No abstract

Seriphidium kurramenses traditionally medicinal plant usually not present in Pakistan is used in different biological activities to cure various ailments. However, scare studies are present on S. kurramenses regarding to its medicinal importance to treat fever, inflammation and pain. The purpose of present study is to investigate the anti-inflammatory, antipyretic and analgesic effects of S. kurramenses stem and leaves in ethanolic extract on albino rats. Methodi anti-inflammatory actions were evaluated by injecting carrageenan in rats which caused edema. S. kurramenses produced significant (P<0.005) reduction in edema at 200 and 50mg/kg doses with respective percentages (90, 81%) of leaf and stem extract as compared to standard (diclofenac, 90%) and control (normal saline, 100%) groups. Meanwhile, antipyretic activity was examined by inducing brewer’s yeast in albino rats which induced pyrexia. S. kurramenses showed significant reduction (P<0.005) at different doses of ethanolic extract (50mg/kg, 50mg/kg) with respective percentages of leaf (95%) and stem extract (100%) as compared to standard (brewer’s yeast 81%) and control groups (normal saline 100%). Similarly, analgesic test was assessed by injecting acetic acid which induced writhing movements and these movements were reduced (>0.005) at different doses of ethanolic extract (400mg/kg, 400mg/kg) with respective percentages of leaf and stem extracts (52%, 56%) as compared to standard (diclofenac, 48%) and control groups (100%). It is concluded that the extract of S. kurramenses exhibit significant (P<0.005) results in case of anti-inflammatory and antipyretic activities but insignificant (>0.005) in analgesic activity.

Lactobacilli are probiotics with Aflatoxin (AF) detoxification ability, found in fermented products, GIT of animals and environment. Purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of broiler isolates of Lactobacillus against Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). For this purpose, 5 isolates of Lactobacillus from broiler gut were incubated with 100 ppb AFB1 in aqueous environment and effect of different parameters (cell fractions, time, temperature, pH) on detoxification was determined by HPLC. The ameliorative effect of Lactobacillus salivarius (LS) against AFB1 was studied in broiler. The results revealed that LS (CR. 4) showed the best results (in vitro) as compared to other isolates (L. salivarius (CR. 3, CR, 4), L. agilis (CE. 2.1, CE. 3.1) and L. crispatus (CE. 28). Cell debris of CR. 4 showed significantly higher detoxification (P<0.05). Maximum amount of AFB1 was detoxified at 30°C (97%), pH 4.0 (99%) and 6 h (99.97%). In vivo study showed that AFB1 decreased weight gain (1,269 ± 0.04 gm/ bird), feed consumed (2,161 ± 0.08 gm/ bird), serum total protein (2.42 ± 0.34 gm/ dl), serum albumin (0.5 ± 0.2 2 gm/dl) and antibody titer (4.2 ± 0.83). Liver function enzymes were found (alanine transaminase (ALT): 32 ± 10.7 U/L) and aspartate transaminase (AST): 314.8 ± 27 U/L) elevated in AFB1 fed broilers. Treatment with 1% LS not only decreased the toxic effects of AFB1 (group D) but also improved the overall health of broilers due to its probiotic effects (p<0.05) as compared to control negative (group A). The detoxification ability of LS was better than commercial binder (CB) (0.2% Protmyc). It was concluded that detoxification of AFB1 by Lactobacillus was strain, temperature, pH and time dependent. LS has detoxification ability against AFB1 in vivo.

Background: Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is one of the most common medical complications of pregnancy. The untreated GDM affects both the baby and mother during gestation as well as presents the risk of subsequent type 2 diabetes in mothers and babies. Objective: To determine the effect of GDM on plasma proteomics as variable plasma proteins can be secreted by the cells at the pathological sites and can serve as a biomarker of the disease. Method: Blood samples were taken from 400 pregnant women at early second trimester and they were followed till early third trimester or until the development of GDM. All the pregnant females were sampled again in 3rd trimester. Overall 42 pregnant females developed GDM. These females were grouped as GDM I and GDM II, before and after the development of gestational diabetes, respectively. An equivalent number of pregnant women who did not develop GDM served as control I and control II in early second and third trimester, respectively. Blood samples from all the groups were subjected to 2D gel electrophoresis. Result : Nineteen protein spots were differently expressed between GDM and control groups, two spots were further confirmed by LC-MS/MS as Retinol binding protein A4 and Transthyretin. These two proteins were found to be up regulated in GDM group in early second trimester as well as early 3rd trimester. Conclusion : Transthyretin and Retinol binding protein 4 can be used as predictive plasma biomarkers of GDM that might help in the identification of at-risk pregnancies, hence, providing the best opportunity for early treatment in order to prevent the onset or progression of the disease.