Phoenix dactylifera Linn fruit based-diets palliate hyperglycemia in alloxan-induced diabetic rats.

Objectives This study was designed to examine the in vitro inhibitory activities of vital enzymes related to diabetes mellitus and different biochemical parameters of Phoenix dactylifera fruit based-diet in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Methods The aqueous extract of P. dactylifera fruit based-diet was prepared and used for determination of in vitro antioxidants as well as α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities using standard procedures. Also, 30 albino rats were induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of 150 mg/kg body weight of alloxan and grouped into A-D as normal rats placed on Dioscorea rotundata based-diet, diabetic control rats placed on D. rotundata based-diet, diabetic rats placed on D. rotundata based-diet and administered metformin orally per day, and diabetic rats placed on P. dactylifera fruit based-diet respectively. The animals were sacrificed on the fourth week of the experiment, and different biochemical parameters were evaluated. Results The P. dactylifera fruit based-diet extract demonstrated antioxidative potentials and inhibition against α-amylase and α-glucosidase activities in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, diabetic rats placed on the P. dactylifera fruit based-diet revealed significant (p<0.05) increase in body weight, insulin and glycogen levels, antioxidant enzyme activities, GLUT 2 and high density lipoprotein (HDL) concentrations when compared with the diabetic control group. Also, diabetic rats placed on P. dactylifera fruit based-diet indicate significant (p<0.05) reduction in fasting blood glucose, lipid peroxidation, cytokines levels, some gluconeogenesis enzyme activities, cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoproteins and very low-density lipoproteins concentrations compared to the diabetic control animals. Conclusion This diet could be an alternative nutraceutical means of managing diabetes mellitus and its complications.

Nutritional performance and antioxidant activities of roasted and unroasted sprouted sorghum-based weaning diets in Wistar rats.

The nutritional performance and antioxidant profile of sprouted sorghum-based weaning diets were evaluated in weaning wistar rats. Rats were fed basal diet, unroasted germinated sorghum-based diet, roasted germinated sorghum-based diet, or a commercial weaning feed (nutrend) for 28 days. Energy, carbohydrate, crude protein, lipids, crude fiber, and ash contents of the sorghum-based diets compared significantly with FAO/WHO recommendations. Contrastingly, moisture content of the germinated sorghum-based diet was higher than the recommendation. Weight gain, feed efficiency ratio, protein efficiency ratio, net protein utilization, biological value, and digestibility of unroasted germinated sorghum-based diet-fed rats compared significantly with Nutrend. Roasted germinated sorghum-based diet produced differential effects on these indices. The unroasted germinated sorghum-based diet significantly raised the antioxidant enzymes in the rat liver and kidney. Overall, evidence from the study indicates that unroasted germinated sorghum-based diet improves the nutritional performance and the antioxidants of weaning rats compared to the roasted germinated sorghum-based diet. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The provision of nutritionally adequate food from local sources during the weaning period of infants continues to be a major source of concern in developing countries. The formulated unroasted sprouted sorghum-based diet can be adapted and used as weaning food. Furthermore, the diet can be processed and developed into a weaning food.

Endotoxin-induced coagulation reactions and phenoloxidase activity modulation in Sudanonautes africanus hemolymph fractions.

Sudanonautes africanus is a freshwater crab local to Nigeria and West Africa that has no documentation of its innate immunity reactions. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide [LPS]) on coagulation and on phenoloxidase (PO) activity in the hemolymph fractions of S. africanus. The hemolymph from each of 10 live crabs was obtained by carapace puncture and then fractionated into plasma and hemocytes. The hemocytes were then processed and then fractionated into hemocyte lysate (HL), hemocyte lysate supernatant (HLS), and hemocyte lysate debris (HLD). In one study, each fraction was then incubated with a fixed level of LPS in the presence or absence of exogenous calcium (Ca(2+)) ion. In another study, the LPS concentration was varied in order to study its effect on protein coagulation when an optimal ratio mixture of plasma:HLS was present as well as on PO activity in the plasma and HLS fractions. The results of the first set of studies demonstrated that a presence of Ca(2+) in the LPS-induced clotting reactions was essential. The next set of studies showed that a 7:1 plasma:HLS mixture yielded a higher level of coagulation than any other ratio tested in the presence of 1 EU LPS/ml. When this same plasma:HLS mixture ratio was used to ascertain the effect of varying LPS level on coagulation, the response trended higher up to a dose of 3.0 EU/ml., and decreased thereafter until 7 EU/ml. As expected based on the effect of LPS on PO activation, an increasing presence of LPS led to a general trend increase in activity of the enzyme in the plasma fraction; however, the effect was moreover inhibitory in the HLS fraction. From the results here, we conclude that protein coagulation is an important response, along with increased PO activity, that could manifest in Sudanonautes africanus after exposure to 'free' LPS or select LPS-bearing organisms in their environment.