Protective and therapeutic effects of an extract mixture of alder tree, labiate herb, milk thistle green bean-rice bran fermentation, and turnip against ethanol-induced toxicity in the rat

An herbal extract mixture and yogurt added to the herbal extract mixture were tested for their protective and therapeutic effects on ethanol-induced liver injury. The herbal extract mixture, yogurt and commercial drugs were used for treatment for two weeks prior to administering a single oral dose of ethanol (3 g/kg body weight). The herbal extract mixture and yogurt added to the herbal extract mixture were found to provide protection against ethanol-induced toxicity comparable to the commercial drug treatment, according to the serum and histopathological analysis. It was also shown that co-treatment with herbal extract mixture and yogurt against a triple oral dose of ethanol (2 g/kg body weight, over one week) provided protection against ethanol toxicity. After the initial set of experiments, the herbal extract mixture and yogurt treatments were extended for three more weeks. When compared to the positive control, further treatment with both the herbal extract and yogurt significantly reduced liver injury and resulted in a lower grade of lipid deposition.     

Quantitative assessment of pupillary light reflex in normal and anesthetized dogs: a preliminary study

The purpose of this study was to quantitatively assess the pupillary light reflex (PLR) in normal and anesthetized dogs using a pupillometer. Eleven dogs (20 eyes) of various breeds were included. PLRs were measured with a handheld pupillometer in dim light before and during anesthesia. Anesthesia was conducted with atropine, xylazine and ketamine. Parameters of pupillometry included neurological pupil index (NPi), pupil size, percent of change (%CH), latency (LAT), constriction velocity (CV), maximum constriction velocity (MCV) and dilation velocity (DV). NPi,%CH, CV and MCV were significantly decreased during anesthesia compared with the pre-anesthesia data. The results suggest that atropine-xylazine-ketamine combination anesthesia depresses the PLR. Additionally, this study demonstrates the feasibility of the use of a pupillometer in dogs.     

Effect of dietary nutrient composition on compensatory growth of juvenile olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus using different feeding regimes

Effect of dietary nutrient composition on compensatory growth of juvenile olive flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus using different feeding regimes was determined. Six treatments were prepared in triplicate: fish were daily hand‐fed with the control (C) diet twice a day, 7 days a week, for 8 weeks (8WF‐C); fish were starved for 1 week, and then fed with the C and high protein and lipid (HPL) diets twice a day, 7 days a week, for 7 weeks, referred to as 7WF‐C and 7WF‐HPL, respectively; and fish were starved for 2 weeks, and then fed with the C, HPL and HPL with supplementation of the mixture of amino acids (HPLA) diets twice a day, 7 days a week, for 6 weeks, referred to as 6WF‐C, 6WF‐HPL and 6WF‐HPLA, respectively. Growth of fish in 7WF‐HPL treatment was greater than that of fish in any other treatments. Feed efficiency of fish in 7WF‐HPL, 6WF‐HPL and 6WF‐HPLA treatments was higher than that of fish in 8WF‐C, 7WF‐C and 6WF‐C treatments. The high protein and lipid diet effectively improved compensatory growth of fish. However, supplementation of the mixture of amino acids into the high protein and lipid diet did not improve compensatory growth of fish further.     

Ultrastructure of individual and compound starch granules in isolation preparation from a high-quality, low-amylose rice, ilpumbyeo, and its mutant, G2, a high-dietary fiber, high-amylose rice

The ultrastructures of isolated starch granules from Ilpumbyeo (IP), a low-amylose japonica rice, and its mutant, Goami2 (G2), a high-amylose rice, which have extreme contrasts in physicochemical properties, cooking qualities (Kang, H. J.; Hwang, I. K.; Kim, K. S.; Choi, H. C. Comparative structure and physicochemical properties of Ilpumbyeo, a high-quality japonica rice, and its mutant, Suweon 464. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2003, 51, 6598-6603. Kim, K. S.; Kang, H. J.; Hwang, I. K.; Hwang, H. G.; Kim, T. Y.; Choi, H. C. Comparative ultrastructure of Ilpumbyeo, a high-quality japonica rice, and its mutant, Suweon 464: Scanning and transmission electron microscopy studies. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2004, 52, 3876-3883), and susceptibility to amylolytic enzymes (Kim, K. S.; Kang, H. J.; Hwang, I. K.; Hwang, H. G.; Kim, T. Y.; Choi, H. C. Fibrillar microfilaments associated with a high-amylose rice, Goami2, a mutant of Ilpumbyeo, a high-quality japonica rice. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2005, 53, 2600-2608), were compared. In isolated preparation, IP consisted entirely of well-separated individual starch granules (ISG), whereas G2 consisted of two populations, the large voluminous bodies and the smaller forms, the ISGs. High-voltage electron microscopy revealed that each of the voluminous bodies consisted of tightly packed smaller subunits, the ISGs, indicating that they represent the compound starch granules (CSGs) of G2. This suggests that the structural as well as functional unit of G2 involved in food processing is, unlike IP and other ordinary rices, not ISG but is primarily CSG. ISGs located at the periphery of CSGs were fused to each other with adjacent ones forming a thick band or wall encircling the entire circumference. The periphery of ISGs separated from CSGs of G2 consisted of thin radially oriented filaments arranged side by side along the entire granule surface, whereas no such filaments occurred in ISG of IP. It appears that the thick band and the peripheral filaments surrounding CSGs and ISGs, respectively, function as a structural barrier that limits the entrance of water into the granules and subsequent absorption, causing the low swelling power, incomplete gelatinization, and finally poor quality of cooked rice in G2.