Effects of Dietary Tuber Ethanolic Extract of Nut Grass (Cyperus rotundus Linn.) on Growth, Immune Response, and Disease Resistance in Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus).

Nut grass (Cyperus rotundus Linn.) is a weed that grows in all tropical, subtropical and temperate regions of the world, including areas where it grows on saline soil. This research was conducted to evaluate the effect of C. rotundus tuber extract in the diet on the growth performance and disease resistance of Nile tilapia. Various components of phytochemical importance of nut grass, including sugars/carbohydrates, terpenoids, tannins, and flavonoids were found in C. rotundus. Tilapia (n = 25 fish/group in triplicate) were fed with different levels of nut grass extract including 0 (control; T1), 0.4 (T2), 0.8 (T3), and 1.6 (T4) g/kg for 60 days in a completely randomized design (CRD) experiment. After the feeding trial, the highest weight gain and average daily gain (ADG) were observed in the T4 group, but it was not significantly different from T3 (Nile tilapia fed with a 0.8 g/kg) (p > 0.05). The lowest feed conversion ratio (FCR) was observed in the T3 group. Moreover, the fillet, crud lipid content, and blood chemical profiles (aspartate aminotransferase (AST), cholesterol, and malondialdehyde (MDA)) in fish fed with 1.6 g/kg were highest when compared in all groups. In addition, the T3 group presented with the immune response parameter found in red blood cells (RBC), lysozyme activity, and antioxidant (superoxide dismutase activity (SOD)) being higher than those of the control group (p < 0.05). The highest survival (93.33%) was observed in fish fed with 0.8 g/kg (T3) after a 14 day challenge with Streptococcus agalactiae. Thus, it was concluded that nut grass extract at 0.8 g/kg can be used to improve the growth performance and the tendency for resistance to S. agalactiae in Nile tilapia.

Botanical aspects, phytochemicals, and toxicity of Tamarindus indica leaf and a systematic review of antioxidant capacities of T. indica leaf extracts.

Oxidative stress is a condition occurs when there is the imbalance between prooxidants and free radicals. It involves in cellular metabolism, aging, and immune response. Recently oxidative stress has been proved about its beneficial roles in human body. However, long term oxidative stress and high concentration of free radicals can lead to negative effects on organs, systems, and physiological conditions. Prooxidant or antioxidant, therefore, is one of the most important choices for the prevention of these anomaly. Tamarindus indica is a medicinal plant that has been reported as a source of antioxidants. The plants' leaves possess antioxidant effects according to many studies. However, these results have not yet been systematically summarized. The present systematic review summarizes and discusses about the in vitro antioxidant capacities of T. indica leaves. The plants' description and morphology, elements and phytochemical constituents, total phenolic and flavonoids contents and toxicity are also summarized and discussed here.

Anticancer Activities of Polygonum odoratum Lour.: A Systematic Review.

Cancers are a potential cause of death worldwide and represent a massive burden for healthcare systems. Treating cancers requires substantial resources, including skilled personnel, medications, instruments, and funds. Thus, developing cancer prevention and treatment measures is necessary for healthcare personnel and patients alike. P. odoratum (Polygonaceae family) is a plant used as a culinary ingredient. It exhibits several pharmacological activities, such as antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer. Several classes of phytochemical constituents of P. odoratum have been reported. The important ones might be polyphenol and flavonoid derivatives. In this systematic review, the activities of P. odoratum against cancerous cells were determined and summarized. Data were obtained through a systematic search of electronic databases (EMBASE, PubMed, Scopus, Thai Thesis Database, Science Direct and Clinical Key). Eight studies met the eligibility criteria. The cancerous cell lines used in the studies were lymphoma, leukemia, oral, lung, breast, colon, and liver cancer cells. Based on this review, P. odoratum extracts significantly affected Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genome-carrying human lymphoblastoid (Raji), mouse lymphocytic leukemia (P388), human acute lymphocytic leukemia (Jurkat), breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7), human colon adenocarcinoma (HT-29), human T lymphoblast (MOLT-4), human promyelocytic leukemia cell line (HL-60), human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2), and oral squamous cell carcinoma (SAS, SCC-9, HSC-3) through induction of cell apoptosis, arrest of the cell cycle, inhibition of cell proliferation, migration, and colonization. The molecular mechanism of P. odoratum against cancers was reported to involve suppressing essential proteins required for cell proliferation, colonization, migration, apoptosis, and angiogenesis. They were survivin, cyclin-D, cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2), matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), and vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A). The extract of P. odoratum was also involved in the protein kinase B (Akt)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway by inhibiting the expression of Akt, phosphorylated Akt, mTOR, and phosphorylated mTOR. From the key results of this review, P. odoratum is a promising chemotherapy and chemopreventive agent. Further investigation of its pharmacological activity and mechanism of action should be conducted using standardized extracts. In vivo experiments and clinical trials are required to confirm the anticancer activity.

Immunochromatographic determination of bacopaside I in biological samples.

We describe a novel immunochromatographic method for qualitative and quantitative analyses of bacopaside I, a bioactive constituent in Bacopa monnieri (L.) Wettst in biological samples. The assay was performed on polyethersulfone membrane using a polyclonal antibody raised against bacopaside I. The finalised method could quantitatively determine bacopaside I in the range of 31.3-1000.0ng and the detection and quantification limits were 1.0 and 31.3ng, respectively. The percentage recoveries of bacopaside I in blood and urine were nearly 100% indicating the accuracy of the extraction. The method was then applied for the determination of this compound in rat serum, urine and feces after an oral dose of 15mg/kg body weight. About 4% of the ingested dose of bacopaside I was detected in rat feces but none was detected in serum and urine which accorded with results from liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. The accuracy, selectivity, sensitivity of the method are appropriate for in vivo pharmacokinetic studies.

LC-ESI-QTOF-MS based screening and identification of isomeric jujubogenin and pseudojujubogenin aglycones in Bacopa monnieri extract.

Bacopa monnieri (L.) Wettst. (Scrophulariaceae) is an Ayurvedic medicinal plant used as a memory enhancer. Its major chemical constituents are Bacopa saponins consisting of jujubogenin and pseudojujubogenin glycosides. These two aglycones are isomers different at the positions of prenyl substitution i.e., at C-23 for jujubogenin and at C-22 for pseudojujubogenin. In this study, we demonstrate the rapid and comprehensive characterization of saponin glycosides in B. monnieri using liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer (LC-ESI-QTOF-MS). This shows that ESI-QTOF-MS in positive-ion mode, jujubogenin and pseudojujubogenin glycosides could be discriminated by the peak abundance ratio of m/z 455 [Aglycone+H-H2O](+) to m/z of 473 [Aglycone+H](+). Furthermore, the sequence of sugar moieties can be observed. In a similar manner, the isomeric saponins; deoxyjujubogenin and deoxypseudojujubogenin glycosides can be distinguished using the m/z 437[Aglycone+H-H2O](+) and m/z 455[Aglycone+H](+) peak ratio. Use of the negative-ion mode with MS/MS fragmentation can provide information about the type of sugar linked to the aglycone i.e., at m/z 633 (aglycone+glucose) or at m/z 603 (aglycone+arabinose). With our method, 62 chemical constituents in B. monnieri including saponin glycosides, flavonoids, and alkaloids were identified. This is the first systematic study in structural characterization on isomeric saponins and other metabolites in B. monnieri using ESI-QTOF-MS.