-breed dog was presents with history of sudden blindness for 2 days. An ophthalmic test was conducted to find the cause of blindness, including an intraocular pressure test, a fundus test, and an electroretinogram. As a result of the test, the abnormality in the eye could not be confirmed, so MRI request was made. MRI confirmed mass areas with 1.0 × 0.5 mm T2W/FLAIR heterogeneous hyperintense, T1W isointense, and enhancement that spread widely from the dorsal part of the sella turcica to the anterior optical chiasm. Cystic lesion was identified in the front of the lesion, and it had the characteristics of an extra-axial tumor such as a broad base attachment surface and a dural tail signal. Based on these tests diagnosed blindness caused by brain tumors. Clinical symptoms began to improve three days after taking chemotherapy, and all clinical symptoms disappeared after a week. This case report demonstrated that clinical sign, diagnostic imaging and successful treatment result with chemotherapy in canine brain tumor patient.

A 11-year-old sexually intact female dog was presented because of a misshapen left elbow with a large mass. The masses on the elbow were diagnosed as high-grade canine mast cell tumor (cMCT) based on the cytological examination using fine-needle aspiration. Cytologically, the mass revealed moderate numbers of eosinophils, anisocytosis, anisokaryosis, and aberrant mitotic figures. The degree of cytologic dysplasia is diagnosed as moderate to severe. The blood analysis revealed low hematocrit and electrolytes. After examining the metastasis and surgical scope with radiographs and ultrasound, surgery was performed to removal the mass. Histopathologically, the mass revealed partially cytoplasmic granules, anisokaryosis of the nucleus, and mitotic counts. Scattered inflammatory cells and necrotic tissues were observed in the tumor. In this study, we found high-grade cMCT and treated the patient through a surgical approach.

Tuberculosis is a potentially deadly infectious disease caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis). Tuberculosis is diagnosed by proving the M. tuberculosis in sputum samples based on the results of acid-resistant staining, culture, and nucleic acid amplification tests. However, there is a report that the detection rate of M. tuberculosis is low in acid-resistant staining using tissue specimens. It has been suspected that the cause is a potential loss of acid resistance by the organic solvents used for tissue specimen preparation. Therefore, this study was pursued to find out if Gram staining and fluorescent staining in addition to acid-resistant staining would be helpful in diagnosing tuberculosis. We used four tissue (lung, small intestine, large intestine, and lymph node) samples with chronic granulomatous inflammation observed in HE staining and positive results in real-time PCR. These detection rates and staining properties were investigated through microscopic examination using the Ziehl-Neelsen, Gram, and Auramin rhodamine staining. In this studies, M. tuberculosis were observed by Ziehl-Neelsen, Gram, and Auramin rhodamine staining in all four samples. In the evaluation of clinical microbiology proficiency testing (CMPT), the Ziehl-Neelsen and Gram staining were the same result, but the Auramin rhodamine staining was relatively low. These data indicated that Gram staining is useful for detecting M. tuberculosis in formalin-fixed tissue specimens. Therefore, if the Ziehl-Neelsen and Gram staining are combined as the M. tuberculosis staining method in tissue specimens, a better direction may be provided for tuberculosis diagnosis.

In this study, we investigated the antioxidant activity and anticancer effect of Coprinus comatus (C. comatus) extracts. Free radical scavenging capacity of the C. comatus extracts was evaluated in vitro by the DPPH assay. C. comatus exhibited the strong DPPH radical scavenging activity. In vitro tests were also performed to examine the anticancer activity of C. comatus against 293 human normal epithelial kidney cells and various human cancer cell lines including AGS, Hela and HCT-15. C. comatus extracts showed the potent cancer cell-selective growth inhibitory activity against AGS, Hela, and HCT-15 cells, but slightly inhibited 293 normal cell growth. We examined several biological activities such as antitumor effects of C. comatus extracts in vivo. Solid tumors were induced by Sarcoma-180 inoculation in the left groin of BALB/c mice and then C. comatus extracts were oral administered. After 5 weeks, all mice were sacrificed and their tumor weights were measured. C. comatus extracts exhibited the most effective antitumor activity, and the tumor growth rate was inhibited by 55% in comparison with control group. Taken together, these results indicate that C. comatus extracts showed high antioxidant activity and possessed powerful antitumor activity.

This study was conducted for SNPs in the 5'-regions of estrogen receptor-α(ESR-α), and association with calving interval (CI), service per conception (SPC) and 305 days milk yield in Hanwoo and Holstein dairy cattle. The genet-ic improvement was incurred low reproduction performance. The objective of this study was to investigate connec-tions between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of Estrogen receptor-α (ESR-α) with reproduction performance (calving interval, service per conception, and 305 d milk yield) in Hanwoo and Holstein dairy cattle. Hanwoo and Holstein blood samples were collected from 183 and 124 dam of breeding farms and DNA was extracted. Primer design was based on NCBI GenBank (Accession No. AY340579). The PCR-RFLP method with Bgl I was used to ge-notype the cattle. The result showed two variants of the ESR-α gene. The Bgl I cut the 492 bp amplification pro- duct into 322 bp and 170 bp fragments for allele G, while allele A remained uncut, resulting in two restriction frag-ments for homozygote G/G and three fragments for heterozygote A/G. We found two of different genotypes in the-se breeds, A/G and G/G. In Hanwoo, the A/G genotype frequency was 0.13, and G/G was 0.87. The CI of A/G was 382.18±10.03 days, and G/G was 381.69±5.22 days. The SPC of A/G was 1.62±0.16, and G/G was 1.32±0.04. While CI showed no significance difference, SPC exhibited significant difference (p<0.05). In Holstein cattle, the frequency of genotype A/G was 0.02 and G/G was 0.98. The 305 days milk yield of A/G was 7,253.00±936.00 kg and of G/G was 8,747.51±204.88 kg, showing no significant difference.

Body condition score (BCS) is a useful management tool for distinguishing differences in nutritional needs of cows in the herd. Although it is not always possible to quantify the nutrient content of the feed supplied to the donor cow, the nutritional status can be determined by the BCS. The objective of this study was to evaluate in vivo embryo production, return to estrous of donor and pregnancy rate of recipients following BCS in Hanwoo superovulation. Sixty nine Hanwoo donor cows were flushed on day 7 of estrus cycle with same FSH and artificial insemination by the same technicians. Embryos were recovered on 7 days after the third insemination by flushing the uterus with Embryo Collection Medium. The results obtained were as follows: No differences were observed in the efficiency of superovulation rates regardless of BCS (≦2.0, 2.5 to 3.0, and ≧3.5). The mean number of total embryos was each 5.20±0.86, 11.56±1.04, and 6.23±1.07. The mean number of transferable embryo from ≦2.0, 2.5 to 3.0, and ≧3.5 of BCS was 2.60±0.87, 7.94±0.89, and 4.75±1.32, respectively (p<0.05). Return to estrous regardless of donor BCS was no difference. The pregnancy rates of recipient were BCS ≦2.0 11.76%, 2.5 to 3.0 40.79%, and ≧3.5 11.11%, following transfer of fresh embryos produced in vivo, respectively. These results indicate that if the Hanwoo with BCS 2.5 to 3.3 are used for donor and recipient, the embryo production and the conception rate will be greater.

Fraxinus rhynchophylla (Oleaceae), a deciduous tree, is known to have properties that include anti-inflammatory, convergence, febricide, antiblenophthalmia, antidiarrhea, antileukorrhea, and so forth. In addition, it has been used for traditional herbal medicine in East Asian countries, including Korea. In this study, we investigated the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of Fraxinus rhynchophylla ethanol extract (FRE) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced murine macrophage Raw 264.7 cells with FRE pretreatment. We performed DPPH-assay, Western blot, and Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). FRE showed 85% free radical scavenging activity at concentrations of 80 µg/ml. Results of this study also showed that FRE down-regulates Cox-2 and iNOS expression in mRNA and protein level. In conclusion, crude ethanol extract of Fraxinus rhynchophylla exhibited antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, and it may potentially provide a valuable source of natural herbal agent to inhibit inflammation.

The objective of this study was to investigate the comparison of transferable embryos and pregnancy rate between Hanwoo and Chickso. The results obtained were as follows: No differences were observed in the efficiency of superovulation rates on Hanwoo 78%, and Chickso 85%, respectively. The mean number of total embryos are each 14.76± 2.16 and 6.23±1.07. So the mean number of transferable embryos are each 10.94±1.91 and 4.58±1.05. In addition, the mean number of total Hanwoo embryo from <10 and 10≤ of corpora luteum was 0.50±0.50, 11.56±1.92, respectively. In case of Chickso, The mean number of transferable embryo from <10 and 10≤ of CL was 2.75±1.39, 6.00±1.00, respectively. The pregnancy rates were Hanwoo 40%, and Chickso 37% following transfer of fresh embryos produced in vivo. Also, the pregnancy rates of Chickso 60% were significantly greater (p<0.05) than the Hanwoo 42.48% following transfer of following transfer of frozen embryos, respectively. In conclusion, these results suggest that Chickso may be effectively used for transferable embryos production in Hanwoo. Although the transferable embryos number was not enough, it seems the Chickso greatly affect pregnancy rate. The results indicated that the possibility of transferable embryos from Chickso for embryo transfer could be confirmed in this study. Based on the present findings, it was suggested that it is very important to evaluate in vivo embryo production and pregnancy rate of embryo transfer following superovulation for effective Hanwoo and Chickso production.

In the present study, we identified differentially methylated region (DMR) upstream of Dnmt1o and Dnmt1s gene in early porcine embryos. Porcine Dnmt1o had at least one DMR which was located between —530 bp to —30 bp upstream from transcription start site of the Dnmt1o gene. DNA methylation analyses of Dnmt1o revealed the DMR to be hypomethylated in oocytes, whereas it was highly methylated in sperm. Moreover, the DMR upstream of Dnmt1o was gradually hypermethylated from oocytes to two cells and dramatically changed in the methylation pattern from four cells to BL stages in an in vivo. In an IVF, the methylation status in the DMR upstream of Dnmt1o was hypermethylated from one cell to eight cells, but demethylated at the Morula and BL stages, indicating that the DNA methylation pattern in the Dnmt1o upstream ultimately changed from stage to stage before the implantation. Next, to elucidate whether DNA methylation status of Dnmt1s upstream is stage-by-stage changed in during porcine early development, we analyzed the dynamics of the DNA methylation status of the Dnmt1s locus in germ cell, or one cell to BL cells. The Dnmt1s upstream was highly methylated in one and eight cells, while less methylated in two, four, morula, and BL cells. Taken together, our data demonstrated that DNA methylation and demethylation events in upstream of Dnmt1o/Dnmt1s during early porcine embryos dramatically occurred, and this change may contribute to the maintenance of genomewide DNA methylation in early embryonic development.

Previously, we reported that the osmolarity conditions in the satellite region were affected CpG DNA methylation status while Pre-1 sequence was not affected CpG DNA methylation in pNT blastocyst stage. This study was conducted to investigate the DNA methylation status of repeat sequences in pig nuclear transfer (pNT) embryos produced under different osmolarity culture conditions. Control group of pNT embryos was cultured in PZM-3 for six days. Other two treatment groups of pNT embryos were cultured in modified PZM-3 with 138 mM NaCl or 0.05 M sucrose (mPZM-3, 320 mOsmol) for two days, and then cultured in PZM-3 (270 mOsmol) for four days. The DNA methylation status of the Pre-1 sequences in blastocysts was characterized using a bisulfite-sequencing method. Intriguingly, in the present study, we found the unique DNA methylation at several non-CpG sequences at the Pre-1 sequences in all groups. The non-CpG methylation was hypermethylated in all three groups, including in vivo group (86.90% of PZM- 3; 83.87% of NaCl; 84.82% of sucrose; 90.94% of in vivo embryos). To determine whether certain non-CpG methylated sites were preferentially methylated, we also investigated the methylation degree of CpA, CpT and CpC. Excepting in vivo group, preference of methylation was CpT>CpC>CpA in all three groups investigated. These results indicate that DNA methylation of Pre-1 sequences was hypermethylated in CpG as well as non-CpG site, regardless modification of osmolarity in a culture media.

Abnormal development and fetal loss during the post‐implantation period are key concerns in the production of cloned animals by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). We hypothesized that the problems in cloned porcine offspring derived from SCNT are related to interactions between the conceptus and the endometrial environment. In the present study, we investigated expression patterns in the formation of placenta‐related genes (Cdx2 and GATA6) in whole in vivo normal porcine embryos (from single cell to blastocyst) and each tissue of a normal fetus at Days 25, 35 and 55 by quantitative mRNA expression analysis using real‐time PCR. The expression of Cdx2 and GATA6 mRNA increased to around the blastocyst stage. These genes were gradually decreased from the peri‐implantation to post‐implantation stage. Moreover, we examined the expression patterns of Cdx2 and GATA6 in Day 35 normal and SCNT cloned fetuses by the same methods. And, the level of Cdx2 and GATA6 gene expression in the extraembryonic tissue of SCNT was significantly higher than that of control tissues. From the present results, it can be postulated that the aberrant expression of Cdx2 and GATA6 genes in the endometrial and extraembryonic tissues at pre‐ and peri‐implantation stages may be closely related to the lower fficiency of animal cloning.

In this study, we investigated the effects of dietary supplementation (n = 40 pigs/treatment) with bamboo powder (0, 1, 2 and 3%) for 38 days. We evaluated growth performance, blood metabolites, and carcass characteristics of fattening pigs and gas emission and microbial populations in pig manure, to obtain data on pork producers for environmental management. We obtained the following results. First, supplementation with increasing amounts of bamboo powder had a significant (P < 0.05) effect on feed intake, feed efficiency, and glucose contents (except for initial and final body weight, weight gain, carcass characteristics, and blood urea nitrogen). In terms of blood metabolites, glucose and blood urea nitrogen tended to decrease with increasing amounts of bamboo powder. Second, the amounts of ammonia, methane, amine, hydrogen sulfide, and acetic acid were reduced by increasing amounts of bamboo powder when compared with the controls (P < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences in pH, propionic acid, iso-butyric acid, butyric acid, iso-valeric acid, and valeric acid among all treatments. The lowest gas emission was observed when 3% bamboo powder was used. Third, supplementation with increasing amounts of bamboo powder tended (P < 0.05) to increase the total number of bacteria, Lactobacillus spp., and yeast, but E. coli, Salmonella spp., and Shigella spp. were not detected in any treatment. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that supplementation with bamboo powder was effective in reducing gas emission and inhibiting pathogen populations in pig manure by lowering the pH of the manure.