Obesity is a serious public health issue worldwide. Finding safe and efficacious products to reverse obesity has proven to be a difficult challenge. This study showed the effects of Coffea arabica or green coffee bean extract (GCBE) on obesity disorders and the improvement of obesity-induced insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and inflammation. The active constituents of GCBE were identified via high-performance liquid chromatography. Twenty-four male albino Wistar rats were divided into two groups. The first group (Group I) was fed a control diet, whereas the second group was fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for eight weeks till obesity induction. The second group was equally subdivided into Group II, which received HFD, and Group III, which received HFD + GCBE for another eight weeks. The body and organ weights of the animals were measured, and blood and adipose tissue samples were collected for analysis. The results indicated that the administration of GCBE significantly decreased the body and organ weights. Furthermore, it had an ameliorative effect on serum biochemical parameters. It dramatically reduced total cholesterol, triacylglycerol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, glucose, and insulin levels. In addition, an improvement in homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance and an enhancement of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were observed compared with the HFD group. In addition, the group treated with GCBE exhibited a marked increase in serum levels of adiponectin (an anti-inflammatory adipokine). In addition, a considerable reduction in adipocyte hypertrophy was found following GCBE treatment. Remarkably, the administration of GCBE resulted in a remarkable decrease in the expression of RBP4 (a pro-inflammatory cytokine), whereas an increase in GLLUT4 expression was observed in the adipose tissue. This improved insulin resistance in GCBE-administered HFD rats compared with other HFD rats. Our study showed that GCBE exhibits anti-obesity activity and may be used as a natural supplement to prevent and treat obesity and its associated disorders.

The objective of the current study was to evaluate the effects of a commercial prebiotic (Hemicell ®) as a growth promoter on growth performance, intestinal morphometry and IL-1 and IL-2 gene expression in spleen of Japanese quail. A total number of 360 one-day-old Japanese quail chicks were randomly allocated into 4 equal groups. Group 1(control group) fed on the basal diet that not supplemented with prebiotic, group 2 fed on basal diet supplemented with 0.5 g Hemicell/kg diet, group 3 fed on basal diet supplemented with 1.0 g Hemicell/kg diet and group 4 fed on basal diet supplemented with 1.5 g Hemicell/kg diet. To evaluate growth parameters, 30 birds from each group were weighed weekly for six successive weeks. Spleen tissues were collected at 21 and 42 days after supplementation from all quail groups (control and experimental groups). At the end of the experiment, the results of the current study revealed that, feeding Japanese quails on diet supplemented with Hemicell resulted in improved growth and growth performance as indicated by increased body weight and weight gain. Also, intestinal morphometry revealed an increase in height and base width of intestinal villi in a dose dependent manner. Moreover, Real time PCR indicated upregulation of the IL-1 and IL-2 genes expression in a dose and time dependent manner. In conclusion, addition of β-mannanase in Japanese quail diets would have beneficial effects on performance and immunity in birds.

A B S T R A C TThe aim of the present study was to evaluate the changes in skeletal muscle which may occur after in ovo injection of Myo-Pro gene . A total number of 200 Fayoumi fertilized pure breed eggs were obtained from EL-Tkamoly poultry project -EL-Azab -Fayoum and divided into two equal groups. Control group, n= 100 that was injected with saline, and treated group n = 100 was injected with MyoPro gene. To check both possibilities, we examined the gastrocnemius muscle fibers number and diameter (cross sectional area). The results revealed that Chicken hatched from Myo-Pro injected eggs showed a significant increased muscle masses. This increase in muscle mass and subsequently meat production is due to hypertrophy rather than hyperplasia. From the obtained results, using Myo-Pro gene causing improvement in skeletal muscle fiber (diameter and number) in Fayoumi chicken.

The current study aimed at evaluation the effects of in ovo injection of the myostatin inhibitor, myostatin pro-peptide (MyoPro) gene on growth performance of Fayoumi chicken. A total number of 200 Fayoumi fertilized pure breed eggs were obtained from EL-Tkamoly poultry project -EL-Azab -Fayoum. Eggs were divided into two equal groups. Group 1(control group, n=100) was injected with saline, and group 2 (treated group, n=100) injected with Myo-pro gene. Growth parameters were recorded (body weight, body weight gain, feed consumption per group was measured for calculating feed conversion ratio). The obtained results revealed that injection of myo-pro to Fayoumi eggs resulted in highly significant increase in body weight and weight gain during all experimental period when compared with control group. Feed conversion ratio of Myo-pro injected group was significantly lower than control group. However, food intake showed no significant change between the two groups. From the obtained results, injection of Myo-Pro gene causing marked increase in body weight gain and improvement in feed conversion ratio without change in food intake in fayoumi chicken.

The present study was designed to investigate the erythrocytic changes caused by hyperlipidemia in rats and to evaluate the possible protective effects of curcumin and ginger supplementation. Forty male albino rats were assigned into four equal groups. Group I (control group), rats were fed basal diet. Group II (high-fat diet, HFD group), rats were fed HFD. Group III (curcumin supplemented HFD group), rats were fed HFD contain 0.2% curcumin. Group IV (ginger supplemented HFD group), rats were fed HFD contain 4% ginger. After 2 months, blood samples were collected from retroorbital venous plexus for determination of osmotic fragility of erythrocytes, membrane phospholipids composition and serum lipid profiles. The obtained results revealed that feeding HFD to rats significantly increased serum TC, TAG, LDL-C and phospholipid (phosphatidyl choline, phosphatidyl serine, phosphatidyl ethanolamine and phosphatidyl ino sitol) concentrations and significantly decreased hemolysis % at 0.4 and 0.5 % Na Cl concentrations as compared with control group. Whereas these changes ameliorated by dietary supplementation of curcumin and ginger as feeding HFD supplemented with 0.2% curcumin or 4% ginger significantly decreased TC, TAG, LDL-C and phospholipid concentrations and significantly increased hemolysis % at 0.4 and 0.5 % Na Cl concentrations as compared with high fat diet fed group. We concluded that supplementation with ginger and curcumin to HFD rats resulted in a significant decrease in serum lipid concentration, lowering membrane phospholipid and beneficially decreased mean cell fragility of erythrocytes thus restored the normality of erythrocyte fluidity in high fat diet fed rats.