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Specific Pathogen Free
Specific-pathogen-free (SPF) is a term used for laboratory animals that are guaranteed free of particular pathogens. Use of SPF animals ensures that specified diseases do not interfere with an experiment. For example, absence of respiratory pathogens such as influenza is desirable when investigating a drug's effect on lung function. Practical Completely germ-free The animals can be born through a caesarian section then special care taken so the newborn does not acquire infections, such as use of sterile isolation units with a positive pressure differential to keep all outside air and pathogens from entering. Everything that needs to be inserted into the isolator, such as food, water and equipment needs to be completely sterilized and disinfected, and inserted through an airlock that can be disinfected before opening from the inside. A disadvantage is that any contact with pathogens may be fatal. This is because the animals have no protective bacterial microbiota on the skin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laboratory Animal
Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and ''in vivo'' testing, is the use of non-human animals in experiments that seek to control the variables that affect the behavior or biological system under study. This approach can be contrasted with field studies in which animals are observed in their natural environments or habitats. Experimental research with animals is usually conducted in universities, medical schools, pharmaceutical companies, defense establishments, and commercial facilities that provide animal-testing services to the industry. The focus of animal testing varies on a continuum from pure research, focusing on developing fundamental knowledge of an organism, to applied research, which may focus on answering some questions of great practical importance, such as finding a cure for a disease. Examples of applied research include testing disease treatments, breeding, defense research, and toxicology, including cosmetics testing. In edu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Immunity (medical)
In biology, immunity is the capability of multicellular organisms to resist harmful microorganisms. Immunity involves both specific and nonspecific components. The nonspecific components act as barriers or eliminators of a wide range of pathogens irrespective of their antigenic make-up. Other components of the immune system adapt themselves to each new disease encountered and can generate pathogen-specific immunity. Immunity is a complex biological system that can recognize and tolerate whatever belongs to the self, and to recognize and reject what is foreign (non-self). Innate and adaptive Innate Immunity First off, the immune system is a system in the body of animals that enables animals to avoid or limit many infections caused by pathogens. Pathogens are disease causing agents, causing a wide range of illnesses. As for Diseases it's when structure of an organism is negatively affected other than external injury. Both diseases and pathogens affect the immune system causing ill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gnotobiotic Animal
Gnotobiosis (from Greek roots ''gnostos'' "known" and ''bios'' "life") refers to an engineered state of an organism in which all forms of life (i.e., microorganisms) in or on it, including its microbiota, have been identified. The term gnotobiotic organism, or gnotobiote, can refer to a model organism that is colonized with a specific community of known microorganisms (isobiotic or defined flora animal) or that contains no microorganisms ( germ-free) often for experimental purposes. The study of gnotobiosis and the generation of various types of gnotobiotic model organisms as tools for studying interactions between host organisms and microorganisms is referred to as gnotobiology. History The concept and field of gnotobiology was born of a debate between Louis Pasteur and Marceli Nencki in the late 19th century, in which Pasteur argued that animal life needed bacteria to succeed while Nencki argued that animals would be healthier without bacteria, but it wasn't until 1960 that the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Infection And Immunity
''Infection and Immunity'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal published by the American Society for Microbiology. It focuses on interactions between bacterial, fungal, or parasitic pathogens and their hosts. Areas covered include molecular pathogenesis, cellular microbiology, bacterial infection, host responses and inflammation, fungal and parasitic infections, microbial immunity and vaccines, and molecular genomics. The journal publishes primary research articles, editorials, commentaries, minireviews, and a spotlight report highlighting articles of particular interest selected by the editors. Articles are freely accessible after 6 months (delayed open access). Through its "Global Outreach Program," free online access is available to qualified microbiologists in eligible developing countries. History The journal was established in 1970. Prior to that time, original research articles covering topics in infection and immunity were published in a section of the ''Journal of Bacterio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enterocolitis
Enterocolitis is an inflammation of the digestive tract, involving enteritis of the small intestine and colitis of the colon. It may be caused by various infections, with bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, or other causes. Common clinical manifestations of enterocolitis are frequent diarrheal defecations, with or without nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fever, chills, alteration of general condition. General manifestations are given by the dissemination of the infectious agent or its toxins throughout the body, or – most frequently – by significant losses of water and minerals, the consequence of diarrhea and vomiting. Cause Among the causal agents of acute enterocolitis are: * bacteria: ''Salmonella'', ''Shigella'', ''Escherichia coli (E. coli)'', '' Campylobacter'' etc. * viruses: enteroviruses, rotaviruses, Norovirus, adenoviruses * fungi: candidiasis, especially in immunosuppressed patients or who have previously received prolonged antibiotic treatment * parasites: ''Gi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colitis
Colitis is swelling or inflammation of the large intestine ( colon). Colitis may be acute and self-limited or long-term. It broadly fits into the category of digestive diseases. In a medical context, the label ''colitis'' (without qualification) is used if: * The cause of the inflammation in the colon is undetermined; for example, ''colitis'' may be applied to ''Crohn's disease'' at a time when the diagnosis is unknown, or * The context is clear; for example, an individual with ulcerative colitis is talking about their disease with a physician who knows the diagnosis. Signs and symptoms The signs and symptoms of colitis are quite variable and dependent on the cause of the given colitis and factors that modify its course and severity. Common symptoms of colitis may include: mild to severe abdominal pains and tenderness (depending on the stage of the disease), persistent hemorrhagic diarrhea with pus either present or absent in the stools, fecal incontinence, flatulence, fatigu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaccines
A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity The adaptive immune system, also known as the acquired immune system, is a subsystem of the immune system that is composed of specialized, systemic cells and processes that eliminate pathogens or prevent their growth. The acquired immune system ... to a particular infectious disease, infectious or cancer, malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism and is often made from weakened or Antigen, killed forms of the microbe, its toxins, or one of its surface proteins. The agent stimulates the body's immune system to recognize the agent as a threat, destroy it, and to further recognize and destroy any of the microorganisms associated with that agent that it may encounter in the future. Vaccines can be prophylaxis, prophylact ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antibodies
An antibody (Ab), also known as an immunoglobulin (Ig), is a large, Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique molecule of the pathogen, called an antigen. Each tip of the "Y" of an antibody contains a paratope (analogous to a lock) that is specific for one particular epitope (analogous to a key) on an antigen, allowing these two structures to bind together with precision. Using this binding mechanism, an antibody can ''tag'' a microbe or an infected cell for attack by other parts of the immune system, or can neutralize it directly (for example, by blocking a part of a virus that is essential for its invasion). To allow the immune system to recognize millions of different antigens, the antigen-binding sites at both tips of the antibody come in an equally wide variety. In contrast, the remainder of the antibody is relatively constant. It only occurs in a few vari ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Respiratory Tract
The respiratory tract is the subdivision of the respiratory system involved with the process of respiration in mammals. The respiratory tract is lined with respiratory epithelium as respiratory mucosa. Air is breathed in through the nose to the nasal cavity, where a layer of nasal mucosa acts as a filter and traps pollutants and other harmful substances found in the air. Next, air moves into the pharynx, a passage that contains the intersection between the oesophagus and the larynx. The opening of the larynx has a special flap of cartilage, the epiglottis, that opens to allow air to pass through but closes to prevent food from moving into the airway. From the larynx, air moves into the trachea and down to the intersection known as the carina that branches to form the right and left primary (main) bronchi. Each of these bronchi branches into a secondary (lobar) bronchus that branches into tertiary (segmental) bronchi, that branch into smaller airways called bronchioles that ev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pathogen
In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ. The term ''pathogen'' came into use in the 1880s. Typically, the term ''pathogen'' is used to describe an ''infectious'' microorganism or agent, such as a virus, bacterium, protozoan, prion, viroid, or fungus. Small animals, such as helminths and insects, can also cause or transmit disease. However, these animals are usually referred to as parasites rather than pathogens. The scientific study of microscopic organisms, including microscopic pathogenic organisms, is called microbiology, while parasitology refers to the scientific study of parasites and the organisms that host them. There are several pathways through which pathogens can invade a host. The principal pathways have different episodic time frames, but soil has the longest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Intestine
The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans and other animals, including the esophagus, stomach, and intestines. Food taken in through the mouth is digested to extract nutrients and absorb energy, and the waste expelled at the anus as feces. ''Gastrointestinal'' is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the stomach and intestines. Most animals have a "through-gut" or complete digestive tract. Exceptions are more primitive ones: sponges have small pores ( ostia) throughout their body for digestion and a larger dorsal pore (osculum) for excretion, comb jellies have both a ventral mouth and dorsal anal pores, while cnidarians and acoels have a single pore for both digestion and excretion. The human gastrointestinal tract consists of the esophagus, stomach, and intestines, and is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
