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Molecular and Cellular Changes in Animal Metabolism, Health and Welfare

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A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Physiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 July 2023) | Viewed by 10329

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Pietro Asproni

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Guest Editor

Institut de Recherche En Sémiochimie Et Éthologie Appliquée (IRSEA), Quartier Salignan, 84400 Apt, France
Interests: animal pathology; animal physiology; semiochemistry; histology; immunohistochemistry; chemical ecology; molecular pathology; chemical communication
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Guido Rocchigiani

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Guest Editor

Resident in Veterinary Pathology, University of Liverpool, Leahurst Campus, Chester Highroad, Liverpool CH64 7TE, UK
Interests: animal pathology; forensic pathology; PCR; histology; parasitology; horse pathology; immunohistochemistry; oncology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Míriam Marcet-Rius

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Guest Editor

Institut de Recherche En Sémiochimie Et Éthologie Appliquée (IRSEA), Quartier Salignan, 84400 Apt, France
Interests: animal behavior, animal welfare, applied ethology; emotions; farm animals; pig husbandry; positive welfare; semiochemistry; welfare indicators
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Molecular and cellular changes continuously occur in tissues and organisms during physiological and pathological processes. It is truly fascinating how the smallest modification of the expression of a molecule or the smallest dysfunction of a group of cells can have dramatic consequences for health in all animal species. On the other hand, cellular and molecular changes are also at the base of the normal physiological processes occurring in any living being.

Scientific research has always focused on the discovery of reliable biological markers in order to better evaluate the health and the welfare of animals, as well as to detect the existence of pathological conditions in different phases of their development. Molecules and cells are measured with this purpose, using methods that are more and more advanced and accurate. The possibility to use a molecule or a cell (or of a group of them) to evaluate health conditions defines the measurement of a given molecule or cell as a biomarker. In addition to this, researchers are also focused on the study of molecular and cellular changes that occur in diseases in order to reveal their pathogenic mechanisms and to propose novel and more targeted therapies.

The aim of this Special Issue is to collect studies and reviews that explore this large field in vertebrates, independently of the scientific methodology used to measures such changes. Indeed, submissions may encompass a broad variety of these techniques (e.g. molecular biology, immunohistochemistry, immunoassays, flow cytometry, biochemistry, etc.) always linking any biomarker to physiological/pathological conditions. Papers aiming to explore molecular and cellular alterations in a context of physiological and pathological conditions to better understand their biological mechanisms will be considered. Likewise, studies focused on the proposal and/or validation of new molecular, metabolic and cellular biomarkers to detect diseases and to assess health and animal welfare will be taken into account. For example, papers may concern (but are not limited to) topics such as:

- Molecular and cellular changes at the base of the pathogenic mechanisms of all kinds of disease (behavioural, congenital, immune-mediated, infectious, inflammatory, metabolic, neoplastic…).

- Molecular and cellular changes associated to any ageing process.

- Molecular and cellular changes that affect animal health and welfare in domestic, farm, laboratory and wild animals.

- Molecular and cellular changes implicated in animals stress, as cause or consequence of the stressful condition.

- Novel cellular and molecular markers in veterinary medicine.

- Cellular and molecular biomarkers to evaluate novel treatments efficacy.

Dr. Pietro Asproni
Dr. Guido Rocchigiani
Dr. Míriam Marcet-Rius
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

ageing
animal pathology
animal welfare
biomarker
companion animals
ELISA
endocrinology
farm animals
hematology
immunohistochemistry
laboratory animals
metabolism
oncology
PCR
physiology
stress
veterinary therapy
wildlife

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 2265 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Thermal Response of Laboratory Rats (Rattus norvegicus) during the Application of Six Methods of Euthanasia Assessed by Infrared Thermography

by Adriana Domínguez-Oliva, Ismael Hernández-Ávalos, Adriana Olmos-Hernández, Juan Villegas-Juache, Antonio Verduzco-Mendoza and Daniel Mota-Rojas

Animals 2023, 13(18), 2820; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13182820 - 5 Sep 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1934

Abstract

Refinement is one of the principles aiming to promote welfare in research animals. The techniques used during an experimental protocol, including euthanasia selection, must prevent and minimize suffering. Although the current euthanasia methods applied to laboratory rodents are accepted, the controversial findings regarding the potential stress/distress they can cause is a field of research. The objective was to assess the thermal response of Wistar rats during various euthanasia methods using infrared thermography (IRT) to determine the method that prevents or diminishes the stress response and prolonged suffering. Pentobarbital (G₁), CO₂ (G₂), decapitation (G₃), isoflurane (G₄), ketamine + xylazine (G₅), and ketamine + CO₂ (G₆) were evaluated at five evaluation times with IRT to identify changes in the surface temperature of four anatomical regions: ocular (T°_ocu), auricular (T°_ear), interscapular (T°_dor), and caudal (T°_tai). Significant differences (p < 0.05) were found in G₂ and G₄, registering temperature increases from the administration of the drug to the cessation of respiratory rate and heart rate. Particularly, isoflurane showed a marked thermal response in T°_ocu, T°_ear, T°_dor, and T°_tai, suggesting that, in general, inhalant euthanasia methods induce stress in rats and that isoflurane might potentially cause distress, an effect that must be considered when deciding humane euthanasia methods in laboratory rodents. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular and Cellular Changes in Animal Metabolism, Health and Welfare)

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15 pages, 3990 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Relationship between Microflora Changes and Mammary Lipid Metabolism in Dairy Cows with Mastitis

by Yang Luo, Zhiwei Kong, Bin Yang, Fang He, Cheng Huan, Jianbo Li and Kangle Yi

Animals 2023, 13(17), 2773; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13172773 - 31 Aug 2023

Viewed by 1048

Abstract

Dairy mastitis is an inflammatory reaction caused by mechanical injury and stress within the mammary gland, during which microbial changes and abnormal lipid metabolism occur. However, the underlying mechanism is still unclear. The present study used a combination of 16S rDNA sequencing technology and lipidomics techniques to reveal the effects of mastitis on lactic microbiota and metabolites in the milk of dairy cows. Twenty multiparous Holstein dairy cows (2–3 parities) with an average body weight of 580 ± 30 kg were selected for this study. The dairy cows were allocated to control group (<5 × 10⁴ cells /mL)) and mastitis group (>5 × 10⁶ cells /mL) based on the somatic cell count. The results showed that mastitis caused a decrease trend in milk production (p = 0.058). The results of the 16 s sequencing indicated a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in the number of Proteobacteria, Tenericutes colonized in mastitis milk, and the number of Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria communities increased significantly (p < 0.05). The lipidomics results revealed that the changes in lipid content in mastitis milk were correlated with arachidonic acid metabolism, α -linolenic acid metabolism and glycerol phospholipid metabolism. The results showed that mastitis may cause abnormal lipid metabolism in milk by regulating the diversity of milk microflora, and ultimately affect the milk quality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular and Cellular Changes in Animal Metabolism, Health and Welfare)

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13 pages, 1677 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Molecular Pathways for Muscle and Adipose Tissue Are Altered between Beef Steers Classed as Choice or Standard

by Sarah A. Haderlie, Jordan K. Hieber, Jane A. Boles, James G. Berardinelli and Jennifer M. Thomson

Animals 2023, 13(12), 1947; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13121947 - 10 Jun 2023

Viewed by 845

Abstract

Targets for finished livestock are often determined by expected fat, either subcutaneous or intramuscular. These targets are used frequently to improve eating quality. Lower intramuscular fat, lack of product uniformity, and insufficient tenderness can negatively impact beef acceptability. This study aimed to investigate the differences in gene expression that alter metabolism and intercellular signaling in the muscle and adipose tissue in beef carcasses at different fat endpoints. In this study, longissimus thoracis muscle samples and adipose tissue were collected at harvest, and RNA was extracted and then sequenced using RNAseq. Differential expression was determined using edgeR, and p-values were adjusted using the Benjamini–Hochberg method. A corrected p-value of 0.005 and log₂ (fold change) of >1 were the threshold to identify differential expression. Comparison between intermuscular and subcutaneous fat showed no differences in the genes activated in the two adipose tissue depots, suggesting that subcutaneous fat was an adequate sample. Carcass data allowed the classification of carcasses by USDA quality grades (marbling targets). In comparing muscle from Standard and Choice carcasses, 15 genes were downregulated, and 20 were upregulated. There were 49 downregulated and 113 upregulated genes comparing adipose tissue from Standard and Choice carcasses. These genes are related to the metabolism of fat and energy. This indicates that muscle transcript expression varies less than adipose. In addition, subcutaneous fat can be used to evaluate transcript changes in fat. However, it is unclear whether these fat tissues can be used as surrogates for marbling. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular and Cellular Changes in Animal Metabolism, Health and Welfare)

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15 pages, 5987 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Does the Environmental Air Impact the Condition of the Vomeronasal Organ? A Mouse Model for Intensive Farming

by Violaine Mechin, Patrick Pageat, Marion Boutry, Eva Teruel, Céline Portalier and Pietro Asproni

Animals 2023, 13(12), 1902; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13121902 - 7 Jun 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 920

Abstract

Chemical communication in mammals is ensured by exchanging chemical signals through the vomeronasal organ (VNO) and its ability to detect pheromones. The alteration of this organ has been proven to impact animal life, participating in the onset of aggressive behaviors in social groups. To date, few studies have highlighted the possible causes leading to these alterations, and the farming environment has not been investigated, even though irritant substances such as ammonia are known to induce serious damage in the respiratory tract. The goal of this study was to investigate the environmental impact on the VNO structure. Thirty mice were split into three groups, one housed in normal laboratory conditions and the other two in confined environments, with or without the release of litter ammonia. VNOs were analyzed using histology and immunohistochemistry to evaluate the effect of different environments on their condition. Both restricted conditions induced VNO alterations (p = 0.0311), soft-tissue alteration (p = 0.0480), and nonsensory epithelium inflammation (p = 0.0024). There was glycogen accumulation (p < 0.0001), the olfactory marker protein was underexpressed (p < 0.0001), and Gαi2 positivity remained unchanged while Gαo expression was upregulated in confined conditions. VNO conditions seemed to worsen with ammonia, even if not always significantly. These murine model results suggest that the housing environment can strongly impact VNO conditions, providing novel insights for improving indoor farming systems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular and Cellular Changes in Animal Metabolism, Health and Welfare)

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14 pages, 2407 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Clustering and Correlations amongst NEFA, Selected Adipokines and Morphological Traits—New Insights into Equine Metabolic Syndrome

by Zsofia Daradics, Mihaela Niculae, Cristian Mihăiță Crecan, Alexandru Florin Lupșan, Mirela Alexandra Rus, Sanda Andrei, Dana Mihaela Ciobanu, Florinela Adriana Cătoi, Ioana Delia Pop, Mircea Valerian Mircean and Cornel Cătoi

Animals 2022, 12(20), 2863; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12202863 - 20 Oct 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1696

Abstract

Obesity is a common feature in horses suffering from metabolic syndrome. While adipokines involvement as biomarkers is better established in human pathology, little data are available on horses. This study aimed to investigate the possible association and relationship between selected metabolic parameters and morphological traits in equine metabolic syndrome. Adiposity was evaluated using body condition score (BCS) and cresty neck score (CNS). Plasma levels of total cholesterol, insulin, NEFA, and adipokines (omentin and chemerin) were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Spearman correlation, univariate linear regression analysis and hierarchical clustering were performed. Significant positive correlations were observed between NEFA and bodyweight (r = 0.322; p = 0.006), BCS (r = 0.295; p = 0.013), and CNS (r = 0.267; p = 0.024), total cholesterol and bodyweight (r = 0.262; p = 0.027), and omentin and CNS (r = 0.234; p = 0.049). Cluster analysis supported these results and provided more details on the relationships between studied variables within and between the four resulting groups. These findings highlight NEFA, chemerin, and omentin as valuable biomarkers that could be further analyzed in other horse breeds for a better understanding of equine metabolic pathology. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular and Cellular Changes in Animal Metabolism, Health and Welfare)

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Review

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18 pages, 1403 KiB

Open AccessReview

The Canine Pancreatic Extracellular Matrix in Diabetes Mellitus and Pancreatitis: Its Essential Role and Therapeutic Perspective

by Bruna Tássia dos Santos Pantoja, Rafael Cardoso Carvalho, Maria Angelica Miglino and Ana Claudia Oliveira Carreira

Animals 2023, 13(4), 684; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13040684 - 15 Feb 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3092

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus and pancreatitis are common pancreatic diseases in dogs, affecting the endocrine and exocrine portions of the organ. Dogs have a significant role in the history of research related to genetic diseases, being considered potential models for the study of human diseases. This review discusses the importance of using the extracellular matrix of the canine pancreas as a model for the study of diabetes mellitus and pancreatitis, in addition to focusing on the importance of using extracellular matrix in new regenerative techniques, such as decellularization and recellularization. Unlike humans, rabbits, mice, and pigs, there are no reports in the literature characterizing the healthy pancreatic extracellular matrix in dogs, in addition to the absence of studies related to matrix components that are involved in triggering diabetes melittus and pancreatitis. The extracellular matrix plays the role of physical support for the cells and allows the regulation of various cellular processes. In this context, it has already been demonstrated that physiologic and pathologic pancreatic changes lead to ECM remodeling, highlighting the importance of an in-depth study of the changes associated with pancreatic diseases. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular and Cellular Changes in Animal Metabolism, Health and Welfare)

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