Investigation of gastrointestinal injury-related biomarkers in dairy cattle with displaced abomasum

Role of trefoil factors in maintaining gut health in food animals

It is imperative to preserve the integrity of the gastrointestinal system in spite of the persistent existence of harmful chemicals and microbial flora in the gut. This is made possible by essential healing initiators called Trefoil factors which helps in mucosal reconstitution and tissue development on the gastrointestinal surface. The trefoil factors are a class of abundant secreted proteins that are essential for epithelial continuity (TFFs). Trefoil factor family (TFF) proteins are biologically active peptides that play significant role in safeguarding, restoring and continuity of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) epithelium, through collaborative modulations with mucins in the mucosal layer. These peptides are readily produced in reaction to epithelial damage in the digestive tract, thereby contributing to the healing and restituting of the epithelial layers of the intestine. In addition, considerable evidence indicated that TFF peptides trigger proliferation, migration and angiogenesis, all which are crucial processes for wound healing. There is also increasing evidence that TFF peptides modulate the mucosal immune system. These protective properties, suggest that dietary manipulation strategies targeted at enhancing the expression and synthesis of TFF peptides at optimal levels in the GIT epithelium, may constitute a plausible alternative strategy to the use of in-feed antibiotic growth promoters to maintain epithelial integrity and promote resistance to enteric pathogens. This review describes TFF peptides, with importance to their biological functions and involvement in gastrointestinal mucosal protection and repair in food animals.

Comparative quantitation of liver-type fatty acid-binding protein localizations in liver injury and non-pathological liver tissue in dogs

Background and Aim

Liver injury results in the production of free radicals that can lead to hepatocytic degeneration, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Liver-fatty acid-binding protein (L-FABP) is highly expressed in hepatocytes and is a key regulator of hepatic lipid metabolism and antioxidant characteristics. Interestingly, the increase in L-FABP expression could be used as a novel marker of liver injury. Therefore, this study aimed to use immunohistochemical techniques to investigate the expression of L-FABP in dogs with liver injury compared with dogs with non-pathological liver.

Materials and Methods

Liver tissue samples were collected from dog biopsy specimens at the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chiang Mai University. The tissues were prepared for immunohistochemistry and the expression and localization of L-FABP were investigated using one-way analysis of variance.

Results

Immunohistochemical analysis showed that L-FABP was strongly expressed in the hepatocytes of dogs with lipidosis and HCC when compared with that in normal liver. Semi-quantitative immunohistochemistry evaluation showed the percentage of protein expression of L-FABP 0.023 ± 0.027 in the non-pathological liver. The percentage of L-FABP protein expression in lipidosis and HCC was found to be 8.517 ± 1.059 and 17.371 ± 4.026, respectively.

Conclusion

L-FABP expression in dogs with liver injuries was significantly higher than that in dogs with non-pathological liver injury (p = 0.05). These results suggest that L-FABP has the potential as a novel marker for specific diagnosis and prognosis of dogs with liver injury.