Effect of dietary oregano essential oil and milk replacer on physiological status and immunological responses of pre- and post-weaned Ghoongroo piglets.

Ghoongroo pigs have good adaptability in a low input production system with high prolificacy. The present study was conducted on pre-and post-weaned Ghoongroo piglets from 2-3 days to 12 weeks of age to evaluate the effect of a milk replacer and oregano essential oil (EO) on growth, physiological and immunological responses. Thirty six piglets were randomly divided into three groups. The control group (n = 12) was allowed to suck mother's milk. Second group piglets were provided milk replacer (MR) and piglets of the third group were provided milk replacer along with oregano EO at 500 mg/kg diet. After weaning, piglets were provided standard concentrate diets. The results showed that the body weight in MR and MR + EO groups were significantly higher compared with the control. The MR + EO group had better intestinal microbiota, greater nonspecific innate immunity with the phagocytosis efficacy of neutrophils, lower cortisol concentration and more stable thyroid hormones than the other groups. The better haematological status supported the rapid organ development and improved intestinal health status in both the experimental groups. In conclusion, milk replacer, especially with the inclusion of oregano EO, can lower weaning stress, enhance nonspecific immunity and improve growth and health status of piglets.

Antiapoptotic and antioxidative efficacy of rhizomes of Curcuma amada on the management of diabetes-induced male infertility in albino rat: An effective fraction selection study.

Men with diabetes have negative effects on reproduction that causes sexual dysfunction. Medicinal plants are non-toxic and much safer than synthetic drugs because regular use of synthetic drugs shows long-term side effects. Curcuma amada (Roxb) is a medicinal plant used in Ayurveda and Unani medicinal systems in India. The goal of this study is to rummage the potential efficiency of the most potent solvent fraction of effective extract of hydro-methanol 60:40 of C. amada rhizome on male gonadal hypofunction in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat. Diabetes-induced testicular hypofunction was evaluated by glycemic, spermiological, biochemical, genomic, flow cytometric, and histology of testicular tissue. The n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl-acetate, and n-butanol solvent fractions of the said extract were administrated for 4 weeks at 10 mg dose/100 g body weight/day. Among all the used fractions, the ethyl-acetate solvent fraction-treated group showed maximum recovery in serum insulin (177.42%), sperm count (92.84%), sperm motility (97.15%), and serum testosterone (164.33%). The diabetic rats treated with ethyl-acetate solvent fraction also exhibited the maximum resettlement in flow cytometric analysis of sperm viability (55.84%) and sperm mitochondrial integrity (149.79%), gene expression patterns of key markers for androgenesis (Δ5, 3ß-HSD 87.50%, and 17ß-HSD 74.66%) and apoptosis (Bax 44.63%, Bcl-2 54.03%, and Caspase-3 35.77%) along with testicular histology. The ethyl-acetate fraction contains alkaloids, flavonoids, and polyphenols where all of these components are not present in other fractions, may be the most effective cause for the recovery of diabetes-linked oxidative stress-mediated testicular hypofunctions. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Nowadays worldwide, the use of synthetic drugs are reduced due to their toxic effect. At present, synthetic drugs are replaced by several herbal drugs, the natural source of medicine which has many therapeutic values. C. amada has strong antioxidant activity due to the presence of bio-active compound(s) that can able to manage streptozotocin-induced diabetes linked to oxidative damage of male gonadal organs. Therefore, these bio-active compound(s)-containing said medicinal plant may use as a good source of antioxidative food in the food industry as nutraceuticals and in pharmaceutical industries for the development of the herbal drug to manage diabetes-linked male gonadal hypofunctions. At present, WHO also gives emphasis for developing one drug-multi-disease therapy. From such a viewpoint, this active fraction-containing phytomolecules may have corrective efficacy against diabetes as well as oxidative stress-linked testicular complications.