Biodetoxification of aflatoxin B1 in cottonseed meal by fermentation of Cellulosimicrobium funkei in duckling diet.

Two experiments were conducted to optimize the fermentation of cottonseed meal by Cellulosimicrobium funkei (C. funkei) for the ability of the bacteria to degrade aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and then to evaluate the bacterial detoxification in ducklings. In experiment 1, the fermentation of cottonseed meal by C. funkei was improved by changing the inoculation amounts by 10% (108 cfu/mL), using a 1:0.5 material to water ratio at 35°C temperature for a 144 h reaction duration, which resulted in an 83.4% biodegradation of AFB1. In experiment 2, 112 one-day-old male Cherry Valley ducklings were randomly allocated to 4 experimental groups with 4 replicates of 7 birds each. For a period of 2 wk the controls received a base duckling diet (BD), a second group received a base diet contaminated with 10% AFB1 cottonseed meal (96.8 µg AFB1/kg), a third group was fed a base diet added with 5% unfermented and 5% fermented AFB1-contaminated cottonseed meal (57.0 µg AFB1/kg), and the fourth group was fed a base diet added with 10% AFB1-contaminated fermented cottonseed meal (16.0 µg AFB1/kg). The growth performance, relative organ weights, and serum biochemistry were analyzed. The results showed that the feed conversion ratio in the second group was lower than that of the controls at wk one and 2 (P < 0.05). Also, after 2 wk, group 2 ducklings had increased relative weights of the liver, kidneys, and spleen, increased activities of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), increased concentration of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine (Crt), and decreased relative weight of Fabricius bursa (P < 0.05). In addition, the concentrations of total protein (TP) and albumin (ALB) in serum were also significantly higher at weeks one and 2 (P < 0.05). These alterations were attenuated or prevented when 5 or 10% fermented cottonseed meal substituted equal amounts of unfermented cottonseed meal in the diet. In conclusion, fermentation of AFB1-contaminated feed materials by C. funkei offers a new strategy to reduce the negative effects of aflatoxicosis in ducklings.

Ginsenoside Rg1 restores the impairment of learning induced by chronic morphine administration in rats.

Rg1, as a ginsenoside extracted from Panax ginseng, could ameliorate spatial learning impairment. Previous studies have demonstrated that Rg1 might be a useful agent for the prevention and treatment of the adverse effects of morphine. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Rg1 on learning impairment by chronic morphine administration and the mechanism responsible for this effect. Male rats were subcutaneously injected with morphine (10 mg/kg) twice a day at 12 hour intervals for 10 days, and Rg1 (30 mg/kg) was intraperitoneally injected 2 hours after the second injection of morphine once a day for 10 days. Spatial learning capacity was assessed in the Morris water maze. The results showed that rats treated with Morphine/Rg1 decreased escape latency and increased the time spent in platform quadrant and entering frequency. By implantation of electrodes and electrophysiological recording in vivo, the results showed that Rg1 restored the long-term potentiation (LTP) impaired by morphine in both freely moving and anaesthetised rats. The electrophysiological recording in vitro showed that Rg1 restored the LTP in slices from the rats treated with morphine, but not changed LTP in the slices from normal saline- or morphine/Rg1-treated rats; this restoration could be inhibited by N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist MK801. We conclude that Rg1 may significantly improve the spatial learning capacity impaired by chonic morphine administration and restore the morphine-inhibited LTP. This effect is NMDA receptor dependent.

An effective method for axillary bud culture and RAPD analysis of cloned plants in tetraploid black locust.

An efficient micropropagation technique by axillary bud multiplication was established for cloning tetraploid black locust tree (Robinia pseudoacacia L.). The result showed that the optimal medium for shoot multiplication and elongation was Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/l 6-benzylaminopurine in combination with 0.5 mg/l kinetin and 0.1 mg/l 1-naphthaleneacetic acid. The best medium for rooting was half-strength MS medium with 0.25 mg/l indole-3-butyric acid. In the present report, we examined the genetic fidelity of the micropropagated plants by the randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) method with 25 primers. The cloned plants of tetraploid black locust showed complete stability.

ESR studies on reaction of saccharide with the free radicals generated from the xanthine oxidase/hypoxanthine system containing iron.

The free radicals generated from the iron containing system of xanthine oxidase and hypoxanthine (Fe-XO/HX) were directly detected by using spin trapping. It was found that not only superoxide anion (O(2)*-) and hydroxyl radical (OH*), but also alkyl or alkoxyl radicals (R*) were formed when saccharides such as glucose, fructose and sucrose were added into the Fe-XO/HX system. The generated amount of R* was dependent on the kind and concentration of saccharides added into the Fe-XO/HX system and no R* were detected in the absence of saccharides, indicating that there is an interaction between the saccharide molecules and the free radicals generated from the Fe-XO/HX system and saccharide molecules are essential for generating R* in the Fe-XO/HX system. It is expected that the toxicity of R* would be greater than of hydrophilic O(2)*- and OH* because they are liposoluble and their lives are longer and the active sites of biomolecules are closely related with lipophilic phase, thus they can damage cells more seriously than O(2)*- and OH*. The R* generated from the saccharide containing Fe-XO/HX can be effectively scavenged by selenium containing abzyme (Se-abzyme), indicating Se-abzyme is a promising antioxidant.

Protection of myocardial mitochondria against oxidative damage by selenium-containing abzyme m4G3.

Selenium-containing abzyme (m4G3) was prepared and its protection of myocardial mitochondria against oxidative damage was studied using the swelling of mitochondria, quantity of lipid peroxidation products, and change in cytochrome-c oxidase activity as a measure of mitochondrial damage. The results showed that m4G3 could inhibit mitochondrial damage caused by the hypoxanthine-xanthine oxidase system in vitro. Electronic spin resonance (ESR) studies demonstrated that m4G3 could decrease the amount of free radicals generated in the damage system.