Project description:The study investigated the impact of environment on the composition of the gut microbiota and mucosal immune development and function at gut surfaces in early and adult life. Piglets of similar genotype were reared in indoor and outdoor environments and in an experimental isolator facility. Mucosa-adherent microbial diversity in the pig ileum was characterized by sequence analysis of 16S rRNA gene libraries. Host-specific gene responses in gut ileal tissues to differences in microbial composition were investigated using Affymetrix microarray technology and Real-time PCR. Experiment Overall Design: Animals were reared on the sow at an outdoor or indoor facility. Additional piglets from the indoor facility were transferred to individual isolator units at 24 hours of age, and given a daily dose of antibiotic cocktail for the duration of the study. Piglets were weaned at day 28. From day 29 onwards, piglets were fed creep feed ad libitum. Ileal tissue samples were excised from N=6 piglets per group at day 5, 28 and 56.
Project description:Our goal was to investigate the transcriptomes changes on rats liver, brain, thymus, and spleen after exposure to an indoor school air mixture (SAM+) of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Female Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to SAM+ at a concentration of 45.5±5.9 µg/m^3 Σ209PCB or filtered air (sham group) 4 h/day, 6 days/week for 13 weeks using nose-only exposure systems. Twenty-four hours after the final exposure, rats were euthanized by carbon dioxide inhalation followed by cervical dislocation. Cardiac blood was collected and organs were excised and stored at -80 °C until analysis.
