Haigang Wu

To increase teaching effectiveness in the context of veterinary ultrasonography, we employed a flipped classroom combined with a mind mapping methodology for ultrasound use in animal husbandry education. A total of 61 students (experimental class, n = 30; control class, n = 31) participated in this study. Students in the experimental class prepared and presented group topics over a two-week pre-class period and subsequently engaged in question-and-answer sessions. Next, mind maps were generated with the assistance of AI tools, thus establishing a systematic knowledge framework. An in-class test (the Mann–Whitney U test) was administered after the lesson, and a 6-item questionnaire was designed to evaluate students’ levels of satisfaction. The combination of a flipped classroom with mind mapping was associated with a rightward shift in the score distribution, with more students in the experimental group scoring 90–100 (7 vs. 2). The Mann–Whitney U test revealed no statistically significant differences between the groups (U = 361.0, p = 0.135, r = 0.22), although the experimental group had a higher mean score (83.53 vs. 79.74). Most students endorsed the teaching model. The observed trends and positive student feedback from this preliminary assessment suggested that this approach may be a promising method for veterinary ultrasound education.

Heat stress adversely affects male reproductive function, yet its underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood. This study investigated the impact of heat stress on the reproductive system in adult male SD rats. Results demonstrated that heat stress significantly up-regulated testicular HSP70 expression, reduced testicular index, sperm vitality, and sperm density. Serum levels of follicle-stimulating hormone and superoxide dismutase activity were notably decreased, indicating disrupted reproductive endocrinology and impaired antioxidant capacity, respectively. Further analysis revealed that heat stress induced oxidative stress and inflammatory responses, elevating reactive oxygen species, malondialdehyde, and iron ion levels while suppressing the Nrf2 signaling pathway in rat testes. This promoted ferroptosis and NLRP3 inflammasome activation, down-regulated tight junction-related genes, and severely compromised testicular health. Additionally, heat stress altered the expression of M6A methylation and autophagy-related genes, suggesting effects on post-transcriptional modification and cellular self-degradation. Gut microbiota composition and metabolomic profiles were also significantly disturbed, indicating a potential role of gut microbiota in heat stress-induced spermatogenic damage. In conclusion, heat stress impairs testicular function through oxidative stress, inflammatory activation, metabolic disruption, and gut microbiota dysbiosis.

Objectives: Ferulic acid is a natural and safe herbal feed additive. This study aims to evaluate the effects of ferulic acid on the growth performance, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant capacities, immune function, and intestinal microbiota of broiler chickens. Methods: A total of 320 broiler chickens, aged 14 days, were randomly divided into four groups: a blank control group (MA group), a low-concentration ferulic acid group (BM group, 10 mg/kg), a medium-concentration ferulic acid group (CM group, 30 mg/kg), and a high-concentration ferulic acid group (DM group, 90 mg/kg) after a 14-day acclimatization period. The experiment lasted for 28 days, and the chickens were dissected on day 29. Results: The results showed that compared to the MA group, the feed-to-meat ratio in the CM and DM groups was significantly reduced. The activity of duodenal trypsin in the CM and DM groups was significantly enhanced, and the activity of pancreatic protease in the DM group was significantly increased. The serum levels of urea nitrogen, creatinine, and triglycerides were significantly elevated in the CM and DM groups. The serum malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in the BM, CM, and DM groups were significantly reduced, while the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were significantly increased in the CM and DM groups. The serum interleukin-2 (IL-2) levels in the BM group were significantly decreased, while interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) levels in the CM group and complement component 3 (C-3) levels in the DM group were significantly increased. The mRNA expression levels of TLR4, MyD88, NF-κB, TNF-α, NLRP3, IL-1β, and IL-18 in the jejunum of the DM group were significantly reduced. The diversity of cecal microbiota in the ferulic acid groups changed, with a certain degree of increase in the relative abundance of Spirulina and Ruminococcus. The relative abundance of Escherichia coli in the DM group significantly increased, altering the metabolic function of the cecal microbiota in broiler chickens. Conclusions: The above results indicate that ferulic acid, as a novel feed additive for broiler chickens, has an impact on the growth performance, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant capacity, immune function, and intestinal microbiota of broiler chickens.

Heat stress, one of the major challenges facing the global livestock industry, can adversely affect the immune system. The present study explored the mechanisms by which melittin alleviates heat stress-induced immune organ damage. Three hundred 20-day-old male Huainan sheldrakes were randomly assigned to four groups: heat stress group (basal diet), heat stress + melittin group (I, II, III group, basal diet + 0.08, 0.12, 0.16 g/kg melittin, respectively). The ducks were subjected to heat stress for 4 h per day (temperature 36–38 °C, relative humidity 60–70%) for 15 consecutive days. The results showed that compared with the heat-stress group, melittin improved the production performance of heat-stressed ducks, significantly increased serum immune indices (immunoglobulin G and interferon‐gamma) and antioxidant indices (total antioxidant capacity, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione) (P < 0.05), and significantly decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) levels (P < 0.05). Additionally, melittin increased antioxidant function (nuclear factor-erythroid 2 p45-related factor 2, glutathione peroxidase, SOD, and catalase), and immune index (interleukin-10). Meanwhile, melittin significantly reduced immune indices (inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2), heat shock protein 70 expression, and apoptosis levels (P < 0.05) in heat-stressed ducks. Consequently, supplementing heat-stressed ducks with 0.12 g/kg melittin increases serum immune function and antioxidants, alleviate heat stress-induced immune organ damage, and improve growth performance.

Enrofloxacin is a special antibacterial agent for animals and is a synthetic third-generation fluoroquinolone broad-spectrum antibacterial agent. It has excellent antibacterial effects and is widely used in clinical practice. However, the solubility of enrofloxacin is extremely low and this has greatly limited its clinical use. We assessed progress in overcoming this deficiency by tracking pharmaceutical alterations to enrofloxacin in vivo delivery systems. We used the keywords ‘enrofloxacin’, ‘pharmaceuticals’ and ‘preparations’ to assess relevant literature sources collected in CNKI, Wanfang, Vepsa, China Patent Information Network, PubMed, Web of Science and other domestic and foreign databases from 2010 to 2022 to summarize the research progress of enrofloxacin pharmaceutics. A total of 62 valid literature were retrieved and we found that pharmaceutic technologies successfully were able to increase enrofloxacin solubility, palatability, bioavailability and half-life. The continuous development and promotion of new drug formulations and new materials will give enrofloxacin preparations broad application prospects in veterinary medicine.

Gut microbiota plays an important role in animal health, production and diseases. Little is known about whether heat stress alters the composition of quail gut microbiota; therefore, we studied the effects of heat stress on growth performance, antioxidant functions, heat shock proteins and caecal microbiota. Two groups of 40 (20-day-old) quails were set up, including a control reared at 24 ± 2°C and a heat stress group subjected to heat stress at 36 ± 2°C for 4 h per day for 7 consecutive days. We found that heat stress significantly elevated the relative expression levels of HSP70 and HSP90 mRNA in the thymus, bursa and spleen by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR assay, indicating successful establishment of the experimental model. Heat stress was found to have an effect on gut microbiota composition. At the genus level, Alistipes were significantly increased in the heat stress group. PICRUSt2 function prediction revealed that most of the KEGG pathways with high temperature-induced abundance differences are metabolism-related. These data indicated that heat stress reduced the production performance of quails by affecting antioxidant functions, as well as the composition and structure of the intestinal microbiota. The results of this study provide technical information for conducting research on heat stress prevention and control techniques in quails.

Background: Andrographolide (ANDRO) is a hydrophobic drug, which faces the problem of limited absorption due to poor water solubility. The current research prepared andrographolide nanosuspensions (ANDRO-NS) and examined in vivo toxicity for mice. Methods: ANDRO-NS were prepared by anti-solvent precipitation method, transmission electron micrographs, granularity analysis and in vitro release were used to characterize the ANDRO-NS, we evaluate the safety of the ANDRO-NS by using the acute toxicity test, local irritation test and chronic toxicity test. Result: The particle size of ANDRO-NS was (568.51±13.74 nm). The LD50 for ANDRO-NS was 548.91 mg/kg after oral administration to KM mice with a 95% CI of 468.19-645.03 mg/kg. The white blood cell counts and hemoglobin levels for the experimental groups were lower than controls receiving only saline. Serum aspartate transaminase, creatinine and blood urea nitrogen levels were greater than controls after 7 and 14 days of once-daily administration. After 14 days of administration, the platelet counts as well asalanine transaminase levels were, in addition, Histological observations indicated that interstitial kidney tissues were wider than controls and showed episodic bleeding after 7 days of administration. The highest dose administered also resulted in the dilation and blood engorgement of the central hepatic veins with some severed hepatic cords. Mice receiving the lowest dose of ANDRO-NS we administered appeared healthy and similar to controls receiving saline only. Following 14 days of administration, we found significant vacuolar degeneration of renal tubular epithelial cells and glomerular atrophy for the high-dose group as well as edema and necrosis in liver cells. The medium-dose group displayed kidney interstitial tissue widening with scattered bleeding, inflammatory cell infiltration and hepatocyte edema. The low-dose group displayed dilated renal tubules and irregularly-arranged liver cells as well as bleeding in the hepatic sinusoids. Therefore, short-term administration of andrographolide suspensions resulted in inflammation and time- and dose-dependent toxic effects on the kidneys and liver.