Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a pleiotrophic cytokine with a diverse range of actions including the modulation of the peripheral and central nervous system. We have previously shown significant IL-6 protein and messenger RNA elevation in rat spinal cord following peripheral nerve injury that results in pain behaviors suggestive of neuropathic pain. These spinal IL-6 levels correlated directly with th...

AIM Gastrointestinal parasitism is a serious constraint affecting goat production in the Philippines. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of gastrointestinal nematode infection in goat-populated barangays of Baybay City, Leyte. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 81 households or farms were interviewed, and 450 goats were sampled for fecalysis. Fecal egg coun...

STUDY DESIGN An in vivo study to develop a goat large-animal model for intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration. OBJECTIVE To determine an optimal method for inducing goat IVD degeneration suitable for testing disc regeneration therapies. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA Although rodent, rabbit, and other small animal studies are useful, the narrow dimensions of IVDs in these species limit studies ...

The present studies were undertaken to determine whether factor VIII/von Willebrand factor (vWF) present in the vessel wall (in addition to that in plasma) may mediate the attachment of platelets to subendothelium. Subendothelium from everted rabbit aorta was exposed to human citrated blood flowing through an annular perfusion chamber at 40 mL/min (wall shear rate of 2,600 s-1 for five minutes)...

Between 2007 and 2009, the largest human Q fever epidemic ever described occurred in the Netherlands. The source was traced back to dairy goat farms, where abortion storms had been observed since 2005. Since one putative cause of these abortion storms is the intensive husbandry systems in which the goats are kept, the objective of this study was to assess whether these could be explained by her...

Estrus synchronization allows for parturition at suitable times to take advantage of niche markets, feed supplies, labor, and rising price trends. In the past, synchronization of estrus in goats has focused primarily on dairy goats to allow for optimal timing of milk production. However, recent interest in meat goat production has resulted in attempts to use dairy goat, sheep, and cattle synchr...

The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of activin-A during the in vitro oocyte maturation (IVM) and in vitro embryo culture (IVC) on nuclear maturation, blastocyst yield and blastocyst quality of prepubertal goat oocytes. In Experiment 1, three groups of oocytes were used during the IVM of prepubertal goat oocytes to determine the optimal concentration of recombinant human activi...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are an important class of small noncoding RNAs that are highly conserved in plants and animals. Many miRNAs are known to mediate a myriad of cell processes, including proliferation and differentiation, via the regulation of some transcription and signaling factors, which are closely related to muscle development and disease. In this study, small RNA cDNA libraries of Boer goa...

AIM To estimate genetic variability in exon 3 of caprine myostatin gene in Marwari goats. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 120 blood samples from unrelated Marwari goats were randomly collected from different villages of Bikaner (Rajasthan), India. Genomic DNA was extracted from whole blood using blood DNA isolation kit (Himedia Ltd.) as per manufacturer's protocol. The quality of extracted g...

The objective of this paper is to introduce a novel method for tracking 3D kinematics of the healthy and anterior crucial ligament (ACL) transected goat knee. Sham and ACL transection surgeries were performed on two goats (1 sham, 1 ACL transection) with tantalum bone markers inserted into the tibia and femur. Goat gait was captured using a high-speed, biplanar fluoroscopy system and bone marke...