Beliefs, awareness, use, and factors associated with herbal supplements usage among patients with chronic diseases-A cross-sectional insight from Alkharj, Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Herbal supplements (HSs) are used to treat a variety of diseases and ailments. Individuals with chronic diseases are at a higher risk of having adverse events and drug interactions from the use of HSs. AIM: This study determined the beliefs, awareness, use, and factors associated with HSs usage among patients with chronic diseases in Alkharj, Saudi Arabia. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted among patients with chronic diseases between February and June 2019. Face-to-face interviews were conducted at various out-patient clinics in different hospitals. Patients diagnosed with chronic diseases were included in the study. Data were analyzed by descriptive, comparative, and inferential statistics using SAS ver. 9.4. RESULTS: The study participants were consisted of 533 patients, with mean age 53.6 ±12.9 years. The most prevalent chronic diseases were diabetes mellitus (67.7%), followed by hypertension (54.8%), and hyperlipidemia (53.8%). Among the studied participants, 336 (63%) had used at least one HS, whereby the most commonly used HSs were ginger (74.7%), mint (72%), and cumin (66.7%). Almost 78% of HSs users did not consult any healthcare provider about their use. HSs use varied significantly between female and male participants (p<0.05), whereby 61.5% of female participants used HSs in comparison to the male participants (38.5%). Gender (AOR 0.328; 95% CI 0.139-0.772; p = 0.0107), number of chronic diseases (AOR 1.585; 95% CI 1.084-2.318; p = 0.0312), and hyperlipidemia (AOR 2.818; 95% CI 1.507-5.269; p = 0.0.0012) were the pure factors of HSs use among the studied patients. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that HSs usage was high among patients with chronic diseases in Saudi Arabia. Concurrent usage of HSs with drugs should be well-discussed with healthcare providers to avoid potential adverse events or drug interactions especially among patients with chronic diseases.

Incidence of aflatoxin M1 in cows' milk in Pakistan, effects on milk quality and evaluation of therapeutic management in dairy animals.

The present study was aimed at measuring the concentration of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in the milk of Holstein Friesian cows, its effect on the milk quality and seasonal trends, as well as to investigate the efficacy of a commercial clay-based toxin binder. For this purpose, milk samples from dairy cows (n = 72) were collected and assayed for AFM1 before employing a clay-based toxin binder. The milk samples (n = 72) were collected from selected animals, revealing that 69.4% of the milk samples had AFM1 levels above the United States permissible limit (0.5 µg/kg). The incidence of AFM1 in milk during the winter and summer was 82.5% and 53.1%, respectively. Owing to the presence of AFM1, the level of milk fat, solids-not-fat, and protein were found to be low. Subsequently, the affected animals were divided into two groups, i.e., AFM1 positive control (n = 10) and the experimental group (n = 40). The experimental group of animals were fed the clay-based toxin binder at 25 g/animal/day. A progressive decrease of 19.8% in the AFM1 levels was observed on day 4 and on day 7 (53.6%) in the treatment group. Furthermore, the fat, solids-non-fat and protein increased significantly in the milk. In conclusion, a high level of AFM1 contamination occurs in the milk in Pakistan, affecting the quality of the milk production. Clay-based toxin binders may be used to ensure the milk quality and to protect the animal and consumer health.

Chemical characterization, antioxidant and antidiabetic activities of a novel polyherbal formulation comprising of Hordeum vulgare, Elettaria cardamomum and Cicer arietinum extracts.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the most prevalent endocrine disorder. Numerous individual herbs possess anti-diabetic activity. The seeds of Hordeum vulgare, Elettaria cardamomum and Cicer arietinum are traditionally used to manage DM. The ambition of this work was to formulate the poly-herbal granules (PHGs) comprising of these three functional foods and evaluate their in-vitro antioxidant and antidiabetic potential. The dried seed extracts of Hordeum vulgare, Elettaria cardamomum and Cicer arietinum were used in a ratio of 2.5:1:1 to formulate PHGs by wet granulation method. The ratio of extracts was selected on the basis of traditional phytotherapies popularly used by local Hakeems of Pakistan to achieve glycemic control in diabetic patients resistant to traditional allopathic regime of medicine. The flow properties of developed PHGs were evaluated. The UV-Visible spectroscopic, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and HPLC-DAD of all seed extracts and PHGs were performed. The in-vitro antioxidant DPPH, FRAP, total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and Nitric Oxide (NO) scavenging assays were carried out on PHGs. The in-vitro antidiabetic activity of PHGs was investigated by alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase enzyme inhibition activity. The developed PHGs exhibited excellent flow properties. The UV-Vis spectra of all seed extracts and PHGs demonstrated peak at 278 nm showing the presence of flavonoids and phenols. The FTIR spectra confirmed the existence of flavonoids, and phenols along with amines in seed extracts as well as PHGs. The HPLC-DAD test revealed the existence of gallic acid, ascorbic acid, Quercetin-3-(caffeoyldiglucoside)-7-glucoside, Rosmarinic acid, delphinidin-3,5-diglucosides, Kaempferol-3-feruloylsophoroside-7-glucoside and Phloroglucinol in PHGs. The PHGs exhibited IC50 of 51.23, 58.57, 55.41 and 53.13 µg/mL in DPPH assay, FRAP assay, TAC, Nitric oxide scavenging assays respectively. The PHGs also demonstrated IC50 of 49.97 and 36.16 µg/mL in alpha-amylase and in alpha-glucosidase inhibition assays respectively in dose dependent manner. The developed PHGs exhibited an excellent flow property. These exhibit significant in-vitro antioxidant and antidiabetic profile by virtue of flavonoid and phenolic acid derivatives.

Effect of ultrasound-assisted osmotic dehydration on the drying kinetics, water state, and physicochemical properties of microwave vacuum-dried potato slices.

The effects of pre-treatments on the drying characteristics, water state, thermal properties, and bulk shrinkage of potato slices during microwave vacuum drying (MVD) were investigated. The pre-treatment included ultrasound in distilled water (USOD-0%), and ultrasound-assisted osmotic dehydration in a 60% sucrose solution (USOD-60%). Results showed that the drying time of potato slices was reduced and the drying rate was increased when USOD-0% was used as a pretreatment, whereas USOD-60% had a negative effect on the drying rate of the samples. The Weibull model was effective in predicting the water changes in potato slices during the drying process. NMR analysis revealed that the relative content of immovable water (M22) increased initially, then decreased for drying, while the transverse relaxation time (T2) and the relative content of free water (M23) decreased consistently. The DSC results indicated that the glass transition temperature (Tg) had an inverse relationship with the water content of the samples, yet had virtually no influence on the volume shrinkage. The sample volumes decreased linearly with the decrease in water content during the initial drying stages. USOD pre-treatment lessened the volume shrinkage of MVD potato slices. Static gravimetry was used to determine the moisture sorption isotherms of MVD potato slices at 30 °C within the aw range of 0.113-0.923. The GAB model accurately fitted the experimental sorption data, which showed sigmoid shape curves for the MVD samples. When aw values exceeded 0.7, the USOD-60% treatment significantly reduce the water sorption capacity of MVD potato slices, while USOD-0% treatment was observed to increase the hygroscopic properties of MVD samples. Compared with the control, USOD-0% pretreatment significantly increased the monolayer water content (X0), sorption surface area (S0), the thickness of sorbed water multilayer (tm), and density of sorbed water (Ds) values of MVD potato slices, while USOD-60% decreased these values.

Recent progress in CRISPR-based bioengineering of microbial cell factories for important nutraceuticals synthesis.

Nutraceuticals are defined as food or food components with therapeutic capabilities that have few side effects and are regarded as a natural therapy for preventing the onset of several life-threatening illnesses. The use of microbial cell factories to produce nutraceuticals is considered to be sustainable and promising for meeting market demand. Among the diverse strategies for optimizing microbial cell factories, the CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) system has emerged as a valuable tool for gene integration, deletion, activation, and downregulation. With the advent of multiplexed and precise CRISPR strategies, optimized microbial cell factories are revolutionizing the yield of nutraceuticals. This review focuses on the development of highly adaptable CRISPR strategies to optimize the production in microbial cell factories of some important nutraceuticals (belonging to the class of carotenoids, flavonoids, stilbenoids, polysaccharides, and nonprotein amino acids). Further, we highlighted current challenges related to the efficiency of CRISPR strategies and addressed potential future directions to fully harness CRISPR strategies to make nutraceutical synthesis in microbial cell factories an industrially favorable method.

Comparative anti-Diabetic potential of phytocompounds from Dr. Duke's phytochemical and ethnobotanical database and standard antidiabetic drugs against diabetes hyperglycemic target proteins: an in silico validation.

In the current investigation, the antidiabetic potential of 40 phytocompounds from Dr. Dukes phytochemical and ethanobotanical database and three antidiabetic pharmaceuticals from the market comparatively validated against hyperglycemic target proteins. Silymarin, proanthocyanidins, merremoside, rutin, mangiferin-7-O-beta-glucoside, and gymnemic acid exhibited good binding affinity toward protein targets of diabetes among the 40 phytocompounds from Dr.Dukes database over three chosen antidiabetic pharmaceutical compounds. Further these phytocompounds and sitagliptin are validated for its ADMET and bioactivity score to screen its pharmacological and pharmacokinetics properties. Silymarin, proanthocyanidins, rutin along with sitagliptin screened for DFT analysis found that phytocompounds have great Homo-Lumo orbital energies over commercial pharmaceutical sitagliptin. Finally, four complexes of alpha amylase-silymarin, alpha amylase-sitagliptin, aldose reductase-proanthocyanidins, and aldose reductase-sitagliptin screened for MD simulation and MMGBSA analysis, results shown that the phytocompounds silymarin and proanthocyanidins have strong affinities for binding to the binding pockets of alpha amylase and aldose reductase respectively over antidiabetic pharmaceuticals. Our current study proven proanthocyanidins and silymarin act as novel antidiabetic compounds toward diabetic target protein but it require clinical trial to evaluate its clinical pertinence toward diabetic target proteins.Communicated by Ramaswamy Sarma.

Histological and Microscopic Analysis of Fats in Heart, Liver Tissue, and Blood Parameters in Experimental Mice.

The intake of various types and amounts of dietary fats influences metabolic and cardiovascular health. Hence, this study evaluated the impact of routinely consumed Pakistani dietary fats on their cardiometabolic impact. For this, we made four groups of mice, each comprising 5 animals: (1) C-ND: Control mice on a normal diet, (2) HFD-DG: High-fat diet mice on a normal diet plus 10% (w/w) desi ghee, (3) HFD-O: Mice on normal diet plus 10% (w/w) plant oil (4) HFD-BG: Mice on normal diet plus 10% (w/w) banaspati ghee. Mice were fed for 16 weeks, and blood, liver, and heart samples were collected for biochemical, histological, and electron microscopic analysis. The physical factors indicated that mice fed on HFD gained more body weight than the C-ND group. Blood parameters do not show significant differences, but overall, the glucose and cholesterol concentrations were raised in the mice fed with a fat-rich diet, with the highest concentrations in the HFD-BG group. The mice fed with HFD-BG and HFD-O had more lipid droplets in the liver, compared to HFD-DG and C-ND.

Effectiveness Of Saddle Block Vs Spinal Anaesthesia In Turp: An Open Label Randomized Control Trial.

BACKGROUND: One of the most frequent diseases among male gender is benign prostatic hyperplasia. Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) is a minimally invasive procedure for resection of prostate through endoscopic technique. Recently there was a debate on role of saddle block in TURP. There we aimed to determine the effectiveness of spinal anaesthesia versus saddle block in terms of hemodynamic stability and vasoprbessor requirement in TURP. METHODS: This open label randomized control trial was performed at Hamdard University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan, during 1st October, 2021 to 31st March, 2022. Male patients of age 45-65 years requiring TURP, with well controlled diabetes and hypertension of ASA grade I-II were included into the study and randomly assigned into two study groups. Patients' parameters including blood pressure, heart rate, mean arterial pressure and oxygen saturation (SPO2) were measured at baseline and intraoperative at every fifth minute interval till surgery completion. Patients' other parameters including age, surgery duration and comorbidity were also recorded. RESULTS: Total 60 patients with 30 patients in each group were enrolled into the study. Maximum fall in systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, pulse rate and mean arterial pressure from baseline was significantly lower in patients receiving saddle block anaesthesia than spinal anaesthesia. Maximum fall in SPO2 was not significantly different among two study groups. Maximum fall in all parameters excluding SPO2 was significant between two groups for initial 20 minutes of the procedure. No statistically significant maximum fall was seen for all of the parameters beyond 20 minutes of the procedure. Vasopressor consumption was significantly lower in saddle block group than spinal anaesthesia. CONCLUSIONS: Application of saddle block anaesthesia is effective for TURP procedure with controlled hemodynamic status than spinal anaesthesia. Moreover, saddle block requires less vasopressor consumption than spinal anaesthesia technique.

Cottonseed oil: A review of extraction techniques, physicochemical, functional, and nutritional properties.

Seed oils are the richest source of vitamin-E-active compounds, which contribute significantly to antioxidant activities. Cottonseed oil (CS-O) is attaining more consideration owing to its high fiber content and stability against auto-oxidation. CS-O has gained a good reputation in the global edible oil market due to its distinctive fatty acid profile, anti-inflammatory, and cardio-protective properties. CS-O can be extracted from cottonseed (CS) by microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), aqueous/solvent extraction (A/SE), aqueous ethanol extraction (A-EE), subcritical water extraction, supercritical carbon dioxide extraction (SC-CO2), and enzyme-assisted extraction (E-AE). In this review, the importance, byproducts, physicochemical characteristics, and nutritional profile of CS-O have been explained in detail. This paper also provides a summary of scientific studies existing on functional and phytochemical characteristics of CS-O. Its consumption and health benefits are also deliberated to discover its profitability and applications. CS-O contains 26-35% saturated, 42-52% polyunsaturated, and 18-24% monounsaturated FA. There is approximately 1000 ppm of tocopherols in unprocessed CS-O, but up to one-third is lost during processing. Moreover, besides being consumed as cooking oil, CS-O discovers applications in many fields such as biofuel, livestock, cosmetics, agriculture, and chemicals. This paper provides a comprehensive review of CS-O, its positive benefits, fatty acid profile, extraction techniques, and health applications.HighlightsCS-O is a rich source of exceptional fatty acids.Various techniques to extract the CS-O are discussed.Numerous physicochemical properties of CS-O for the potential market are assessed.It has a wide range of functional properties.Nutritional quality and health benefits are also evaluated.

Effect of airborne-particle abrasion with a novel spherical abrasive on the zirconia surface.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: A novel zirconia-alumina composite (ZAC) particle has yet to be studied for airborne-particle abrasion in a bonding protocol for the zirconia surface. PURPOSE: The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the shear bond force of resin cement to yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (Y-TZP) when using spherical ZAC particles to conduct airborne-particle abrasion and modify the topography of Y-TZP. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Spherical 30- to 70-µm ZAC particles were fabricated by using a hybrid gel technique. A total of 160 Ø6.6×4.0-mm zirconia disks were fabricated from 4 commercially available zirconia blanks, e.max ZirCAD zirconia (EM), NexxZr T zirconia (NE), Lava Plus High Translucency zirconia (LP), and Imagine High Translucency Zirconia (IM), by using computer-aided manufacturing technology. As-sintered specimens without further surface treatment were used as controls (ZR0). Surface treatment groups included sharp-edged alumina airborne-particle abrasion (ABC), 50 µm, 0.2 MPa; airborne-particle abrasion with ZAC particle at 0.2 MPa (2ZA); and airborne-particle abrasion with spherical ZAC particle at 0.4 MPa (4ZA). All surface treatment groups were airborne-particle abraded at the specified pressures for 10 seconds at a standardized distance of 10 mm. The surface roughness (Ra) and area roughness (Sa) of specimens from each group were measured. Following the application of an adhesive (Scotchbond Universal), Ø6.6×4.0-mm resin cement (RelyX Ultimate) buttons were fabricated for shear bond testing by using a universal testing machine at a 5-mm/min crosshead speed (n=10). The data were analyzed by using a 2-way ANOVA, Tukey HSD test, and regression analysis (α=0.05). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was performed to observe changes of the zirconia surface and the failure modes of each group before and after shear bond testing. RESULTS: The mean ±standard deviation shear bond force values ranged from 272.6 ±41.4 N to 686.7 ±152.8 N. Statistically significant higher force values than those of the controls (P<.05) were obtained by using airborne-particle abrasion. No significant differences were found among any of the airborne-particle abrasion treatment groups (P>.05). The mean of Ra values ranged from 0.27 µm to 0.74 µm, and the mean of Sa values, from 0.48 µm to 1.48 µm. SEM observation revealed that the zirconia surface was made jagged by abrasion with sharp-edged alumina particles. The spherical ZAC particles create microcraters on the zirconia surface. Fractographic observation disclosed that failures were adhesive-cohesive failure modes with residual resin cement attached on the zirconia surface. CONCLUSIONS: The surface treatment of zirconia with sharp-edged alumina or the spherical ZAC abrasives improved the bonding force between the zirconia and resin cement. No statistically significant differences in shear bond force values were found between airborne-particle abrasion surface treatment groups.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectral characterization of antifungal activity of selenium and zinc based organometallic compounds.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is used to identify the biochemical changes associated with the antifungal activities of selenium and zinc organometallic complexes against Aspergillus niger fungus. These biochemical changes identified in the form of SERS peaks can help to understand the mechanism of action of these antifungal agents which is important for development of new antifungal drugs. The SERS spectral changes indicate the denaturation and conformational changes of proteins and fungal cell wall decomposition in complex exposed fungal samples. The SERS spectra of these organometallic complexes exposed fungi are analyzed by using statistical tools like principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). PCA is employed to differentiate the SERS spectra of fungal samples exposed to ligands and complexes. The PLS-DA discriminated different groups of spectra with 99.8% sensitivity, 100% specificity, 98% accuracy and 86 % area under receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve.

Molecular insight of phytocompounds from Indian spices and its hyaluronic acid conjugates to block SARS-CoV-2 viral entry.

Human corona viral infection leads to acute breathing disease and death if not diagnosed and treated properly in time. The disease can be treated with the help of simple natural compounds, which we use in day-to-day life. These natural compounds act against several diseases but their drug targeting mechanism needs to be improved for more efficient and promising applications. In the present study five compounds (gingerol, thymol, thymohydroquinone, cyclocurcumin, hydrazinocurcumin) from three Indian medicinal plants (ginger, black cumin, turmeric) and its hyaluronic acid (HA) conjugates were docked against initially deposited spike structural proteins (PDB ID 6WPT) and its mutant variant D-614G (PDB ID 6XS6). Docking study result reveals that all the HA conjugates showed the most effective inhibitor of S-protein of initially deposited and D-614G variant forms of SARS-CoV-2. The compounds like Gingerol, Thymol, Thymohydroquinone, Cyclocurcumin, Hydrazinocurcumin, Hydroxychloroquinone, and hyaluronic acid conjugates inhibit the viral protein of both wild-type and mutated S-protein of SARS-CoV-2. The molecular docking studies of phytocompounds with initial deposited and variant spike protein targets show superior binding affinity than with the commercial repurposed viral entry inhibitor hydroxychloroquine. Further, the docking result was modeled using MD simulation study shows excellent simulation trajectories between spike proteins and HA conjugates spices constituents than its free form. DFT analysis was carried out to affirm the reason behind the highest binding affinity of HA conjugates over its free form towards SARS-CoV-2 spike protein targets. Further HA conjugates synthesis and its evaluation against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro studies are needed to prove our novel idea for an anti-viral drug.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Nickel toxicity pretreatment attenuates salt stress by activating antioxidative system and ion homeostasis in tomato (Solanum lycopersicon L.): an interplay from mild to severe stress.

Plants antioxidative system is the first line of defense against oxidative stress caused secondarily by toxic ions under salinity. Plants with pre-activated antioxidative system can better adapt to salinity and can result in higher growth and yield. The current experiment was conducted to assess the adaptation of two tomato genotypes (Riogrande and Green Gold) with pre-activated antioxidative enzymes against salt stress. Tomato seedlings were exposed to mild stress (Ni: 0, 15 and 30 mg L-1) for three weeks to activate the antioxidative enzymes. The seedlings with pre-activated antioxidative enzymes were then grown under severe stress in hydroponics (0, 75 and 150 mM NaCl) and soil (control, 7.5 and 15 dS m-1) to check the adaptation, growth and yield. The results showed that Ni toxicity significantly enhanced activities of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, APX and POX) in both the genotypes and reduced growth with higher values in genotype Riogrande than Green Gold. The seedlings with pre-activated antioxidant enzymes showed better growth, low Na+ and high K+ uptake and maintained higher antioxidative enzymes activity than non-treated seedlings after four weeks of salt stress treatment in hydroponics. Similarly, the results in soil salinity treatment of the Ni pretreated seedlings showed higher yield characteristics (fruit yield per plant, average fruit weight and fruit diameter) than non-treated seedlings. However, Ni pretreatment had nonsignificant effect on tomato fruit quality characteristics like fruit dry matter percentage, total soluble solids, fruit juice pH and titratable acidity. The genotype Riogrande showed better growth, yield and fruit quality than Green Gold due to higher activity of antioxidant enzymes and better ion homeostasis as a result of Ni pretreatment. The results suggest that pre-activation antioxidant enzymes by Ni treatment proved to be an effective strategy to attenuate salt stress for better growth and yield of tomato plants.

Biochemical evaluation and medicinal ability of Jatropha mollissima in hepatic disorders.

OBJECTIVE: Jatropha mollissima is one of the most valuable medicinal plants used for the treatment of hepatic disorders. It is evident that 500 mg/kg of sodium valproate causes the hepatotoxicity, ototoxicity, gastrotoxicity, bone marrow suppression, and inflammation. This study was designed to explore the medicinal uses of Jatropha mollissima in hepatic disorders. METHODS: Hepatotoxicity was induced in Wister albino rats by injecting sodium valproate at the rate of 500 mg/kg once daily for fourteen days. Six male rats, each weighing 220-270 g, were placed into four separate groups for the study. The first group was treated with normal saline. Treatment of the second group was carried out by SVP for four days consecutively together with saline for three weeks. Group three and four were treated with sodium valproate and Jm hydroalcoholic extract applied in the concentrations of the 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg for the period of the three weeks. Phytochemical screening and HPLC analysis were conducted to identify the phytochemical nature and polyphenols in extract, respectively. DPPH, SOD, and NO tests were performed to measure the antioxidant activity. RESULTS: With the initial dose of treatments to rats, anatomic, physiological, or histopathologic abnormalities were detected. After three weeks, extract of Jatropha mollissima was used to treat the valproic acid-induced hepatotoxicity (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: It was concluded that sodium valproate (SVP) and Jm extract were administered together. The hepatoprotective effects were extraordinarily high, with high concentrations of 400 mg/kg.

In vivo antioxidants, chemical characterization and biochemical and medicinal potential of Murraya koenigii in cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity.

Murraya koenigii (Mk) is an old plant with a significant therapeutic value throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The excessive use of cisplatin (Cis> 50 mg/m2) is associated with nephrotoxicity, ototoxicity, gastrotoxicity, myelosuppression, and allergic reactions. Remedial measures are needed for the protection of nephrotoxicity against cisplatin. Thus, we have investigated Mk leaf extract's nephroprotective effects to prevent cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity in Wistar albino rats. The presence of polyphenols, phenolic compounds, tannins, and saponins was revealed during phytochemical investigation, and antioxidant activity was recorded. There were no toxicological symptoms in the treated rats, and no anatomical, physiological, or histological abnormalities were found compared to the control rats. The results of correcting cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity revealed that the extract has a significant ability to treat kidney damage, with most parameters returning to normal after only three weeks of therapy. It was concluded that co-administered cisplatin with Mk leaves extract showed exceptional nephroprotective effects at a 400 mg/kg dose ratein Cis-induced nephrotoxicity.

Effect of Vegetable Waste on Growth Performance and Hematology of Broiler Chicks.

Vegetable waste (spinach, potato, and cauliflower) is a rich and natural source of nutrients, potentially good for supplying minerals, essential amino acids, and antioxidants to the birds. Relatively, its cost very low, easily to accessible, easily process & pose little risk of illness. The aim of present study was to evaluate the effect of vegetable waste (VW) as feed supplement on growth performance and hematology of broiler chicks. For this purpose, a total of 200 (4 days old) vaccinated chicks were acquired from a commercial hatchery Multan which was acclimated for three weeks (21 days) on basal starter feed after that 25-day-old chicks with uniform body weight were allocated according to a CRD (completely randomized design) into four dietary treatments with three replicates of each contained 15 chicks in 12 pens. In dietary treatments, chicks were feed with basal feed (BF) and supplemented feed with vegetable waste (VW) of spinach, potato, and cauliflower. For this purpose, the dietary treatments included control treatment (T 1) (100% BF+0% VW) and other dietary treatments (T 2) (75% BF+25% VW), (T 3) (50% BF+50% VW), and (T 4) (25% BF+75% VW). The body weight, feed intake, food conversion ratio (FCR), and mortality were checked on weekly and daily basis. For hematology analysis, after the 1st experimental week (25-day-old chicks) and the last 5th experimental week (56-day-old chicks), the samples of blood were gathered from the wing's veins of two birds from each treatment in random way. At the end of five weeks (35 days), birds with uniform average body weight were selected per treatment with three replicates (2 bird/replicate) and then were manually slaughtered according to the Halal method to analyze the weight of internal body organs of broilers by physical and statistical analysis (ANOVA). There was no significant effect (P > 0.05) on feed intake and FCR among all the dietary treatments. But in average, body weight and BWG were higher in treatment (T 2) (P < 0.01) than all other dietary treatments (T 3) and (T 4) and control treatment (T 1). The blood constituents in this study showed that broilers in control treatment (T 1) and other dietary treatments (T 2), (T 3), and (T 4) fed on different doses were significantly (P < 0.01) different from each other. The week 5 (W 5) shows higher values of blood constituents (P < 0.01) than week 1 (W 1). The carcass yield of the chicks fed on different doses showed that they were significantly different (P < 0.01) among the dietary treatments. The VW inclusion 0%, 25%, 50%, and 75% had positive effect on blood constituents and carcass yield of the broiler chicks; they were significantly (P < 0.01) different among the treatments.

Role of Nutrition Information in Acceptance and Willingness to Pay for Biofortified Cereal Food: Implications for Better Health and Sustainable Diet.

A range of nutritional needs are met through the use of fortified farm-based foods. Wheat biorfortification with zinc is such an example where biorfortification is carried out for a crucial element like Zinc. Zinc-biofortified wheat (Zn-wheat) has been officially launched in Pakistan since 2016 but its wide-scale dissemination, adoption and consumption have not taken place till to date. On the other hand, essential nutrients deficiencies have wide-ranging implications for public health especially for children and lactating mothers. This study is undertaken to know the reasons for the slow progression of scaling up of biofortified wheat varieties in Pakistan, people's awareness about biofortified wheat and to recognize the role of information in acceptance and willingness to pay for this wheat. For this purpose, randomly selected 474 households were interviewed from four districts of Punjab province. They were categorized into four groups based on their exposure to information in real and hypothetical cheap talk (game theory context). Study findings reveal that respondents were ready to pay for fortified wheat if they are aware about nutrient aspects and Zn deficiency. Using Discrete Choice Experiment, the preferences for and factors affecting the willingness to pay for fortified wheat are evaluated. Main factors having positive impact include household head's education and income, having pregnant women and children <5 years age. It was also found that people having valid information about nutrients of a food would be willing to pay more. The study highlights need for policy focus on educating people about nutritional aspects as well as making available biofortified foods to promote healthy living.

Risk factors for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is among the most prevalent childhood disorders. This condition is characterized by impulsive behaviour, restlessness and lack of concentration. Various researchers have come up with diverse conclusions concerning the risk factors of ADHD. OBJECTIVE: However, there is a need for a comprehensive review to understand the risk factors associated with the development of ADHD. METHODS: For this, Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA), the methodology was used to extract the findings. RESULTS: The finding suggests that there are a variety of risk factors associated with women that may be responsible for the development of ADHD among children. The main four risk factors are antibiotics use in early life, insufficient omega 3 and 6 in the body, disruption of gut microbiota and irregular circadian rhythm. These factors, which are discussed in-depth in the review, include factors that affect the development of the brain in children. CONCLUSION: This review concludes that a variety of risk factors may contribute to the development of ADHD. Further, this review highlights not only the importance of metabolic physiological but also the importance of biopsychological aspects that leads to the development of ADHD among children. Studies should be conducted to check the impact of such factors holistically to minimize the risk of ADHD.

"Cutting the Mustard" with Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: An Overview and Applications in Healthcare Paradigm.

Treatment of numerous ailments has been made accessible by the advent of genetic engineering, where the self-renewal property has unfolded the mysteries of regeneration, i.e., stem cells. This is narrowed down to pluripotency, the cell property of differentiating into other adult cells. The generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) was a major breakthrough in 2006, which was generated by a cocktail of 4 Yamanaka Factors, following which significant advancements have been reported in medical science and therapeutics. The iPSCs are reprogrammed from somatic cells, and the fascinating results focused on developing authentic techniques for their generation via molecular reprogramming mechanisms, with a plethora of molecules, like NANOG, miRNAs, and DNA modifying agents, etc. The iPSCs have exhibited reliable results in assessing the etiology and molecular mechanisms of diseases, followed by the development of possible treatments and the elimination of risks of immune rejection. The authors formulate a comprehensive review to develop a clear understanding of iPSC generation, their advantages and limitations, with potential challenges associated with their medical utility. In addition, a wide compendium of applications of iPSCs in regenerative medicine and disease modeling has been discussed, alongside bioengineering technologies for iPSC reprogramming, expansion, isolation, and differentiation. The manuscript aims to provide a holistic picture of the booming advancement of iPSC therapy, to attract the attention of global researchers, to investigate this versatile approach in treatment of multiple disorders, subsequently overcoming the challenges, in order to effectively expand its therapeutic window.

Green synthesis and characterization of copper nanoparticles for investigating their effect on germination and growth of wheat.

Today, different types of nanoparticles (NPs) are being synthesized and used for medical and agricultural applications. In this study, copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) were synthesized using the aqueous extract of mint (Mentha longifolia L.). For the characterization of CuNPs, UV-visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry were used. The UV-Visible absorption peak at 558 nm confirmed the formation of CuNPs. The XRD pattern confirmed the phase-centered crystalline nature of CuNPs. FTIR analysis showed the O-H, Cu-H and C-C bonds, indicating the active role of these functional groups as reducing agents of Cu ions to CuNPS. The synthesized NPs were found to have an almost spherical shape with an average size of 23 nm. When applied to wheat, a condition dependent effect of CuNPs was found. Variety 18-Elite Line 1, Elite Line 3, and 18-Elite Line 6 showed maximum germination and growth rate at 50 mg CuNPs/L, while variety 18-Elite Line 5 showed that increase at 25 mg CuNPs/L. Beyond these concentrations, the seed germination and growth of wheat declined. In conclusion, the application of CuNPs showed a beneficial effect in improving the growth of wheat at a certain concentration.