Forest musk deer (Moschus berezovskii), a rare wild medicinal animal, is listed under the category of the state key protected wildlife list of China. Musk, secreted by the musk glands, is with high economic and medicinal value and used as precious traditional medicine in China. In order to meet the needs of musk in Chinese traditional medicine, forest musk deer farming was conducted in 1950s, but the research progress on musk secretion mechanism was slow. Therefore, by reviewing the histological and anatomical structure of forest musk deer musk gland, the relationship between sex hormones and the musk secretion process, and the molecular mechanism of the musk secretion, the existing problems in investigating the musk secretion mechanism were analyzed and the development trends in this field were also discussed, in order to provide a reference for further studies on the musk secretion mechanism and improve musk production of forest musk deer.
Animals ; Deer ; metabolism ; Exocrine Glands ; anatomy & histology ; chemistry ; secretion ; Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Male

Forest musk deer is one of the large-scale farming musk deer animals with the largest population at the same time. The male musk deer can secrete valuable medicines, which has high medicinal and economic value. Due to the loss of habitat and indiscriminate hunting, the numbers of wild population specie and the distribution have been drastically reduced. Therefore, in-depth understanding of the molecular genetics progress of forest musk deer will pave a way for musk deer protection and breeding. In this review, the progress associated with the molecular marker, genetic classification, artificial breeding, musk secretion and disease in past decades were reviewed, in order to provide a theoretical basis for subsequent molecular genetic researches in forest musk deer.
Animals ; Breeding ; Deer ; classification ; genetics ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Ecosystem ; Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Female ; Male

Nano-LC MS/MS was used to analyze trypsin digested deer-hide gelatin(DHG) samples, hydroxylation and O-glycosylation on lysine sites of DHG were comprehensive identified by using PEAKS Studio software. The sites, sorts and amounts of hydroxylation and O-glycosylation on Type Ⅰ collagen α1 chain(COL1 A1) and α2 chain(COL1 A2) of DHG were revealed. As a result, 5 284 peptides were identified from DHG samples, which were mainly from COL1 A1 and COL1 A2. Among these peptides, there were 449 peptides with hydroxylysine, 442 with galactosyl-hydroxylysine, 449 with glucosyl-galactosyl-hydroxylysine. The major modified sites of hydroxylation and O-glycosylation in DHG were shown as follow: α1-9 N and α2-5 N in N-telopeptides, α1-87, α1-174, α1-930, α2-87, α2-174, α2-933 in triple helix domain, and α1-16 C in C-telopeptides. These hydroxylation and O-glycosylation were correlated with the formation and stability of collagen molecules and collagen fibrils. It is feasible for the collagens and peptides dissolving from deer skin collagen fibrils under high temperature and pressure decocting, high temperature and pressure also might destroy inter-molecular covalent cross-linking and help those glycol-peptides formations. The present study provided ideas and strategies for the in-depth investigation on DHG chemical constituents, and showed good theoretical significance and application value.
Animals ; Deer/metabolism* ; Gelatin ; Glycosylation ; Hydroxylation ; Lysine/metabolism* ; Protein Processing, Post-Translational ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Lyophylized antler powder was hydrolyzed by pepsin and trypsin separately and also simultaneously to give hydrolysates with special physical activities. Complete hydrolysis peptides with MW lower than 1 x 10(3) were collected for assay of angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity, antioxidant activity and proliferative activity toward UMR-106 osteoblast cells. The results of the experiments revealed that all hydrolysates exhibited potent hydroxyl radical scavenging activity with an IC50 value less than 1 mg/ml which was much lower than the value of 5.5 g x L(-1) for vitamin C. The peptic and peptic tryptic hydrolysates demonstrated strong angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity. The tryptic hydrolysate increased the proliferation of the UMR-106 cells by 73.43%. The results verified the traditional use of antler in bone-strengthening, anti-aging. The exploratory studies on the ACE inhibitory activity of antler hydrolysates indicated that the hydrolysates might be potentially useful in prevention and treatment of hypertension. Further purification of peptides contributing to the antioxidant activity, angiotensin I-converting enzyme-inhibitory activity and proliferative activity toward osteoblasts from antler hydrolysates is warranted.
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors ; metabolism ; Animals ; Antioxidants ; metabolism ; Antlers ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Biphenyl Compounds ; metabolism ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Deer ; Endopeptidases ; metabolism ; Free Radical Scavengers ; Hydrolysis ; Hypertension ; chemically induced ; Pepsin A ; metabolism ; Peptides ; pharmacology ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A ; metabolism ; Picrates ; metabolism ; Trypsin ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo establish a convenient, practical and high efficient method of DNA extraction of os cervi, and lay the foundation of identification of animal bones.

METHODThe bones of sika deer, red deer, cattle, dog and pig were used to extract DNA under different decalcification time (24,48,72 h) and decalcification temperature (4,25,37,56,70 degrees C), and extract method.

RESULTIt proved by experiments that demineralization process promotes the cracking of osteocyte. In a broad of decalcification time and temperature, DNA could be extracted from all bone samples successfully while the quantity varied slightly.

CONCLUSIONSamples (about 0.1 g) decalcify with 0. mol x L(-1) EDTA at 4 degrees C for 24 h, then water-bath for 1 h after lysis buffer added, DNA extracted via the method above is of high quality and can be used for PCR.

Animals ; Bone Demineralization Technique ; Bone and Bones ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Cattle ; DNA ; isolation & purification ; Deer ; Dogs ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Swine ; Temperature ; Time Factors

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of eight specifications of Cervi Cornu Pantotrichum on the osteoporosis of ovariectomized rats and grade the eight different specifications of Cervi Cornu Pantotrichum.

METHODTotally 100 SD female rats were divided randomly into 10 groups, namely the normal group, the model group and eight Cervi Cornu Pantotrichum groups of different specifications. Their bilateral ovaries were excised to reproduce the osteoporosis model. Meanwhile, the rats were given the eight different specifications of Cervi Cornu Pantotrichum for consecutively 12 weeks. Subsequently, the effects of the different specifications of Cervi Cornu Pantotrichum on bone mineral density and serum biochemical indicators of rats were observed. A clustering analysis was made for the eight specifications of Cervi Cornu Pantotrichum, with the serum content of ALP, BMP-2 and BGP as influencing factors.

RESULTAfter 12 weeks, the eight different specifications of Cervi Cornu Pantotrichum could significantly improve ALP, BMP-2, BGP in serum and bone mineral density of ovariectomized rats. And the cluster analysis showed similar results to the quality classification of traditional commercial herbs Cervi Cornu Pantotrichum.

CONCLUSIONDifferent specifications of Cervi Cornu Pantotrichum can antagonize the osteoporosis of ovariectomized rats, and their effects are related to the quality of commercial herbs.

Animals ; Bone Density ; drug effects ; Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Deer ; Disease Models, Animal ; Female ; Horns ; chemistry ; Humans ; Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Ovariectomy ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

An in vitro detection method of the gastrointestinal absorption of Pilose Antler protein was established for mixed protein activity. Five bands of protein with molecular weight of 17.8-160 kD derived from the Pilose Antler were extracted and sufficiently labeled with FITC (FITC-PE). The stability and variation of FITC-PE in gastrointestinal circumstances were detected by native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and confocal laser scanning microscope. Results showed that the main component of FITC-PE kept invariant after being reacted with artificial gastric fluid and artificial intestinal fluid. The fluorescence signal was detected 20 min after administration in the valgus intestinal purse experiment, and three kinds of protein, with molecular weight of 45, 25, and 17.8 kD, were detected in the mixture of absorbent protein. The research laid the foundation for the further in vivo study of Pilose Antler protein. Meanwhile, it would be an in vitro screening method for the absorption, distribution and metabolism of mixed protein from traditional Chinese medicine.
Animals ; Antlers ; chemistry ; Deer ; Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate ; Intestinal Absorption ; Intestinal Mucosa ; metabolism ; Male ; Materia Medica ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacokinetics ; Microscopy, Confocal ; Molecular Weight ; Native Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis ; Proteins ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacokinetics ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Stomach ; metabolism

Toxoplasma gondii is a eukaryotic parasite of the phylum Apicomplexa, which infects all warm-blood animals, including humans. In the present study, we examined sequence variation in dense granule 20 (GRA20) genes among T. gondii isolates collected from different hosts and geographical regions worldwide. The complete GRA20 genes were amplified from 16 T. gondii isolates using PCR, sequence were analyzed, and phylogenetic reconstruction was analyzed by maximum parsimony (MP) and maximum likelihood (ML) methods. The results showed that the complete GRA20 gene sequence was 1,586 bp in length among all the isolates used in this study, and the sequence variations in nucleotides were 0-7.9% among all strains. However, removing the type III strains (CTG, VEG), the sequence variations became very low, only 0-0.7%. These results indicated that the GRA20 sequence in type III was more divergence. Phylogenetic analysis of GRA20 sequences using MP and ML methods can differentiate 2 major clonal lineage types (type I and type III) into their respective clusters, indicating the GRA20 gene may represent a novel genetic marker for intraspecific phylogenetic analyses of T. gondii.
Animals ; Base Sequence ; Brazil ; China ; Deer ; *Genetic Variation ; Genotype ; Goats ; Humans ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Protozoan Proteins/*genetics/metabolism ; Sheep ; Swine ; Toxoplasma/classification/*genetics/isolation & purification/parasitology/physiology ; Toxoplasmosis/*parasitology ; Toxoplasmosis, Animal/*parasitology ; United States

OBJECTIVEThe activity of deer serum albumin on proliferation of rat osteogenic-like cells UMR-106 and the IGF-I secretion were investigated in order to elucidate pilose antler's bone-strengthening mechanism.

METHODDeer serum albumin was isolated from freeze-dry pilose antler powder extract. The methods were Sephacryl S-200HR gel filtration, POROS 20QE ion-exchange and TSK G3000SW chromatographies. The effect of deer serum albumin on proliferatio of UMR-106 cells was assaied by MTT, and the secretion of IGF-I of UMR-106 cells was assaied by RIA.

RESULTDeer serum albumin, with the molecular weight of 56.3 kDa, significantly increased the proliferation rate of the osteoblast-like UMR-106 cell and IGF-I secretion. When concentration of deer serum albumin reached 0.149 microg x mL(-1), UMR-106 cell proliferation rate was 241.03% and IGF-I secretion was 66.89 ng x mL(-1).

CONCLUSIONThe concentration of deer serum albumin, from 14.9 ng x mL(-1) to 14.90 microg x mL(-1), significantly increased the proliferation rate of the osteoblast-like UMR-106 cell and IGF- I secretion.

Animals ; Antlers ; chemistry ; Bone Neoplasms ; pathology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Deer ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I ; secretion ; Materia Medica ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Osteoblasts ; metabolism ; pathology ; Osteosarcoma ; pathology ; Rats ; Serum Albumin ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVEUsing animal anemia models to observe the antianemia effect of Shengxuesu, and to afford an experimental basis for preventing and treating anemia.

METHODRat model of iron deficiency induced by denutrition and mouse model of nemorrhagic anemia by blood lefting were established. Indices of hemoglobin(HB), red blood cell count(RBC), hematocrit(HCT), mean corpuscular hemoglobin count(MCHC), serum iron(SI), serum ferritin (SF) and total iron-binding capacity(TIBC) were monitored.

RESULTA dosage of Shengxuesu 0.5-2 g.kg-1 was given to the rat model of hypoferric anemia by gavage for 15 days, and to the mouse model of hemorrhagic anemia by gavage for 7 days. The result shows that HB, RBC, HCT, MCHC in blood and iron, ferroprotein in serum were elevated significantly; but total bounding iron in serum was decreased. Meanwhile, diet amount, diet consumption and general activity of the model rats were increased.

Anemia, Hemolytic ; blood ; Anemia, Iron-Deficiency ; blood ; Animals ; Atractylodes ; chemistry ; Capsules ; Deer ; Drug Combinations ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Erythrocyte Count ; Female ; Hematocrit ; Hemoglobins ; metabolism ; Iron ; blood ; Male ; Materia Medica ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Mice ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Rats