Since the range of comfort zone or thermo neutral zone of domestic chickens is narrow, they become easily susceptible to heat and cold environmental stress. We evaluated Brahma Rasayana (BR) supplementation on concentrations of certain oxidative stress markers associated with heat stress. A total of 48 egg type male chickens of local strain were divided into six groups (n = 8) for the study. Three groups were fed with BR orally at the rate of 2 g/kg bw daily for 10 days prior to and during the period of experiment. Two of the four groups that were exposed to heat stress (HST i.e. to a temperature of 40 ± 1°C and relative humidity of 80 ± 5% in an environmental chamber) for 4 h daily for 5 or 10 days, received BR orally. The other two groups remained as BR treated and untreated non-heat stressed (NHST) controls. There was a significant (P < 0.05) increase in the activities of antioxidant enzymes in blood such as catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), as well as liver CAT, glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and glutathione reductase (GR) in NHST-BR treated and HST-BR treated (both 5 and 10 days) chickens when compared with untreated controls. A great deal of significant (P < 0.05) variations were seen in serum and liver reduced glutathione (GSH) concentration in NHST-BR treated and HST-BR treated (both 5 and 10 days) chickens. Serum and liver lipid peroxidation levels were found to be significantly (P < 0.05) higher in HST-untreated (both 5 and 10 days) chickens when compared with other groups. Thus BR supplementation during HST brings about enhanced action of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants, which nullified the undesired side effects of free radicals that are generated during HST.

The role of abrin, a toxic lectin isolated from seeds of Abrus precatorius Linn in inducing apoptosis in murine Dalton's Lymphoma Ascites (DLA) cells was evaluated. Abrin when incubated at the concentration of 10 ng per million DLA cells could bring about cell death as typical morphological changes with apoptosis. However, necrotic cell death dominated when a higher dose of abrin was used. DNA samples, isolated from DLA cells treated with abrin showed fragmentation. Abrin brought about induction of apoptosis by stimulating the expression of pro-apoptotic Caspase-3, at the same time blocking the expression of Bcl-2, which is an anti apoptotic gene. However, the expression of tumor suppressor gene p53 has not been observed in control and abrin-treated DLA cells. Results suggested that abrin effectively induced apoptotic changes in the tumor cells that led to cellular death.

Objective:To evaluate the antioxidant status of chicken during cold stress and to investigate if there are any beneficial effects of Brahma Rasayana supplementation in cold stressed chicken.Materials and Methods:Activities of enzymatic and levels of non-enzymatic antioxidants in blood / serum and liver tissue were evaluated in chicken exposed to cold (4 ± 10C and relative humidity of 40 ± 5%, for six consecutive hours daily, for 5 or 10 days). The antioxidant properties of Brahma Rasayana (BR) supplementation (2 g/kg daily, orally) during cold stress was also studied.Results:There was a significant (P < 0.05) decrease in antioxidant enzyme in the blood, such as, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), glutathione reductase (GR), and serum reduced glutathione (GSH) in cold stressed chicken. Serum and liver lipid peroxidation levels were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in cold stressed untreated chickens when compared to the treated and unstressed groups. There was also a significant (P < 0.05) increase in the antioxidant enzymes in the blood, such as, catalase (CAT) and SOD, in the liver CAT and SOD, and in GPX and GR in BR-treated cold stressed chicken, when compared to the untreated controls.Conclusions:Results of the present study conclude that in chicken, BR supplementation during cold stress brings about enhanced actions of the enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants, which nullify the undesired side effects of free radicals generated during cold stress.

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