Cymbopogon citratus Protects Erythrocytes from Lipid Peroxidation in vitro.

INTRODUCTION: Essential oils are complex mixtures of volatile compounds, primarily composed of terpenes and abundant aromatic plants. For example, Cymbopogon citratus (lemongrass) is an aromatic plant that produces a monoterpene-rich essential oil, and studies show that this essential oil has excellent antioxidant activity. Erythrocytes incubated under high sugar levels are constantly exposed to reactive oxygen species, which results in the oxidation of their membranes. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this article is to investigate the antioxidant activity of lemongrass essential oil and its protective effect on erythrocytes exposed to high levels of glucose. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The essential oil was obtained by steam dragging distillation; blood cell suspensions were incubated with glucose 5, 20, 50, and 100 mmol/L. The amount of TBARS produced was measured at 532 nm. In addition, the percentage of antioxidant activity was assessed by DPPH free radical assay. RESULTS: Lemongrass essential oil showed an increase in the antioxidant activity up to 240 mg/ml, while ascorbic acid used as positive control showed a dose-dependent increase in antioxidant activity starting at 1 mmol/L up to 18 mmol/L. However, such a lemongrass dose prevented peroxidation in erythrocytes incubated under a high glucose media, whereas ascorbic acid showed a protective effect only at a concentration of 1 mmol/L. CONCLUSION: Lemongrass essential oil has high antioxidant activity compared to standard antioxidant as ascorbic acid, and also acts as a protective agent against erythrocyte lipoperoxidation due to hyperglycemia in vitro.

Metabolism, intake, and digestibility of lambs supplemented with organic chromium.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the metabolism of organic chromium and its effect on digestibility and intake of lambs. Four 4-month-old male lambs, each weighing 28 kg, were used. The animals were kept in metabolic cages for a period of 20 days (15 days of adaptation and 5 days of experimentation), in two experimental phases, with inverted treatments. Organic chromium was administered by intraruminal infusion of 1 mg of chromium-rich yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) throughout the adaptive and experimental period. The dry material rates of the diet and feces of the animals were evaluated to estimate consumption, digestibility, and fecal production. During the experimental period, blood, feces, and urine were collected every 24 h to determine chromium levels. There was no significant difference in the excretion of chromium in the urine, and no mineral remnants were detected in the blood. Excretion was generally fecal. There was greater excretion of chromium in the feces of lambs in the treated group on day 0 and day 3, compared with the control group. The use of organic chromium promoted an increase in the consumption of dry material in the treated animals only at day 0 (P <0.05). The production of fecal dry matter was greater among the treated lambs than among the animals of the control group on day 1, day 2, day 3, and day 4 (P <0.05). The results obtained showed that organic chromium associated with live yeasts is not absorbed by the body and do not affect the intake time in the dose used.

Desempenho ponderal, função hepática e hemograma de borregos naturalmente infectados por helmintos gastrintestinais suplementados com ferro oral ou parenteral

Esta pesquisa foi realizada com objetivo de avaliar os valores de hematócrito, hemoglobina, hematimetria, leucometria global, ferro sérico, AST, GGT, albumina, ferro sérico, ganho de peso e status parasitológico em cordeiros anêmicos naturalmente infectados por helmintos gastrintestinais suplementados com ferro oral ou parenteral. Foram utilizados 27 cordeiros com peso vivo médio em quilogramas de 27,66 ± 5,8 e idade entre 8 e 10 meses com anemia verminótica alocados em três grupos experimentais; Grupo controle (GC) n=9, Grupo Sulfato ferroso (G2) n=9 e Grupo Ferro Dextrano (G3) n=9. Os animais do G2 receberam via oral diariamente uma grama de sulfato ferroso (Fe+2SO4), equivalente a 200 miligramas de ferro durante 21 dias, já os animais do G3 receberam duas aplicações de 25mg/kgde peso vivo de ferro dextrano por via intramuscular com intervalo de sete dias, a primeira no dia zero e a segunda no dia sete do experimento, enquanto que os animais do GC não receberam tratamento. As coletas de dados foram realizadas nos dias 0, 7, 14 e 21 do experimento. Os níveis de ferro sérico no G3 foram superiores quando comparado aos GC e G2 nos dias 7 e 14 (p 0,05). Em relação aos parâmetros eritrocitários, o G3 apresentou índices superiores (p 0,05) em comparação aos GC e G2 nos dias 7, 14 e 21. A concentração de ferro hepático no G3 foi superior em relação aos GC e G2, apesar de não a