Therapeutic use of selected herbs.

An increasing number of people in the United States are using herbs for health promotion and specific symptom management. Herbs are used to initiate healing through synergistic responses unlike the specific properties of pharmaceuticals. Anecdotal data comprise much of the popular information available about herbs. Scientific studies of the efficacy and safety of herbs, although on the rise, are less available than other drug trials. Clinicians need an appropriate knowledge base for dealing with patients who take herbal preparations as well as the ability to confidently include herbal preparations in their formulary. In this article, five common herbs are reviewed. The effects, clinical studies, side effects, and dosing regimens for aloe vera, arnica, black cohosh, evening primrose oil, and saw palmetto are described.

The feeding value of soybeans fed to rats, chickens, catfish and dairy cattle is not altered by genetic incorporation of glyphosate tolerance.

Animal feeding studies were conducted with rats, broiler chickens, catfish and dairy cows as part of a safety assessment program for a soybean variety genetically modified to tolerate in-season application of glyphosate. These studies were designed to compare the feeding value (wholesomeness) of two lines of glyphosate-tolerant soybeans (GTS) to the feeding value of the parental cultivar from which they were derived. Processed GTS meal was incorporated into the diets at the same concentrations as used commercially; diary cows were fed 10 g/100 g cracked soybeans in the diet, a level that is on the high end of what is normally fed commercially. In a separate study, laboratory rats were fed 5 and 10 g unprocessed soybean meal 100 g diet. The study durations were 4 wk (rats and dairy cows), 6 wk (broilers) and 10 wk (catfish). Growth, feed conversion (rats, catfish, broilers), fillet composition (catfish), and breast muscle and fat pad weights (broilers) were compared for animals fed the parental and GTS lines. Milk production, milk composition, rumen fermentation and nitrogen digestibility were also compared for dairy cows. In all studies, measured variables were similar for animals fed both GTS lines and the parental line, indicating that the feeding value of the two GTS lines is comparable to that of the parental line. These studies support detailed compositional analysis of the GTS seeds, which showed no meaningful differences between the parental and GTS lines in the concentrations of important nutrients and antinutrients. They also confirmed the results of other studies that demonstrated the safety of the introduced protein, a bacterial 5-enolpyruvyl-shikimate-3-phosphate synthase from Agrobacterium sp. strain CP4.

Dietary phosphorus requirement of channel catfish.

Two experiments were conducted to reevaluate the dietary phosphorus requirement of fingerling channel catfish. Basal diets containing either casein with supplemental inorganic phosphorus and 0.5% total calcium or egg albumin with supplemental inorganic phosphorus and 0.75% total calcium yielded similar requirement data. Eleven-week growth, feed efficiency, serum phosphorus, bone ash, bone calcium and bon phosphorus data indicate that 0.33% apparent available dietary phosphorus is adequate for maximum growth and bone mineralization. Based on these data and previous findings, we would suggest a value of 0.4% apparent available phosphorus be used in formulating catfish feeds. The apparent availability of phosphorus from soybean meal, as determined by the chromic oxide indicator method, was 29% for channel catfish.

Magnesium requirement of fingerling channel catfish and signs of magnesium deficiency.

Purified casein diets with and without supplemental magnesium were fed to fingerling channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) in order to establish the essentially of this mineral. Fish fed the basal diet containing 0.004% magnesium developed deficiency signs such as poor growth, anorexia, sluggishness, muscle flaccidity and high mortality. After 3 weeks, two groups of fish fed the basal diet were converted to the supplemental diet containing 0.057% magnesium. Deficiency signs in these fish were alleviated almost immediately. In a second experiment, graded levels of magnesium sulfate were added to casein-based diets and fed to channel catfish fingerlings to determine their dietary requirement for magnesium. Results indicated that a minimum magnesium level of 0.04% of the dry diet was required to maintain normal growth, serum and bone magnesium levels in channel catfish fingerlings.

Apparent and true availability of amino acids from common feed ingredients for channel catfish.

The apparent and true amino acid availability values for corn, wheat middlings, rice bran, rice mill feed, soybean meal, peanut meal, cottonseed meal, meat and bone meal, and two different samples of menhaden fish meal were determined in adult channel catfish. Although there was reasonable agreement between protein digestibility values and average amino acid availability values, individual amino acid availabilities were variable within and among the various feed ingredients tested. Therefore, we recommended that amino acid availability values should be used for more accurate catfish feed formulation. In addition, it appears that the use of true amino acid availability values should be used for feed ingredients of relatively low protein content.

Arginine requirement and apparent absence of a lysine-arginine antagonist in fingerling channel catfish.

A series of growth studies, utilizing casein-gelatin based diets supplemented with crystalline amino acids, were conducted to determine the arginine requirement for fingerling channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) and to evaluate the effects of excessive levels of dietary lysine and arginine. Weight gain and feed efficiency data indicate the arginine requirement to be 1.03 +/- 0.07% and 1.00 +/- 0.06% of the dry diet, respectively. Based on growth this corresponds to 4.29% of the dietary protein. There was no evidence of an arginine-lysine antagonism when excess lysine was fed in diets adequate or marginal in arginine. Similarly, growth and feed efficiency data suggest the lack of an antagonism when excess arginine is added to diets marginal in lysine. Apparently channel catfish are not as sensitive to disproportionate lysine and arginine levels as are other animals.

Re-evaluation of the lysine requirement and lysine utilization by fingerling channel catfish.

Studies were conducted to reassess the lysine requirement for fingerling channel catfish and to evaluate the effects of feeding lysine-supplemented diets. Based on growth studies, utilizing casein and gelatin diets supplemented with crystalline L-amino acids to correspond to the pattern of 30% whole egg protein, the lysine requirement for fingerling channel catfish is approximately 1.5% of the dry diet or 5.0% of the dietary protein which confirms the previously reported lysine requirement. Contrary to prior reports, growth and feed efficiency data from studies using peanut meal diets (formulated to be first limiting in lysine) supplemented with feed grade lysine, demonstrate that fingerling channel catfish are able to utilize free amino acids effectively.

Total aromatic amino acid requirement, phenylalanine requirement and tyrosine replacement value for fingerling channel catfish.

A series of experiments was conducted to determine the aromatic amino acid requirement, the tyrosine replacement value for phenylalanine and the phenylalanine requirement under conditions of adequate tyrosine for fingerling channel catfish. Effects of excessive dietary levels of tyrosine were also investigated. The studies were conducted utilizing casein and gelatinbased diets supplemented with crystalline L-amino acids to correspond to the pattern of 24% whole egg protein. Based on 8-week growth studies, the total dietary aromatic amino acid requirement for fingerling channel catfish was approximately 1.20 +/- 0.06% (50% of the dietary protein) of which about 50% could be supplied by tyrosine. The phenylalanine requirement per se, based on growth and feed efficiency, was determined to be 0.47 +/- 0.02% and 0.49 +/- 0.02%, respectively. High dietary levels of tyrosine (up to 10%) did not adversely affect performance of fingerling channel catfish. It appears that neither serum-free phenylalanine nor serum-free tyrosine can be used to accurately predict dietary aromatic amino acid adequacy for the fingerling channel catfish.

Leucine, isoleucine, valine and histidine requirements of fingerling channel catfish.

Growth studies were conducted with fingerling channel catfish to determine the minimal requirements for the amino acids leucine, isoleucine, valine and histidine. The experimental diets were formulated from purified ingredients to contain 24% crude protein and 275 kcal/100 g diet. Casein and gelatin served as protein sources and were supplemented with crystalline L-amino acids to provide the amino acid pattern found in 24% crude protein from whole egg powder. Based on dry diet the catfish required 0.84 +/- 0.04% leucine, 0.62 +/- 0.04% isoleucine, 0.71 +/- 0.03% valine and 0.37 +/- 0.01% histidine. These values correspond to 3.50% leucine, 2.58% isoleucine 2.96% valine and 1.54% histidine when expressed as a percentage of dietary protein. Quantitation of serum free amino acid levels revealed a marked increase in valine and isoleucine in leucine-deficient fish. In addition, increases in dietary isoleucine or valine resulted in changes in the serum levels of isoleucine, valine and leucine. These data indicate an apparent interaction among these amino acids in the catfish comparable to that previously observed in other species. Dietary histidine caused no increase in serum free histidine levels until the dietary requirement was reached. Muscle carnosine could not be detected in the catfish.

Utilization of dietary sulfur compounds by fingerling channel catfish: L-methionine, DL-methionine, methionine hydroxy analogue, taurine and inorganic sulfate.

Sixteen isonitrogenous, isoenergetic diets were fed to fingerling channel catfish to study the efficacy of L-methionine, DL-methionine, methionine hydroxy analogue (OH-M), taurine and sodium sulfate. The basal diet contained casein and gelatin supplemented with crystalline L-amino acids to correspond to the amino acid pattern found in 24% crude protein from whole egg powder. The basal diet, containing 0.26% methionine was supplemented with graded levels of each of the sulfur sources on an isosulfurous basis. Growth and feed efficiency data indicate that channel catfish can utilize DL-methionine as effectively as L-methionine. OH-M was only about 26% as effective in promoting growth as L-methionine. No significant growth response was observed when taurine or inorganic sulfate was added to the basal diet.

Tryptophan and threonine requirements of fingerling channel catfish.

Growth studies, utilizing a 24% crude protein diet containing an amino acid pattern similar to whole egg protein, indicate that the tryptophan requirement for fingerling channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) is about 0.12% of the diet (dry weight basis) or 0.5% of the dietary protein. Similar studies indicate that the threonine requirement for the same fish is about 0.53% of the diet (dry weight basis) or 2.21% of the dietary protein. The dietary requirement of threonine was confirmed by serum free threonine analysis. A marked increase in serum free threonine occurred at a dietary threonine level of approximately 0.5% of the diet. None of the gross pathological changes previously reported for tryptophan deficiency in sockeye salmon and rainbow trout were observed in channel catfish.

Essentiality of biotin for channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) fed lipid and lipid-free diets.

A 3 X 2 factorial feeding study was conducted with channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) to evaluate effects of biotin, no biotin, or a biotin antagonist (avidin) in lipid and lipid-free diets. At 10 weeks, fish fed diets containing lipid were significantly larger than fish fed lipid-free diets. At 20 weeks, fish fed diets containing avidin had grown significantly less than those fed the other diets. At 22 weeks, fish fed the lipid diet supplemented with biotin had grown significantly more than those fed the lipid diet without biotin. Fish fed the lipid diet with avidin were found to be anemic and exhibited a marked depigmentation of the skin. Fish fed biotin in lipid and lipid-free diets had higher liver pyruvate carboxylase activity than fish fed diets without supplemental biotin. These results indicate that channel catfish require an exogenous source of biotin for maximum rates of growth and lipid utilization.