Exploring Therapeutic Potential of Pleurotus ostreatus and Agaricus bisporus Mushrooms against Hyperlipidemia and Oxidative Stress Using Animal Model.

The mushrooms oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus) and white button (Agaricus bisporus) contain bioactive compounds that have potential beneficial effects on hypercholesterolemia and cardiovascular diseases. In this study, hypolipidemic and antioxidative potential of these mushrooms' extract were explored using hypercholesterolemic (HC) rats as animal model. For the study, 56 adult rats were divided into seven groups, i.e., G1 (negative control), G2 (positive control group), G3 (HC rats with statin drug orally), G4 and G5 (HC rats @ 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight (BW) dose of oyster mushroom extracts), and G6 and G7 (HC rats @ 100 and 200 mg/kg BW dose of white button mushroom extracts). The hypercholesterolemia was induced experimentally in fasted rats through a high-fat diet along with injection of triton WR-1339. After 48 h, the treatment groups were given extract for 28 days along with standard diet. At the trial termination, we analyzed the blood sugar levels, antioxidant parameters, lipid profile, and renal function, as well as conducting liver function tests of the rats. The results indicated that positive control group rats exhibited increased levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density level (LDL), and very-low-density level (vLDL) by 19%, 37%, 52%, and 32%, respectively, and 53% decrease in HDL, whereas treatment groups that received 200 mg oyster and white button mushroom extracts reported 15%, 34%, 22% reduction in TC, TG, vLDL, respectively, and 22% improvement in HDL level. The enzyme profiles of different groups showed non-significant differences, although both mushroom extracts provision reduced glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) and glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT) levels. Overall, the results indicated that mushroom extracts were helpful in maintaining oxidative stress and have the potential to improve dyslipidemia in the tested rat animal model.

Evaluation of COVID-19 Disease Awareness and Its Relation to Mental Health, Dietary Habits, and Physical Activity: A Cross-Sectional Study from Pakistan.

Coronavirus infection (COVID-19) has significantly increased the mortality and morbidity rates worldwide. The present study was conducted to assess the general public's awareness of COVID-19 and its association with mental health, dietary habits, and physical activity. A web-based survey was conducted to gather information about demographics, knowledge about COVID-19, dietary habits, mental health, and anthropometry among the general public of Pakistan. Descriptive statistics, chi-square test, and multiple logistic regression were used for data analysis. The majority of the participants were suffering from anxiety (71.0%) and depression (52.0%) during the COVID-19 pandemic; 32.4% of participants had poor COVID-19-related knowledge. COVID-19 lockdown reduced the physical activity of 66.9% of participants and increased weight of 38.8% of the survey participants. Demographic variables, including age, gender, ethnicity, education, employment, family type, and geographical location, were significantly associated with knowledge about COVID-19 (P < 0.05). Depression was inversely associated with COVID-19 knowledge (P < 0.05). Healthy changes in dietary habits including decreased consumption of fast foods, soft and cola drinks, fruit drinks, cooked meat (outside the home), sugar, and fats, and were associated with increased knowledge of COVID-19. Vitamin C and immunity-boosting supplement consumption were significantly associated with increased knowledge regarding COVID-19 (< 0.05). Inadequate knowledge about COVID-19 and the presence of anxiety and depression were found among most of the study participants. There is a need to conduct educational seminars to limit the health consequences resulting from COVID-19 lockdown.

Iron and prebiotic fortified flour improves the immune function of iron deficient women of childbearing age.

Micronutrient deficiencies (MNDs) are common worldwide, in both developing as well as developed countries. MNDs such as Iron Deficiency not only compromise the nutritional status of individuals but can also put them at an increased risk of developing various other diseases by negatively affecting their immunity. The objective of the current research was to determine the effects of prebiotics and iron fortificants on various immunoglobulins among iron deficient women belonging to childbearing age. To serve the purpose, a total of seventy five iron deficient women were selected and randomly divided into one control and four treatment groups. Accordingly, different types of fortified wheat flour were prepared, based on varying dosage of prebiotics and iron fortificants, to be fed to anemic women on daily basis for three months. Two iron salts (FeSO4 and NaFeEDTA) and two prebiotics (Galacto oligosaccharides and Inulin) were used to fortify wheat flour during the trials. Overnight fasted women were asked to give blood samples on monthly basis, up to three months. Four types of Immunoglobulins including IgA, IgE, IgG and IgM were determined at baseline, 30th, 60th and 90th day of trials using their respective protocols. The results of the study indicated that a statistically significant declining trend for IgA, IgE, IgG and IgM was present among the treatment groups (P-value < 0.05), compared to the control group. The study concluded that provision of iron and prebiotic fortified flour improved the immune function of iron deficient women.

Immune modulatory and anti-oxidative effect of selenium against pulmonary tuberculosis.

Prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in Pakistan is due to poor living conditions, malnutrition and low immunity. The present project was conducted to show the role of selenium complement to enhance the immune status against TB. Total of 80 human TB patients were divided into treatment (selenium and anti-tuberculosis drug) and control groups (anti-tuberculosis drug). Levels of selenium, immunoglobulin and leukocyte count were determined before and after treatment. Selenium showed significant increase in levels of immunoglobulin and leukocyte count in patients as compared to control group. The level of SOD, catalase, glutathione and total antioxidants were remarkably lowered among control type group as compared to treatment type group (P<0.01). However, the values of lipid peroxidation products malondialdehyde (MDA) were notably higher in control group than treatment group.

Synergistic effect of galacto oligosaccharides and iron fortificants on serum iron, ferritin, transferrin and total iron binding capacity levels in anemic rats.

Iron deficiency anemia is one of the leading public health issues being faced by the global population currently. The present research was an attempt to determine the synergistic effect of Galacto Oligosaccharides and iron fortificants on serum iron, serum ferritin, serum transferrin and total iron binding capacity in anemic rats. To serve the purpose, eight different types of fortified feed were prepared with varying concentrations of Iron Fortificants (NaFeEDTA and FeSO4) while the varying dosage of galacto oligosaccharides was dissolved separately in water to be fed to anemic rats. Afterwards, animal trials were conducted for twelve weeks to determine the efficacy of Galacto Oligosaccharides & iron fortificants based feed against the aforementioned parameters. The results of the study suggested that both serum iron and serum ferritin levels were significantly improved when anemic rats were fed with iron and Galacto Oligosaccharides fortified feed. It was also observed that the levels of serum transferrin and total iron binding capacity steadily decreased over the study duration. It can be concluded that Galacto Oligosaccharides helped enhance the absorption of iron in anemic rats, reflected by increase in serum iron and serum ferritin levels and decrease in serum transferrin and total iron binding capacity.

White Sesame Seed Oil Mitigates Blood Glucose Level, Reduces Oxidative Stress, and Improves Biomarkers of Hepatic and Renal Function in Participants with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

OBJECTIVES: The study was designed to investigate the impact of white sesame seed oil (WSSO) consumption on fasting blood glucose (GLU), insulin (INS), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and hepatic antioxidant enzymes. A secondary aim was to check the influence on serum biochemistry, hepatic, cardiac, and renal functions. METHODS: Forty-six participants with type 2 diabetes were recruited and randomly divided into two equal groups: diabetic control (DCON) and diabetic sesame oil (DSO). At baseline and 30, 60, and 90 days, blood samples were drawn and analyzed. Two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to evaluate the difference between groups and across time. RESULTS: In both groups, GLU, INS, and HbA1c were not significantly different at baseline (mean 187.07 ± 5.63 mg/dl, mean 12.12 ± 1.03 µU/ml, and mean 7.55 ± 0.37%, respectively). At 90 days, GLU was significantly (p < 0.05) decreased in DSO (137.83 ± 3.16 mg/dl) when compared with DCON (218.13 ± 5.92 mg/dl), while INS was significantly increased in DSO (23.13 ± 1.15 µU/ml) as compared to DCON (7.93 ± 0.38 µU/ml). At 90 days, HbA1c was significantly lower (p < 0.05) in DSO as compared to DCON. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances were significantly lower (p < 0.05) in DSO (1.08 ± 0.05 [MDA] nmol/ml) as compared to DCON (2.26 ± 0.07 [MDA] nmol/ml). In DSO, activities of hepatic antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase) increased while in DCON these activities decreased significantly (p < 0.05) across the time period. Biomarkers of liver, cardiac, and renal functions improved significantly in DSO as compared to DCON. CONCLUSION: WSSO as a functional food may play an important role in GLU regulation and against deleterious effects of diabetes in humans with type 2 diabetes.

Nutraceutical, Anti-Inflammatory, and Immune Modulatory Effects of ß-Glucan Isolated from Yeast.

ß-Glucan is a dietary fibre, found in many natural sources, and controls chronic metabolic diseases effectively. However, ß-glucan from the yeast has rarely been investigated. Objectively, conditions were optimized to isolate ß-glucan from the yeast (max. 66% yield); those optimized conditions included 1.0 M NaOH, pH 7.0, and 90°C. The purity and identity of the isolated ß-glucan were characterized through FT-IR, SEM, DSC, and physicofunctional properties. The obtained results from DSC revealed highly stable ß-glucan (m.p., 125°C) with antioxidant activity (TAC value 0.240 ± 0.0021 µg/mg, H2O2 scavenging 38%), which has promising bile acid binding 40.463% and glucose control (in vitro). In line with these results, we evaluated the in vivo anti-inflammatory potential, that is, myeloperoxidase activity and reduction in MDA and NO; protective effect on proteins and keeping viscosity within normal range exhibited improvement. Also, the in vivo cholesterol binding and reduction in the skin thickness by ß-glucan were highly encouraging. Finally, our results confirmed that yeast ß-glucan is effective against some of the inflammatory and oxidative stress markers studied in this investigation. In general, the effect of 4% ß-glucan was more noticeable versus 2% ß-glucan. Therefore, our results support the utilization of ß-glucan as a novel, economically cheap, and functional food ingredient.

Evaluation of White Sesame Seed Oil on Glucose Control and Biomarkers of Hepatic, Cardiac, and Renal Functions in Male Sprague-Dawley Rats with Chemically Induced Diabetes.

White sesame seed oil (WSSO) has been used in cooking and food preparations for centuries. It has many purported health benefits and may be a promising nutraceutical. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effects of WSSO on fasting blood glucose (GLU) and insulin (INS) in male Sprague-Dawley rats with chemically induced diabetes. A secondary aim was to explore other hematological biomarkers of hepatic, cardiac, and renal function. Sixty-three male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into standard diet groups, normal control (NCON) (n = 21) and diabetic control (DCON) (n = 21), and a diabetic sesame oil (DSO) (n = 21) group, which were fed a diet containing 12% WSSO. Blood samples were analyzed at 0, 30, and 60 days. Differences between groups and across days were assessed with two-way repeated measures analysis of variance. At baseline, GLU and INS were similar in both diabetic groups, mean 248.4 ± 2.8 mg/dL and mean 23.4 ± 0.4 µU/mL, respectively. At 60 days, GLU was significantly (P < .05) higher in DCON (298.0 ± 2.3 mg/dL) compared with DSO (202.1 ± 1.0 mg/dL). INS showed similar favorable trends after WSSO supplementation. Consumption of WSSO significantly improved glucose control and other biomarkers of hepatic stress, as well as cardiac and renal health. WSSO may be a viable functional food to help reduce the detrimental effects of diabetes.