Twenty-four castrated male lambs initially maintained on a photoperiod of 12 h light:12 h dark were allocated to a factorial experiment with two daylengths (8 h L: 16 h D or 16 h L: 8 h D) and two levels of feeding (restricted or ad libitum). Blood samples were taken every 4 h for 24 h during the introductory period and after 24, 51 and 79 days of treatment. There were highly significant positive effects of daylength and level of feeding on serum prolactin: mean concentrations increased from a mean of 38 plus or minus 1 ng/ml during the introductory period until at day 79 they were: 8L: 16D (restricted diet), 81 ng/ml; (food ad libitum), 167 ng/ml; 16L:8D (restricted diet), 262 ng/ml; (food ad libitum), 262 ng/ml (S.E. of treatment mean plus or minus 4). Long daylength and feeding ad libitum also significantly increased growth rate.

Background. Lichens present a complex symbiotic relationship between a filamentous fungus, photoautotrophic partner (algae or cyanobacteria), and bacterial community. The Objective of the Study. This study aimed at investigating the chemical composition and cytotoxic, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activities of acetone extracts of Moroccan Evernia prunastri (E. prunastri), Ramalina farinacea (R. farinacea), and Pseudevernia furfuracea (P. furfuracea). Materials and Methods. The phytochemical analysis was carried out by HPLC-UV. The cytotoxic effect was assessed on human prostate cancer (22RV1), human colon carcinoma (HT-29), human hepatocellular carcinoma (Hep-G2), and Hamster ovarian cancer (CHO) cells lines by WST1 assay. The antioxidant power was assessed by DPPH and FRAP assays. The antibacterial effect was obtained using the broth microdilution method. Results. The findings of phytochemical analysis showed that the lichens studied possess interesting bioactive molecules such as physodalic acid, evernic acid, and usnic acid, as well as protocetraric acid. According to the American National Cancer Institute guidelines, the WST-1 test showed that all crude extracts did not show significant cytotoxic effects against all concerous cell lines, and IC50 values ranged from 42.30 to 140.24 µg/mL. Regarding the antioxidant activity, P. furfuracea extract showed the highest free-radical-scavenging ability (IC50 = 498.40 µg/mL). The most potent antibacterial extract was recorded for P. furfuracea extract with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranging from 0.039 to 0.31 mg/mL. Conclusion. In this research work, we report that the studied lichen extracts exhibit an important biological effect, supporting that lichens represent a hopeful source of original natural products for the research of new bioactive molecules having a pharmaceutical interest.

Two experiments were carried out with crossbred lambs which had been weaned in July when 16 weeks old. From early September they were kept in a light-proof building with 12 h artificial light per day for 3 weeks and then half were exposed to 16 h and half to 8 h light per day for a further 16 weeks.Experiment 1 included 72 lambs (48 castrated males and 24 females) and half in each daylength were fed on a concentrated ration ad libitum; the other half were restricted to 70 g/kg live weight0·75 per day. Half of each group were shorn. Lambs kept in 16 h light per day grew significantly faster than those in short daylength at both levels of feeding. Food conversion ratio was best in the 16 h restricted sheep. Unshorn lambs had heavier carcasses than shorn lambs. Long daylength stimulated general growth of the animal without markedly affecting carcass composition, irrespective of level of feeding, whereas ad libitum feeding resulted in much fatter carcasses than did restricted feeding. Gut fill was significantly greater in long-daylength sheep.Experiment 2 included 24 individually penned castrated male lambs, 12 of which were sired by Suffolk rams and 12 by Oxford rams; all were fed at the restricted level. Long daylength significantly stimulated weight gain, especially in the Oxford-cross lambs, but the increase in carcass weight was not significant in this experiment due to the large effect on gut fill.It was concluded that long daylength stimulated growth and gut fill by some central control mechanism and not merely by encouraging more eating.

The oleo-gum-resin of Commiphora myrrha is one of the most known natural antimicrobial agents, mainly due to its furanosesquiterpenes. A validated method based on sample extraction by matrix solid-phase dispersion (MSPD) followed by high-performance column chromatography (HPLC) determination is applied to analyze two furanosesquiterpenoids, namely, 2-methoxyfuranodiene (CM-1) and 2-acetoxyfuranodiene (CM-2), existing in C. myrrha. The trial parameters that controlled the extraction prospective were studied and optimized. These include the nature of dispersant, mass ratio of sample to the dispersant, and the volume of elution solvent. A comparative antimicrobial study that used the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration Assay (MIC) method between MSPD, ultrasonic, and Soxhlet of myrrh extracts was also conducted. The optimal MSPD parameters used were (i) 15 mL of methanol applied as elution solvent; (ii) silica gel/sample mass at a 2 : 1 ratio; and (iii) a dispersing sorbent selected as silica gel. Technique retrievals were regulated from 96.87% to 100.54%, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) from 1.24% to 4.45%. Commiphora myrrha-MSPD (CM-MSPD) extract showed the highest antibacterial activity against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria (156.25 μg/mL and 312.5 μg/mL, respectively) and antifungal activity (156.25 μg/mL). Yields acquired through the MSPD technique were larger than yields from other extraction techniques (sonication and traditional reflux extraction methods) with less consumption of time, sample, and solvent. The mode of antibacterial action of CM-1 and CM-2 was elucidated by performing molecular docking with bacterial DNA gyrase. Both the compounds interacted with key residues of DNA gyrase.

Hibiscus is commonly used traditionally for the treatment of some diseases such as hypertension and as antidiabetic herbal medicine. The objective of the present study is to investigate the effect of the oral administration of aqueous methanolic extract of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis leaves (400 mg/Kg) on streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats and alteration in liver and kidney functions. The treatment of diabetic rats with hibiscus leaves extract reduced levels of plasma glucose, cholesterol, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), uric acid and creatinine and hepatic malondialdehyde that was elevated in diabetic rats. Moreover, the Hibiscus leaves extract mitigates the decrease in hepatic superoxide dismutase and plasma protein levels due to STZ injection. The treatment of rats with STZ only results in some pathological effects in liver and kidneys as degeneration in most of hepatocyte and glomeruli. The extract of H. rosa-sinensis leaves reduced the pathological changes. The treatment of diabetic rats with Hibiscus extract was shown to have hepatic and renal protective effects in diabetic rats induced experimentally. Here, two compounds, that is, orientin (Luteolin-8-C-glucoside) and verbascoside (phenylpropanoids glycoside) were isolated from H. rosasinsensis. The two compounds were identified by spectral analysis (UV, 1 H and 13 C-NMR). These results clearly indicate that aqueous leaves extract of H. rosa-sinensis possess antidiabetic and hypolipidemic effects in diabetic rats which may be due to antioxidant properties of the hibiscus extract.