Nutritional evaluation of silage made from the toxic weed parthenium hysterophorus in animals

After ensilation, the toxic Compositae weed Parthenium hysterophorus was devoid of the toxic principle parthenin. Laboratory-scale ensilation indicated that no parthenin was detectable after 5 wk of anaerobic fermentation. For animal feeding studies, silage was made on a large scale from Parthenium mixed with maize or from Parthenium alone. Crossbred bull and buffalo bull calves were fed diets containing the silages, or control diet without silage, for 12 wk. The animals consumed both silages with relish, and body weight gains of silage-fed calves did not differ from those of the controls. The digestibilities of dry matter, fibre and nitrogen-free extract were greater with the control diet, but the biological value of proteins tended to be greater with the silage-containing diets. Haematological studies indicated no significant differences between experimental and control groups in selected parameters, except for a reduction in blood urea nitrogen in the animals fed silage. The possible causes for these biochemical alterations are discussed. Since the nutritive value of Parthenium silage compares favourably with the standard diet, and Parthenium seeds collected from the silage did not germinate, we suggest that ensilation can be used as an additional method in the containment and eradication of these plants, which grow wild in India.

Effect of Dietary Unsaturated Oils on the Biosynthesis of Cholesterol, and on Biliary and Fecal Excretion of Cholesterol and Bile Acids in Rats1

The aim of the present work was to investigate whether the hypocholesterolemic effect of polyunsaturated oils is due to inhibition of cholesterol synthesis or increased excretion of cholesterol and bile acids through the bile and feces of animals. Separate groups of rats were fed diets containing 10% safflower oil, coconut oil or hydrogenated vegetable oils for 30 days, after which the hepatic cholesterol and bile acid synthesis and their excretion through the bile and feces were studied. As compared to the rats in the other two groups, those given the diet containing 10% safflower oil showed markedly increased rates of bile flow and excreted through their bile and feces markedly higher amounts of cholesterol and bile acids. At the same time incorporation of [1-14C] acetate and [2-14C] mevalonate into the liver cholesterol and conversion of [4-14C] cholesterol into 14C-bile acids were also higher in the same rats. In the light of these observations it has been discussed that in the animals given polyunsaturated oils, biliary and fecal loss of cholesterol and bile acids far outweighs the activation of cholesterol synthesis and thereby effectively lowers the serum cholesterol levels.

Nutritional properties ofCorynebacterium laevaniformans

The nutritional profiles ofCorynebacterium laevaniformans and the other levan synthesizing coryneform organism isolated by Henis and Aschner (1954) have been studied.C. laevaniformans required biotin, thiamine and pantothenic acid for growth while the Henis and Aschner strain required the former two vitamins only. Two of the six strains ofC. laevaniformans had, in addition, a requirement for glutamate.C. laevaniformans has been shown to be able to degrade levan in growing cultures. Some properties of a cell-free levansucrase are described.

High cholesterol diet and esterification of cholesterol by the intestinal mucosa of rats

Young male rats maintained on a diet containing 1% cholesterol were sacrificed at the end of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 7th week. Acetone powders prepared from their intestinal mucosa and pancreas were tested for the synthetic and hydrolytic activities for Vitamin A and cholesterol esters. The esterifying activity of the mucosal enzymes for both Vitamin A and cholesterol increased progressively up to the end of the 5th week; the increase in esterification of cholesterol was more marked with respect to saturated fatty acids, as compared to the unsaturated ones. The pancreatic enzymes remained unaffected. It is suggested that one of the reasons for the accumulation of cholesterol esters in animal tissues may be the increased esterification of the sterol in the mucosa induced by dietary cholesterol.

Microbial Production Of Amino-Acids .3. Nutritional Studies And Effects Of Organic Growth Promoters And Thiamine On Dl-Alanine Fermentation By Arthrobacter Strain C19d

The study of the nutritional requirements of Arthrobacter strain C19d which accumulates alanine in large amounts in the culture medium. 1evealed that the organism needs thiamine for its growth. A Iso the alanine accumulation by this strain was found to be related to thiamine concentration in the medium. The optimum concentration of thiamine for alanine accumulation (20 tJ.g/mJ) Was also optimum for the growth of the organism indicating thereby that alanine accumulation by this strain is a growth associated process rather than far removed from it. Among the various growth promoters tried yeast extract was found to be superior from the point of view of alanine yield and it wa5 also superior to giving thiamine alone in the medium. A concentration of 0.02% yeast extract was found to be optimum for alanine occumulation.

Catalytic activity of Peptidase N is required for adaptation of Escherichia coli to nutritional downshift and high temperature stress

Peptidase N (PepN), the sole M1 family member in Escherichia coli, displays broad substrate specificity and modulates stress responses: it lowers resistance to sodium salicylate (NaSal)-induced stress but is required during nutritional downshift and high temperature (NDHT) stress. The expression of PepN does not significantly change during different growth phases in LB or NaSal-induced stress; however, PepN amounts are lower during NDHT stress. To gain mechanistic insights on the roles of catalytic activity of PepN in modulating these two stress responses, alanine mutants of PepN replacing E264 (GAMEN motif) and E298 (HEXXH motif) were generated. There are no major structural changes between purified wild type (WT) and mutant proteins, which are catalytically inactive. Importantly, growth profiles of Delta pepN upon expression of WT or mutant proteins demonstrated the importance of catalytic activity during NDHT but not NaSal-induced stress. Further fluorescamine reactivity studies demonstrated that the catalytic activity of PepN is required to generate higher intracellular amounts of free N-terminal amino acids; consequently, the lower growth of Delta pepN during NDHT stress increases with high amounts of casamino acids. Together, this study sheds insights on the expression and functional roles of the catalytic activity of PepN during adaptation to NDHT stress. (C) 2012 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Terminalia paniculata bark extract attenuates non-alcoholic fatty liver via down regulation of fatty acid synthase in high fat diet-fed obese rats

Background: This study was performed to understand the possible therapeutic activity of Terminalia paniculata ethanolic extract (TPEE) on non alcoholic fatty liver in rats fed with high fat diet. Methods: Thirty six SD rats were divided into 6 groups (n = 6): Normal control (NC), high fat diet (HFD), remaining four groups were fed on HFD along with different doses of TPEE (100,150 and 200 mg/kg b.wt) or orlistat, for ten weeks. Liver tissue was homogenized and analyzed for lipid profiles, activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content. Further, the expression levels of FAS and AMPK-1 alpha were also studied in addition to histopathology examination of liver tissue in all the groups. Results: HFD significantly increased hepatic liver total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), free fatty acids (FFA) and MDA but decreased the activities of SOD and CAT which were subsequently reversed by supplementation with TPEE in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, TPEE administration significantly down regulated hepatic mRNA expression of FAS but up regulated AMPK-1 alpha compared to HFD alone fed group. Furthermore, western blot analysis of FAS has clearly demonstrated decreased expression of FAS in HFD + TPEE (200 mg/kg b. wt) treated group when compared to HFD group at protein level. Conclusions: Our biochemical studies on hepatic lipid profiles and antioxidant enzyme activities supported by histological and expression studies suggest a potential therapeutic role for TPEE in regulating obesity through FAS.

Nutritional benefits from domatia inhabitants in an ant-plant interaction: interlopers do pay the rent

1. How a symbiosis originates and is maintained are important evolutionary questions. Symbioses in myrmecophytes (plants providing nesting for ants) are believed to be maintained by protection and nutrients provided by specialist plant-ants in exchange for nesting spaces (called domatia) and nourishment offered by ant-plants. However, besides the benefits accrued from housing protective ants, the mechanisms contributing to the fitness advantages of bearing domatia have rarely been examined, especially because the domatia trait is usually constitutively expressed, and many myrmecophytes have obligate mutualisms with single ant species resulting in invariant conditions. 2. In the unspecialized ant-plant Humboldtia brunonis (Fabaceae) that offers extrafloral nectar to ants, only some plants produce domatia in the form of hollow internodes. These domatia have a self-opening slit making them more prone to interlopers and are occupied mostly by non-protective ants and other invertebrates, especially arboreal earthworms. The protection mutualism with ants is restricted in geographical extent, occurring only at a few sites in the southernmost part of this plant's range in the Western Ghats of India. 3. We examined nutrient flux from domatia residents to the plant using stable isotopes. We found that between 9% (earthworms) and 17% (protective or non-protective ants) of nitrogen of plant tissues nearest the domatium came from domatia inhabitants. Therefore, interlopers such as earthworms and non-protective ants contributed positively to the nitrogen budget of localized plant modules of this understorey tree. N-15-enriched feeding experiments with protective ants demonstrated that nutrients flowed from domatia inhabitants to nearby plant modules. Fruit set did not differ between paired hand-pollinated inflorescences on domatia and non-domatia bearing branches. This was possibly due to the nutrient flux from domatia to adjacent branches without domatia within localized modules. 4. This study has demonstrated the nutritive role of non-protective ants and non-ant invertebrates, hitherto referred to as interlopers, in an unspecialized myrmecophyte. Our study suggests that even before the establishment of a specialized ant-plant protection mutualism, nutritional benefits conferred by domatia inhabitants can explain the fitness benefits of bearing domatia, and thus the maintenance of a trait that facilitates the establishment of a specialized ant-plant symbiosis.

Evaluation of anti-obesity activities of ethanolic extract of Terminalia paniculata bark on high fat diet-induced obese rats

Background: The prevalence and severity of obesity and associated co-morbidities are rapidly increasing across the world. Natural products-based drug intervention has been proposed as one of the crucial strategies for management of obesity ailments. This study was designed to investigate the anti-obesity activities of ethanolic extract of Terminalia paniculata bark (TPEE) on high fat diet-induced obese rats. Methods: LC-MS/MS analysis was done for ethanolic extract of T. paniculata bark. Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into six groups of six each, normal diet fed (NC), high fat diet-fed (HFD), HFD+ orlistat (standard drug control) administered, and remaining three groups were fed with HFD + TPEE in different doses (100,150 and 200 mg/kg b. wt). For induction of obesity rats were initially fed with HFD for 9 weeks, then, (TPEE) was supplemented along with HFD for 42 days. Changes in body weight, body composition, blood glucose, insulin, tissue and serum lipid profiles, atherogenic index, liver markers, and expression of adipogenesis-related genes such as leptin, adiponectin, FAS, PPARgamma, AMPK-1alpha and SREBP-1c, were studied in experimental rats. Also, histopathological examination of adipose tissue was carried out. Results: Supplementation of TPEE reduced significantly (P < 0.05) body weight, total fat, fat percentage, atherogenic index, blood glucose, insulin, lipid profiles and liver markers in HFD-fed groups, in a dose-dependent manner. The expression of adipogenesis-related genes such as Leptin, FAS, PPARgamma, and SREBP-1c were down regulated while Adiponectin and AMPK-1alpha were up regulated in TPEE + HFD-fed rats. Furthermore, histopathological examination of adipose tissue revealed the alleviating effect of TPEE which is evident by reduced size of adipocytes. Conclusions: Together, the biochemical, histological and molecular studies unambiguously demonstrate the potential anti adipogenic and anti obesity activities of TPEE promoting it as a formidable candidate to develop anti obesity drug.