Functional Evaluation of Fermented Rice Bran and Extracted Rice Bran Oil Addressing for Human Health Benefit.

Rice bran (RB) and rice bran oil (RBO) are exploring as prominent food component worldwide and their compositional variation is being varied among the world due to regional and production process. In this study, Fermented Rice Bran (FRB) was produced by employing edible gram-positive bacteria (Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Bifidobacterium bifidum) at 125×10 5 spore g -1 of rice bran, and investigated to evaluate nutritional quality. The Crude Rice Bran Oil (CRBO) was extracted from RB and its quality was also investigated compared to market available rice bran oil (MRBO) in Bangladesh. We found that fermentation of rice bran with lactic acid bacteria increased total proteins (29.52%), fat (5.38%), ash (48.47%), crude fiber (38.96%), and moisture (61.04%) and reduced the carbohydrate content (36.61%). We also found that essential amino acids (Threonine, valine, leucine, lysine, histidine and phenylalanine) and non-essential amino acids (alanine, aspartate, glycine, glutamine, serine and tyrosine) were increased in FRB except methionine and proline. Moreover, total phenolic content, tannin content, flavonoid content and antioxidant activity were increased in FRB. The RBO analysis showed that γ-oryzanol content (10.00 mg/g) were found in CRBO compared to MRBO (ranging 7.40 to 12.70 mg/g) and Vitamin-E content 0.20% were found higher in CRBO compared to MRBO (ranging 0.097 to 0.12%). The total saturated (25.16%) and total unsaturated fatty acids (74.44%) were found in CRBO whereas MRBO contained total saturated (22.08 to 24.13%) and total unsaturated fatty acids (71.91 to 83.29%) respectively. The physiochemical parameters (density, refractive index, iodine value) were found satisfactory in all sample except acid value and peroxide value higher in CRBO. Heavy metal concentration was found within an acceptable range in both CRBO and MRBO. Thus FRB and RBO could be value added food supplement for human health.

Biotin Enhances Testosterone Production in Mice and Their Testis-Derived Cells.

Late-onset hypogonadism, a male age-related syndrome characterized by a decline in testosterone production in the testes, is commonly treated with testosterone replacement therapy, which has adverse side effects. Therefore, an alternative treatment is highly sought. Supplementation of a high dosage of biotin, a water-soluble vitamin that functions as a coenzyme for carboxylases involved in carbohydrate, lipid, and amino acid metabolism, has been shown to influence testis functions. However, the involvement of biotin in testis steroidogenesis has not been well clarified. In this study, we examined the effect of biotin on testosterone levels in mice and testis-derived cells. In mice, intraperitoneal treatment with biotin (1.5 mg/kg body weight) enhanced testosterone levels in the serum and testes, without elevating serum levels of pituitary luteinizing hormone. To investigate the mechanism in which biotin increased the testosterone level, mice testis-derived I-10 cells were used. The cells treated with biotin increased testosterone production in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Biotin treatment elevated intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate levels via adenylate cyclase activation, followed by the activation of protein kinase A and testosterone production. These results suggest that biotin may have the potential to improve age-related male syndromes associated with declining testosterone production.