Selected spices and their combination modulate hypercholesterolemia-induced oxidative stress in experimental rats

BACKGROUND: Effect of aqueous extracts of Allium sativum (garlic), Zingiber officinale (ginger), Capsicum fructensces (cayenne pepper) and their mixture on oxidative stress in rats fed high Cholesterol/high fat diet was investigated. Rats were randomly distributed into six groups (n = 6) and given different dietary/spice treatments. Group 1 standard rat chow (control), group 2, hypercholesterolemic diet plus water, and groups 3, 4, 5, 6, hypercholesterolemic diet with 0.5 ml 200 mg · kg-1 aqueous extracts of garlic, ginger, cayenne pepper or their mixture respectively daily for 4 weeks. RESULTS: Pronounced oxidative stress in the hypercholesterolemic rats evidenced by significant (p < 0.05) increase in MDA levels, and suppression of the antioxidant enzymes system in rat's liver, kidney, heart and brain tissues was observed. Extracts of spices singly or combined administered at 200 mg.kg-1 body weight significantly (p < 0.05) reduced MDA levels and restored activities of antioxidant enzymes. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that consumption of garlic, ginger, pepper, or their mixture may help to modulate oxidative stress caused by hypercholesterolemia in rats.

Polygalacturonase inhibitor protein from fruits of anthracnose resistant and susceptible varieties of Chilli (Capsicum annuum L).

Chilli fruit is highly susceptible to anthracnose infection at the stage of harvest maturity, due to which the fruit yield in the leading commercial variety Byadgi is severely affected. Field studies on screening of several varieties for resistance to anthracnose have shown that a variety of chilli AR-4/99K is resistant to anthracnose infection. In many crops, resistance to fungal attack has been correlated with PGIP activity in developing fruits based on which transgenic varieties have been developed with resistance to fungi. The present study was carried out to determine whether anthracnose resistance in AR-4/99K was due to the increased levels of PGIP alone and/ or due to differences, if any, in the properties of PGIP. Hence, a comparative study of the properties of polygalacturonase inhibitor protein (PGIP) isolated from fruits of anthracnose resistant chilli var AR-4/99K and a susceptible variety Byadgi was conducted with the objective of utilizing the information in genetic transformation studies. Both the PGIPs from anthracnose resistant and susceptible varieties of chilli exhibited similarities in the elution pattern on Sephadex gel, DEAE cellulose, PAGE and SDS-PAGE. The two PGIPs were active over a wide range of pH and temperature. Both PGIPs showed differential inhibitory activity against polygalacturonase (PG) secreted by Colletotrichum gleosporoides, C. capsici, C. lindemuthianum, Fusarium moniliforme and Sclerotium rolfsii. The inhibitory activity of PGIP from both resistant and susceptible varieties was the highest (82% and 76%, respectively) against the PG from Colletotrichum capsici, a pathogen causing anthracnose rot of chilli, while the activity was lower (1.27 to 12.3%) on the other fungal PGs. Although PGIP activity decreased with fruit maturation in both the varieties, the resistant variety maintained a higher activity at 45 days after flowering (DAF) as compared to the susceptible variety which helped it to overcome the infection by anthracnose as against the susceptible variety (Byadgi) in which PGIP activity was drastically reduced at maturity. The molecular mass of PGIP as determined by SDS-PAGE was found to be 37 kDa. N-terminal sequence analysis of the PGIP showed the first six amino acid residues from N-terminal end were Asp-Thr-His-Lys-Ser-Glu (DTHKSE), respectively. The similarities in properties of the two PGIPs support the earlier findings that resistance of AR-4/99K to anthracnose fungus is a result of its higher PGIP activity at maturity.

Expression of SOD transgene in pepper confer stress tolerance and improve shoot regeneration / Expresión del transgén SOD en el pimiento que confiere tolerancia al estrés y mejora la regeneración de brotes

The objective of this work was to study the stress tolerance and regeneration capability of transgenic pepper plants carrying a sod gene, encoding a tomato chloroplast-localized Cu/Zn SOD protein. The expression of the sod gene was confirmed by enzymatic staining following polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), revealing a ‘novel’ band, which could represent a heterodimeric enzyme. Transgenic T1 and T2 progeny plants were exposed to different oxidative stresses including Methyl viologen (MV) and drought and found to have an increased resistance to oxidative damage. Furthermore, the SOD carrying transgenic pepper plants showed increased levels of regeneration efficiency compared to the wild type pepper plants. Pepper is a recalcitrant species in terms of its in vitro regeneration ability but it could be extremely useful for the development of pharmaceuticals. This approach enables the extent use of pepper for genetic transformation and the production of high valuable products in plants particularly the large fruit varieties.

Efecto de la adición de la semilla de paprika en la dieta para la infección por Salmonella enteritidis en pollos de engorda / Effect of the administration of dietary paprika seed on Salmonella enteritidis infection in broiler chicks

En el presente trabajo se evaluó el efecto protectivo de la semilla de parpika en la dieta para la colonización e invasión de Salmonella enteritidis en órganos, peso corporal y pH del contenido cecal. Los pollos se pesaron al momento de la llegada y se evaluó el peso a los 7 y 15 días de edad, no encontrándose diferencias estadísticamente significativas (P>0.05). A los 15 días de edad, todas las aves se desafiaron con 10 8 ufc/ml de S. enteritidis resistente a la novobiocina (NO) y al ácido nalidíxico (AN). Las aves fueron sacrificadas 24 horas posinoculación y se tomaron muestras de hígado, bazo y tonsilas cecales. En relación con el número total de aves positivas a S. enteritidis en tonsilas cecales, no se observaron diferencias estadísticamente significativas (P>0.05) en todos los grupos experimentales; sin embargo, en hígado y bazo, la invasión disminuyó significativamente (P<0.05) en los grupos tratados con 18 ppm de ácido cápsico (AC) puro (26/39) y con 18 ppm de AC a partir de semillas de paprika (25/37) comparados con el grupo testigo (34/39). En el grupo con 27 ppm de AC de semilla de paprika (25/39) se observó una diferencia estadísticamente significativa (P<0.025) en relación con el grupo testigo. El pH del contenido cecal decreció significativamente (P<0.05) en todos los grupos tratados con respecto al grupo testigo. Los resultados obtenidos en este trabajo concuerdan con estudios previos y demuestran que el ácido cápsico presente en la semilla de paprika también resultó efectivo en la disminución de la viabilidad de S. enteritidis para colonizar e invadir órganos internos