Identification of SARS-CoV-2 in urban rodents from Southern Mexico City at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic

Currently, there are some concerns about the situation and, in particular, about the future of the COVID-19 pandemic and the new emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2. Rodents are an example of synanthropic animals in urban environments that harbor important zoonoses. Although the molecular identification of SARS-CoV-2 in Rattus norvegicus from New York City had been reported, in other studies, urban wild rodents infected with this virus have not been found. This study aimed to molecularly identify the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in urban wild rodents from Mexico City, trapped along a water channel of a public park as part of a pest control program, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, during the fall and winter of 2020. Up to 33 Mus musculus and 52 R. norvegicus were captured and euthanized, large intestine samples with feces from the animals were obtained. RNAs were obtained and subjected to qRT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 identification and threshold cycle (Ct) values were obtained. Four mice (12.1%) and three rats (5.8%) were positive, three rodents exhibited Ct<30. Our results on the frequency of SARS-CoV-2 in urban rats are in line with other previous reports. Thus, similar to other authors, we suggest that surveillance for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in urban wild rodents, as sentinel animals, should be maintained.

Evaluation of aversive behavior in Rattus norvegicus experimentally infected by two distinct strains of Toxoplasma gondii (ME49 and VEG): study of epigenetic markers

BACKGROUND

Behavioral changes in Rattus norvegicus infected with two strains of Toxoplasma gondii (ME49 and VEG) were investigated.

METHODS

Rats were evaluated for motor activity and aversion or attraction to cat urine 60 days after infection. After euthanasia, arginine-vasopressin gene methylation in the central nervous system was evaluated.

RESULTS

A significant difference was observed in the methylation of the arginine-vasopressin promoter gene between rats infected with the ME49 and VEG strains.

CONCLUSIONS

Although differences were not observed in many parameters, significant differences were observed in the methylation of the arginine-vasopressin promoter gene in rats infected with the two studied strains.

Health Beneficial Properties of Grapevine Seed Extract and Its Influence on Selected Biochemical Markers in the Blood, Liver and Kidneys of Rattus norvegicus

Cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal that occurs in all areas of the environment, including the food chain. In the body, it causes oxidative stress by producing free radicals that are harmful to the cells. Grape seed extract (GSE) contains a wide range of biologically active components that help to neutralize the adverse effects of free radicals. In this study, the effects of GSE prepared form semi-resistant grapevine cultivar Cerason, which is rich in phenolics, on biochemical markers of brown rats exposed to the effects of cadmium were monitored. GSE increased the plasma antioxidant activity and, in the kidneys and the liver, Cd content was significantly lowered by GSE co-administration. Accordingly, the increase in creatinine content and alanine aminotransferase activity and the decrease of catalase and superoxide dismutase activities caused by cadmium were slowed down by GSE co-administration. The results of this work reveal that grape seed extract offers a protective effect against the intake of heavy metals into the organism.

The social life of Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus)

The Norway rat has important impacts on our life. They are amongst the most used research subjects, resulting in ground-breaking advances. At the same time, wild rats live in close association with us, leading to various adverse interactions. In face of this relevance, it is surprising how little is known about their natural behaviour. While recent laboratory studies revealed their complex social skills, little is known about their social behaviour in the wild. An integration of these different scientific approaches is crucial to understand their social life, which will enable us to design more valid research paradigms, develop more effective management strategies, and to provide better welfare standards. Hence, I first summarise the literature on their natural social behaviour. Second, I provide an overview of recent developments concerning their social cognition. Third, I illustrate why an integration of these areas would be beneficial to optimise our interactions with them.

Continuous Hemodynamic Monitoring in an Intact Rat Model of Simulated Diving

Cardiovascular risk is elevated in divers, but detailed information of cardiac function during diving is missing. The aim of this study was to apply an intact rat model with continuous monitoring of cardiac left ventricular (LV) function in a simulated diving experiment. Thirteen rats were inserted with a LV pressure-volume catheter and a pressure transducer in the femoral artery to measure hemodynamic variables, and randomly assigned to diving (n = 9) and control (n = 4) groups. The diving group was compressed to 600 kPa in air, maintained at pressure for 45 min (bottom phase), and decompressed to surface at 50 kPa/min. Data was collected before, during, and up to 60 min after exposure in the diving group, and at similar times in non-diving controls. During the bottom phase, stroke volume (SV) (-29%) and cardiac output (-30%) decreased, whereas LV end-systolic volume (+13%), mean arterial pressure (MAP) (+29%), and total peripheral resistance (TPR) (+72%) increased. There were no changes in LV contractility, stroke work, or diastolic function. All hemodynamic variables returned to baseline values within 60 min after diving. In conclusion, our simulated dive experiment to 600 kPa increased MAP and TPR to levels which caused a substantial reduction in SV and LV volume output. The increase in cardiac afterload demonstrated to take place during a dive is well tolerated by the healthy heart in our model, whereas in a failing heart this abrupt change in afterload may lead to acute cardiac decompensation.

Evaluating whole transcriptome amplification for gene profiling experiments using RNA-Seq

BACKGROUND

RNA-Seq has enabled high-throughput gene expression profiling to provide insight into the functional link between genotype and phenotype. Low quantities of starting RNA can be a severe hindrance for studies that aim to utilize RNA-Seq. To mitigate this bottleneck, whole transcriptome amplification (WTA) technologies have been developed to generate sufficient sequencing targets from minute amounts of RNA. Successful WTA requires accurate replication of transcript abundance without the loss or distortion of specific mRNAs. Here, we test the efficacy of NuGEN's Ovation RNA-Seq V2 system, which uses linear isothermal amplification with a unique chimeric primer for amplification, using white adipose tissue from standard laboratory rats (Rattus norvegicus). Our goal was to investigate potential biological artifacts introduced through WTA approaches by establishing comparisons between matched raw and amplified RNA libraries derived from biological replicates.

RESULTS

We found that 93% of expressed genes were identical between all unamplified versus matched amplified comparisons, also finding that gene density is similar across all comparisons. Our sequencing experiment and downstream bioinformatic analyses using the Tuxedo analysis pipeline resulted in the assembly of 25,543 high-quality transcripts. Libraries constructed from raw RNA and WTA samples averaged 15,298 and 15,253 expressed genes, respectively. Although significant differentially expressed genes (P < 0.05) were identified in all matched samples, each of these represents less than 0.15% of all shared genes for each comparison.

CONCLUSIONS

Transcriptome amplification is efficient at maintaining relative transcript frequencies with no significant bias when using this NuGEN linear isothermal amplification kit under ideal laboratory conditions as presented in this study. This methodology has broad applications, from clinical and diagnostic, to field-based studies when sample acquisition, or sample preservation, methods prove challenging.

Brazilian Angiostrongylus cantonensis haplotypes, ac8 and ac9, have two different biological and morphological profiles

Angiostrongylus cantonensis is the etiologic agent of eosinophilic meningoencephalitis in humans. Cases have been recorded in many parts of the world, including Brazil. The aim of this study was to compare the differences in the biology and morphology of two different Brazilian haplotypes of A. cantonensis: ac8 and ac9. A significantly larger number of L1 larvae eliminated in the faeces of rodents at the beginning of the patent period was observed for ac9 haplotype and compared to the total of L1 larvae eliminated, there was a significant difference between the two haplotypes. The ac9 haplotype showed a significant difference in the proportion of female and male specimens (0.6:1), but the same was not observed for ac8 (1.2:1). The morphometric analysis showed that male and female specimens isolated from ac8 haplotype were significantly larger with respect to body length, oesophagus length, spicule length (male) and distance from the anus to the rear end (female) compared to specimens from ac9. The morphological analysis by light microscopy showed little variation in the level of bifurcations at the lateral rays in the right lobe of the copulatory bursa between the two haplotypes. The biological, morphological and morphometric variations observed between the two haplotypes agree with the observed variation at the molecular level using the cytochrome oxidase subunit I marker and reinforce the possible influence of geographical isolation on the development of these haplotypes.

Subventricular zone neuronal progenitors undergo multiple divisions and retract their processes prior to each cytokinesis

Mitotically active progenitor cells from the anterior portion of the forebrain subventricular zone (SVZa), which give rise throughout life to olfactory bulb interneurons, bear processes and express neuronal markers. To understand how rodent SVZa neuronal progenitors coordinate division and process formation, we used time-lapse videomicroscopy to analyse the proliferative behavior of SVZa progenitors in dissociated cell culture continuously for up to five generations. The cell cycle time of these cultured SVZa cells assessed videomicroscopically (cytokinesis to cytokinesis) was similar to the cell cycle time along the rostral migratory stream in vivo (14-17 h). The relationship between process extension, process retraction and cytokinesis was assessed quantitatively for 120 cells undergoing cytokinesis. Although all of these cells had elaborated processes, virtually all of them completely withdrew their processes prior to cytokinesis. Process withdrawal was rapid and tightly coupled to cytokinesis; 50% of the cells studied initiated process retraction within 30 min of cytokinesis and 96% had begun to withdraw their processes within 60 min of cytokinesis. In SVZa progenitor cell lineages, the sequence of process extension, process retraction and division is repeated over multiple generations. This complete withdrawal of processes prior to division differentiates SVZa progenitor cells from the characteristics reported for several other process-bearing types of neural progenitor cells, including sympathetic neuroblasts, cerebral cortical radial glia, and cerebellar and retinal progenitors. Collectively, our findings indicate that SVZa progenitors employ different cellular mechanisms than other neural progenitors to regulate proliferation and differentiation.