Effects of exogenous phytase and xylanase, individually or in combination, and pelleting on nutrient digestibility, available energy content of wheat and performance of growing pigs fed wheat-based diets.

OBJECTIVE: Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of adding exogenous phytase and xylanase, individually or in combination, as well as pelleting on nutrient digestibility, available energy content of wheat and the performance of growing pigs fed wheat-based diets. METHODS: In Experiment 1, forty-eight barrows with an initial body weight of 35.9±0.6 kg were randomly assigned to a 2×4 factorial experiment with the main effects being feed form (pellet vs meal) and enzyme supplementation (none, 10,000 U/kg phytase, 4,000 U/kg xylanase or 10,000 U/kg phytase plus 4,000 U/kg xylanase). The basal diet contained 97.8% wheat. Pigs were placed in metabolic cages for a 7-d adaptation period followed by a 5-d total collection of feces and urine. Nutrient digestibility and available energy content were determined. Experiment 2 was conducted to evaluate the effects of pelleting and enzymes on performance of wheat for growing pigs. In this experiment, 180 growing pigs (35.2±9.0 kg BW) were allocated to 1 of 6 treatments according to a 2×3 factorial treatment arrangement with the main effects being feed form (meal vs pellet) and enzyme supplementation (0, 2,500 or 5,000 U/kg xylanase). RESULTS: In Experiment 1, there were no interactions between feed form and enzyme supplementation. Pelleting reduced the digestibility of acid detergent fiber (ADF) by 6.4 percentage units (p<0.01), increased the digestibility of energy by 0.6 percentage units (p<0.05), and tended to improve the digestibility of crude protein by 0.5 percentage units (p = 0.07) compared with diets in mash form. The addition of phytase improved the digestibility of phosphorus (p<0.01) and calcium (p<0.01) by 6.9 and 7.6 percentage units respectively compared with control group. Adding xylanase tended to increase the digestibility of crude protein by 1.0 percentage units (p = 0.09) and increased the digestibility of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) (p<0.01) compared with control group. Supplementation of the xylanase-phytase combination improved the digestibility of phosphorus (p<0.01) but impaired NDF digestibility (p<0.05) compared with adding xylanase alone. In Experiment 2, adding xylanase increased average daily gain (p<0.01) and linearly improved the feed:gain ratio (p<0.01) compared with control group. CONCLUSION: Pelleting improved energy digestibility but decreased ADF digestibility. Adding xylanase increased crude protein digestibility and pig performance. Phytase increased the apparent total tract digestibility of phosphorus and calcium. The combination of phytase-xylanase supplementation impaired the effects of xylanase on NDF digestibility.

Identification of differentially expressed genes involved in early bolting of Angelica sinensis (Apiaceae).

Angelica sinensis is a highly valued medicinal herb, known as female ginseng that is widely cultivated in China. Although A. sinensis is in great demand due to its multiple medicinal and food applications, its early bolting rate (almost 40%) seriously affects crop quality. To better understand its flowering mechanism, cDNA-amplified RFLP analysis was employed to look for gene expression differences between flower bud and shoot apical meristem tissues. Sixty-four primer sets were used, with each primer set amplified to 60 transcript-derived fragments. Some transcript-derived fragments were expressed only in the flower bud. After cloning, sequencing and a homology search, 46 distinct sequences were obtained; 26 of these were found to have homologous sequences in databases. These included trans-caffeoyl-CoA 3-O-methyltransferase, 1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase, 15-cis-zeta-carotene isomerase, isoamylase, and calmodulin-binding protein. These genes are closely related to pollen germination and pollen tube growth, terpenoid backbone biosynthesis, and other metabolic pathways. Confirmation of differential expression of 10 sequences was obtained by semi-quantitative RT-PCR, showing higher expression levels in flower buds.

Effect of stachyose supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and caecal fermentation characteristics in broilers.

1. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether the oligosaccharide stachyose enhances gastrointestinal tract health by fermentation and proliferation of desirable bacteria species and thus affects growth performance and nutrient digestibility in broilers. 2. A total of 432 1-d-old male Arbor Acres (AA) broilers were randomly allocated to one of 6 treatments, with 12 replicate pens per treatment and 6 birds per pen. Chicks were fed a maize-hamlet protein 300 (HP300) basal diet with 0, 4.0, 8.0, 12.0 or 16.0 g/kg stachyose. A sixth diet contained no HP300 but soybean meal (SBM) and provided 8.7 g/kg stachyose and 3.1 g/kg raffinose. The duration of the study was 42 d. 3. Stachyose contents above 12.0 g/kg depressed group body weights, average daily gain and feed/gain but not feed intake during the whole experimental period. Broiler growth decreased linearly and quadratically with increasing stachyose content. No differences were detected between diets supplemented with 12.0 g/kg stachyose and SBM. 4. Nutrient digestibility tended to decrease but not significantly with increasing stachyose. 5. Stachyose content had no significant positive effects on caecal pH, microflora population and the resulting short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) metabolites during the 42 d experiment, with only butyrate differing significantly in the initial period.

Physiological basis for long life span.

A collection of clinical data is reported on nonagenarians in comparison to an 'average' population of younger age. The results of these clinical data indicated that a vital physiological basis for long life span probably existed. The basis include a better micro-blood-flow state, a better cardiac, immune (nature killer cell activity), adrenocortical, hepatic and renal function, and a higher level of high density lipoprotein cholesterol. It is suggested that the method, including Chinese traditional medicine, to improve the micro-blood-flow, nature killer cell activity, high density lipoprotein cholesterol and vital organ function may be beneficial for life preservation and aging retarding.

The aging retarding effect of 'Long-Life CiLi'.

'Long-Life CiLi' ('CiLi') oral liquid, is composed of superoxide dismutase (SOD), polysacchairide, vitamin C, vitamin E and trace elements which were all extracted from a natural plant fruit Cili (Rosa roxburghii Tratt) in Guizhou, China. A set of indices were evaluated after administration of 'CiLi' 10 ml Bid, for two months in 50-75 years old healthy people, the mean value of NK cell activity (22.4 +/- 10.8-->27.5 +/- 12.9%, P < 0.05), SOD (453.0 +/- 24.2-->468.6 +/- 21.3 micrograms/gHb, P < 0.001), Catalase (15.5 +/- 1.7-->17.4 +/- 3.0 U/mgHb, P < 0.001) and GSH content (2.3 +/- 0.3-->2.6 +/- 0.5 mg/gHb, P < 0.001) in erythrocytes and 'delta CO, CI, SV, SI, LVET, LVETI and AC' values increased significantly, while the serum LPO level (4.20 +/- 0.78-->3.78 +/- 0.50 nmol/ml, P < 0.001), total microcirculation weighed value (1.87 +/- 1.0-->0.92 +/- 0.5, P < 0.001), delta PVR (-241.7 +/- 733.2-->187.9 +/- 938.2, P < 0.05) and the light reaction time (Simple RT, red light: 383 +/- 128-->332 +/- 68.9 ms, P < 0.05; selective RT: red light 709 +/- 287-->566 +/- 119 ms, P < 0.05; green light 639 +/- 162-->536 +/- 80 ms, P < 0.01) decreased significantly. There were no significant differences in the control group. The mean life span of fruit flies were significantly elongated for low, medium and high concentrations 'CiLi' treatment groups than in the control group (Female: 57.6 +/- 11.3-->62.1 +/- 12.8; 69.6 +/- 14.7; 62.6 +/- 12 days; P < 0.05 approximately 0.001. Male: 56.3 +/- 9.6-->64.9 +/- 12.4; 64.5 +/- 14.5; 64.8 +/- 14.1 days, P < 0.001). It is suggested that 'CiLi' has an aging retarding and geroprotection effect.

[Experimental study on effect of jiawei yupingfeng san on microcirculation and plasma superoxide dismutase activity in old mice].

The effects of Jiawei Yupingfeng San on microcirculation and plasma SOD of old mice were observed. The results showed that the prescription could markedly improve old mice's blood flow of microcirculation, increase their speed of blood flow and raise their plasma TSOD and Cu, Zn-SOD activity, and there was very significant difference compared with control (P < 0.001). The results suggested that this prescription had the effects of improving the quality of life and delaying the aging of organism.

[Drug evaluation of huperzine A in the treatment of senile memory disorders].

Huperzine A is an alkaloid which was first isolated from Huperzia serrata (Thumb) Trev by Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences and Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences. It exhibits a significant anticholinesterase activity and has been used on myasthenia gravis patients. The therapeutic effects were studied by random, match and double-blind method on 56 patients of multi-infarct dementia or senile dementia and 104 patients of senile and presenile simple memory disorders. The curative effects were evaluated by Wechsler memory scale. The im dose for multi-infarct dementia was 0.05 mg bid for 4 wk, whereas that for senile and presenile simple memory disorders was 0.03 mg bid for 2 wk. Saline was used on control group. The result showed that the curative effect of huperzine A was significant. Only a few patients felt slight dizziness and this did not affect the therapeutic effects.

[Observations on the anti-aging, antihypertensive and antihyperlipemic effect of Apocynum venetum leaf extract].

The effect of Apocynum venetum leaf extract on hypertension, hyperlipemia, SOD content of erythrocyte, platelet aggregation rate, pulse wave transmission time (RP interval) and human diploid cell was studied to evaluate if it has some anti-aging effects. The mean BP in 60 cases of the treated group decreased from 171 +/- 19/98 +/- 11 mmHg to 154 +/- 22/91 +/- 10 mmHg and 148 +/- 17/89 +/- 10 mmHg after treatment for 4 and 8 weeks (P less than 0.01). The HDL-C in 40 cases of hyperlipemia increased from 47.5 +/- 13 mg% to 63.9 +/- 18 mg% (P less than 0.01). These results were better than those in the control groups. delta RPF was lengthened from 10.1 +/- 6.0 ms to 15.3 +/- 7.3 ms, which indicated that the cardiac performance was improved. No significant change of platelet aggregation rate was obtained after 5-8 weeks treatment. The retarding effect on cell aging was observed by the morphologic changes of nucleus and the increase of subcultivation from 77 to 80 generations. SOD content of erythrocyte was significantly increased from 546.1 +/- 51 micrograms/gHb to 574.6 +/- 42 micrograms/gHb in 20 cases. So Apocynum venetum leaf extract might have some anti-aging effects.