The aim of the experiment was to test the effect of an elevated level of glucocorticoids on the mouse hippocampal transcriptome after 12 h of treatment with corticosterone that was administered during an active phase of the circadian cycle. Additionally, we also tested the circadian changes in gene expression and the decay time of transcriptomic response to corticosterone. Gene expression was analyzed using microarrays. Obtained results show that transcriptomic responses to glucocorticoids are heterogeneous in terms of the decay time with some genes displaying persistent changes in expression during 9 h of rest. We have also found a considerable overlap between genes regulated by corticosterone and genes implicated previously in stress response. The examples of such genes are Acer2, Agt, Apod, Aqp4, Etnppl, Fabp7, Fam107a, Fjx1, Fmo2, Galnt15, Gjc2, Heph, Hes5, Htra1, Jdp2, Kif5a, Lfng, Lrg1, Mgp, Mt1, Pglyrp1, Pla2g3, Plin4, Pllp, Ptgds, Ptn, Slc2a1, Slco1c1, Sult1a1, Thbd and Txnip. This indicates that the applied model is a useful tool for the investigation of mechanisms underlying the stress response.

Canine atopic dermatitis (cAD) is a chronic and recurrent inflammatory and pruritic skin disease in dogs. Currently, allergen-specific immunotherapy (ASIT) is the only identified disease-modifying intervention for allergic diseases. It decreases the symptoms triggered by allergens and prevents recurrence of the disease in the long-term. The aim of our research was to determine how immunotherapy changes the proportion of lymphocyte subsets in dog peripheral blood and the levels of cytokines secreted by these cells during therapy. ASIT was applied for 6 months. Blood samples for further analyses were collected from patients in the third and sixth month of immunotherapy. Six out of seven dogs receiving ASIT showed a positive effect. A reduction in cytokine levels (IL-13, TNF-α) in peripheral blood of cAD patients and changes in the number of specific T cell subpopulations—reduction of Tc cells (CD8⁺) and increase of activated T cells (CD3⁺CD25⁺)—confirmed the beneficial effect of the applied ASIT. In addition, a significantly higher percentage of Treg cells (CD4⁺CD25⁺FOXP3⁺) was noted in cAD patients before treatment compared to healthy dogs. After 3 months of therapy, the percentage of Tregs significantly decreased, and after 6 months, it increased significantly again.

The mammary gland is composed of epithelial tissue forming ducts and lobules, and the stroma, composed of adipocytes, connective tissue, and other cell types. The stromal microenvironment regulates mammary gland development by paracrine and cell–cell interactions. In the present study, primary cultures of bovine mammary epithelial cells (bMEC) and bovine adipose-derived stem cells (bASC) subjected to adipogenic differentiation were used to investigate the influence of paracrine factors secreted by preadipocytes and adipocytes on bMEC development. Four types of conditioned media (CM) were collected from undifferentiated preadipocytes (preA) and adipocytes on days: 8, 12, 14 of differentiation. Next, bMEC were cultured for 24 h in CM and cell viability, apoptosis, migratory activity, ability to form spheroids on Matrigel, and secretory activity (alpha S1-casein concentration) were evaluated. CM derived from fully differentiated adipocytes (12 d and 14 d) significantly decreased the number of apoptotic cells in bMEC population and increased the size of spheroids formed by bMEC on Matrigel. CM collected from preadipocytes significantly enhanced bMEC’s migration, and stimulated bMEC to produce alpha S1-casein, but only in the presence of prolactin. These results confirm that preadipocytes and adipocytes are important components of the stroma, providing paracrine factors that actively regulate the development of bovine mammary epithelium.

Fasciola hepatica is a liver fluke that resides in the bile ducts of various mammals. The parasitosis leads to economic losses in animal production estimated at USD 3.2 billion annually. It is also considered a zoonosis of great significance and a problem for public health affecting 2.4 million people worldwide. Nevertheless, besides the negative aspects of infestation, the antigens released by the fluke, F. hepatica Excretory-Secretory Products (Fh-ES) contain several immunomodulatory molecules that may be beneficial during the course of type I diabetes, multiple sclerosis, ulcerative colitis, or septic shock. This phenomenon is based on the natural abilities of adult F. hepatica to suppress proinflammatory responses. To underline the molecular basis of these mechanisms and determine the role of microRNA (miRNA) in the process, lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated THP-1 macrophages were stimulated with Fh-ES, followed by miRNA microarray analyses. Surprisingly, no results indicating changes in the miRNA expression profile were noted (p < 0.05). We discuss potential reasons for these results, which may be due to insufficient sensitivity to detect slight changes in miRNA expression or the possibility that these changes are not regulated by miRNA. Despite the negative data, this work may contribute to the future planning of experiments by other researchers.

The immune response to a viral antigen causes inflammatory cell infiltration to the tissue, which creates a suitable environment for the replication of the virus in macrophages, and the recruitment of more monocytes to the site of infection, or latently infected monocytes. The aim of the study was to analyze the transcriptomic profile of peripheral blood nuclear cells isolated from SRLV-seropositive and SRLV-negative goats at the peak of their first lactation. SRLV-seropositive goats were probably infected via colostrum. Custom transcriptomic microarrays for goats were designed and developed, namely the Capra hircus gene expression array, which features ~50,000 unique transcripts per microarray. Only four genes were differentially expressed, with up-regulated expression of the GIMAP2, SSC5D and SETX genes, and down-regulated expression of the GPR37 gene in SRLV-seropositive vs. SRLV-seronegative goats. However, in an RT-qPCR analysis, the result for the SETX gene was not confirmed. The differences in the expressions of the studied genes indicate an active inflammatory process in the SRLV-seropositive goats at the early stage of infection.

Canine atopic dermatitis (cAD) is a genetic, chronic, and recurrent inflammatory and pruritic skin disorder. Allergen-specific immunotherapy (ASIT) is presently recognized as the only clinically effective disease-modifying treatment for allergies. The aim of our study was to analyze the changes in gene expression observed in the peripheral blood nuclear cells of cAD patients subjected to ASIT. Blood samples designated for transcriptomic analyses were collected from AD dogs twice, before and six months after ASIT, and also from healthy dogs. Statistical analysis revealed 521 differentially expressed transcripts, among which 241 transcripts represented genes with well-described functions. Based on the available literature, we chose nine differentially expressed genes (RARRES2, DPP10, SLPI, PLSCR4, MMP9, NTSR1, CBD103, DEFB122, and IL36G) which may be important in the context of the dysregulated immune response observed in cAD patients. The expressions of five out of the nine described genes (DPP10, PLSCR4, NTSR1, DEFB122, and IL36G) changed after the application of ASIT. The expressions of three of these genes returned to the level observed in the healthy control group. The genes listed above need further investigation to determine details of their role in the molecular mechanism of immune tolerance induction in response to allergen-specific immunotherapy.