Impact of feeding chromium supplemented flaxseed based diet on fatty acid profile, oxidative stability and other functional properties of broiler chicken meat.

A total of 240 broiler chicken of same hatch with uniform weight were used in a biological experiment with completely randomized design to investigate the effects of incorporating organic chromium (Cr) in flaxseed meal based diet on the fatty acid profile, oxidative stability and functional properties of broiler chicken meat. Five diets were formulated as per the recommendations of BIS (Nutrient requirements for poultry 13: 9863, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi, 1992) in which flaxseed meal was used to replace 10% of soyabean in basal diet and four levels of Cr (0.0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 mg/kg diet) as Cr-picolinate were used. The results revealed that flaxseed feeding significantly increased the percentage of unsaturated fatty acids, including MUFA, PUFA, ω-3, ω-6 fatty acids and ω-3:ω-6 and PUFA:SFA ratios, whereas, significant decline was seen in saturated fatty acids and no effect of Cr was observed on the fatty acid profile of broiler chicken. Flaxseed feeding significantly reduced the cholesterol and fat percentage of meat, whereas, significant progressive reduction was observed with increasing Cr levels. The combination of 10% flaxseed with 1.0 mg Cr/kg diet increased the final pH of broiler meat. The addition of flaxseed significantly reduced water holding capacity, extract release volume and antioxidant potential of broiler meat, whereas, increasing Cr supplementation progressively increased them. Flaxseed feeding significantly increased the drip loss and lipid peroxidation of broiler meat, whereas, Cr supplementation decreased them. It was concluded that inclusion of 10% flaxseed and 1.5 mg Cr/kg diet results in desirable fatty acid profile, oxidative stability and functional properties of broiler chicken meat.

Deciphering mycobiota and its functional dynamics in root hairs of Rhododendron campanulatum D. Don through Next-gen sequencing.

The Himalayas provide unique opportunities for the extension of shrubs beyond the upper limit of the tree. However, little is known about the limitation of the biotic factors belowground of shrub growth at these cruising altitudes. To fill this gap, the present study deals with the documentation of root-associated microbiota with their predicted functional profiles and interactions in the host Rhododendron campanulatum, a krummholz species. While processing 12 root samples of R. campanulatum from the sites using Omics we could identify 134 root-associated fungal species belonging to 104 genera, 74 families, 39 orders, 17 classes, and 5 phyla. The root-associated microbiota members of Ascomycota were unambiguously dominant followed by Basidiomycota. Using FUNGuild, we reported that symbiotroph and pathotroph as abundant trophic modes. Furthermore, FUNGuild revealed the dominant prevalence of the saptroptroph guild followed by plant pathogens and wood saprotrophs. Alpha diversity was significantly different at the sites. The heatmap dendrogram showed the correlation between various soil nutrients and some fungal species. The study paves the way for a more in-depth exploration of unidentified root fungal symbionts, their interactions and their probable functional roles, which may serve as an important factor for the growth and conservation of these high-altitude ericaceous plants.

Correlation of 25-hydroxy vitamin D level with neonatal hyperbilirubinemia in term healthy newborn: A prospective hospital-based observation study.

BACKGROUND: Neonatal hyperbilirubinemia is one of the common entities that lead to frequent hospital admission of newborn. There are many risk factors that, when present, can lead to increased chances of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. It is essential to identify these risk factors that are involved in the increased incidence of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia because its incidence can be decreased by modifying them. OBJECTIVE: To compare and determine any correlation of 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels of newborn and their mothers with the serum bilirubin level of newborn. METHODOLOGY: This was a case-control study conducted in a tertiary care hospital on 100 newborn who were divided into two groups (50 in each group) on the basis of their serum bilirubin level on the 5th day of life. Newborns having serum bilirubin levels in the physiological range were included in the control group, and newborns having serum bilirubin levels out of the physiological range and who needed treatment were included in the case group. The blood samples of both newborns and their mothers were collected on the 5th day and sent to the laboratory for serum bilirubin and 25-hydroxy vitamin D estimation. RESULTS: The mean serum vitamin D level of cases was found to be lower than that of controls in both newborn and their mothers. A statistically significant difference was noted only between the vitamin D level of newborn but not in mothers when cases and controls were compared. Negative, statistically insignificant correlation was seen between vitamin D level and serum bilirubin in cases and controls. However, correlation of the vitamin D level of cases and their serum bilirubin was statistically significant, with a correlation coefficient of -0.335 and a p value of 0.0172. CONCLUSION: Term healthy newborn having hyperbilirubinemia, with serum bilirubin levels out of the physiological range, have significantly low vitamin D levels and show a statistically negatively correlation with neonatal hyperbilirubinemia (which is out of the physiological range). Thus, decreased vitamin D can be included in the list of risk factors for neonatal jaundice.

Status of 25-hydroxy vitamin D level in simple febrile seizures and its correlation with recurrence of seizures.

BACKGROUND: Febrile seizures are associated with a lot of modifiable and nonmodifiable risk factors. Extensive research is currently going on to discover more and more risk factors of febrile seizures, so that they can be modified to decrease their incidence and recurrence. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine the status of 25-hydroxy vitamin D in children presented with simple febrile seizures and to find its correlation with recurrence of seizures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective observational study was conducted on 223 children of age group 7-59 months who presented with simple febrile seizures. 25-hydroxy vitamin D were sent to laboratory for quantitative estimation. All data were recorded, status of vitamin D in these children was analyzed, and statistical significance of correlation of vitamin D with the number of recurrent seizure episodes was derived. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The comparison among groups was carried out by analysis of variance and correlation was conducted by Pearson's correlation analysis. A value of P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: 25-hydroxy vitamin D insufficiency was present in 43.5% of the children, deficiency in 30.85 %, and normal level in 25.56% of children who had simple febrile seizures. Majority of the children presented with recurrent episodes of seizures had vitamin D deficiency followed by insufficiency and normal level. Comparison of Vitamin D showed significant negative correlation (As vitamin D level increases frequency of seizure febrile seizure recurrence decreases and vice versa) with recurrence of simple febrile seizures. CONCLUSION: Deficiency of vitamin D is associated significantly with simple febrile seizures and their recurrence is negatively correlated with it.

Dietary flaxseed and turmeric is a novel strategy to enrich chicken meat with long chain ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids with better oxidative stability and functional properties.

The purpose of the present study was to elucidate the effects of feeding flaxseed meal (FSM) and turmeric rhizome powder (TRP) supplementation on tissue lipid profile, lipid metabolism, health indices, oxidative stability, and physical properties of broiler chicken meat. The 100 g FSM along with 10.0 g TRP supplementation significantly increased the ω-3 PUFA, particularly ALA, EPA, DPA, and DHA of broiler chicken meat due to the corresponding increase ∆9 and Δ5 + Δ6 desaturase activities. The increased activities of the desaturases resulted in significantly better health indices of the broiler chicken meat. The feeding of 100 g FSM along with 10.0 g TRP supplementation reduced the atherogenic and thrombogenic indices of broiler chicken meat. The 100 g FSM feeding reduced the oxidative stability, water holding capacity, extract release volume of broiler chicken meat and increased drip loss, whereas, 10.0 g TRP supplementation reversed these negative effects of FSM.

Effect of infrared lamps to ameliorate cold stress in Vrindavani calves.

AIM: This study was conducted to determine the effect of infrared lamps to ameliorate cold stress in Vrindavani (Holstein Friesian × Brown Swiss × Jersey × Hariana) calves. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For the present investigation, ten newborn Vrindavani calves were randomly divided into two groups (G1 and G2) of five each. The experiment was conducted from 2(nd) November to 8(th) February when the environmental temperature was at the lowest. The calves of G1 were provided with no additional protection while the calves of G2 were protected against the cold weather by providing heat using the infrared lamps. The body weight (kg) of the calves was recorded at weekly interval. The blood samples collected within 6 h of birth and then at fortnightly interval were analyzed for packed cell volume (PCV, %), hemoglobin (Hb, g/dl). Besides, the serum biochemical parameters, viz., Total serum protein (TSP, g/l), albumin (g/l), globulin (g/l), albumin globulin ratio (A:G) and important stress parameters, viz., triiodothyronine (T3, ng/ml), thyroxine (T4, ng/ml) and cortisol (ng/ml) were also estimated. RESULTS: The calves of G2 showed higher body weight gain as compared to G1. The differences were found to be highly significant (p<0.01). The calves in G1 showed comparatively higher values of PCV and Hb and the differences were found to be significant (p<0.05) on 45(th) day for PCV and highly significant (p<0.01) on 60(th) day for PCV and on 45(th) day for Hb. The values of TSP and albumin were comparatively higher in calves of G1 as compared to G2 and the differences were highly significant (p<0.01) on 45(th) day for both TSP and albumin and significant (p<0.05) on 60(th) day for albumin. Significantly (p<0.01) higher values of cortisol and T4 were observed on 15 and 45(th) day in calves of G1 as compared to G2. The T3 levels were also found higher in calves of G1 than G2 and the differences were significant (p<0.05) on 15 and 30(th) day and highly significant (p<0.01) on 45(th) day of the study. CONCLUSION: Based on the results, it could be concluded that the infrared lamps are efficient in providing favorable microclimate and hence can be effectively used in calf shed to protect newborn calves from adverse conditions of winter and to improve their body growth performance.