Effects of dietary fats on heart-liver lipid compositions

Accumulation of lipids in various organs causes many diseases such as obesity, cardiac disorder and dysfunction of the liver. The intake of fats from the diet influences the way that lipids are metabolised in the heart and liver. This provides an energy source and is a route for the production of hormones. However, excess fats may also cause abnormal metabolic pathways that lead to disease. Altered lipid metabolism is also observed because of heart failure. The aim of this project is to investigate the effect of high fat diets and heart failure on the lipid compositions of both heart and liver tissues.Rats were maintained for nine weeks. At this point they underwent aortic constriction surgery (to mimic hypertrophied heart) or control surgery (Sham). Post-surgery animals were fed either a Western diet (WD; 45% kcal of lipids) or a high fat diet (HFD; 60% kcal of lipids). Subsequently, lipid accumulation and compositions of heart and liver tissues were investigated by histological lipid stains and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy methods. Data were analysed by using principal component analysis (PCA).Hematoxylin and eosin (H & E) and oil red O stain sections of the heart and liver tissue showed lipid accumulating, in the form of droplets, inside the cells in all animals. On initial inspection, NMR data showed little obvious difference between any of the animal groups. However, PCA was employed differences in the triglyceride (TG) and unsaturated lipids of animals fed WD and HFD were revealed. Surgery, however, appeared to have no effect on the organ’s lipid compositions.In conclusion, small but potentially significant changes in lipid compositions of WD and HFD were found in heart and liver tissues. The results of this study also suggest that the lipid diet composition may not be directly involved to propagate cardiac diseases and toxicity in the liver, which may need further investigation. However, the TG and FA unsaturated group may give an insight to develop as a biomarker to understand the mechanism between dietary surplus fat intake and lipid profiles of heart and liver and their clinical applications

Dissipation profile and risk assessment of diflubenzuron and novaluron in tomato fruits under greenhouse conditions

AbstractA simple liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) procedure and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS) were validated to analyze the residues of diflubenzuron and novaluron in tomatoes. Validation criteria included; linearity in the range of 2–100 μg.kg−1 and 5–200 μg.kg−1 with a correlation coefficient (R2) of ≥ 0.998, trueness (% recovery) of 90.55–97.51% at spiking levels of 10, 100, and 1000 mg.kg−1, the limit of detection (LOD) of 0.46 and 3.22 μg.kg−1, the limit of quantitation (LOQ) of 5 and 10 μg.kg−1, intraday repeatability (RSDr) of 9.31% and 6.63%, and inter-day repeatability (RSDR) of 13.72% and 8.87%, respectively for diflubenzuron and novaluron. Due to the matrix effect, negligible enhancement in instrument response was observed for the tested analytes. The dissipation behaviour of diflubenzuron (24 % SC) and novaluron (10 % EC) in greenhouse tomatoes after treatment with 192 and 40 g a.i. ha-1 (authorized dosage) and 336 and 80 g a.i. ha-1 (high dosage) was investigated. Dissipation kinetics were best fitted to the first-order reaction. Despite the application dose for novaluron being about three times smaller compared to diflubenzuron, the residues of novaluron dissipated more rapidly than those of diflubenzuron with constant rates (k) of 0.342–0.356 and 0.194–0.154 day-1 and half-lives (t0.5) of 1.77–1.73 and 3.57–4.49 days respectively, at the doses tested. The terminal residues of diflubenzuron and novaluron were 0.013–0.328 and 0.011–0.171 mg.kg-1 after 2 and 3 times application, respectively. The calculated risk quotients were less than 1, indicating that spraying tomatoes with the tested insecticides at the applied doses poses no significant potential risks to Saudi consumers

The Association between Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) Protein Level and Body Mass Index

Background and Objectives: Obesity is a major health concern worldwide. Many studies emphasize the important role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in regulating appetite and body weight. We aimed to investigate the association between BDNF protein serum levels and body mass index (BMI). Materials and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 108 healthy adult participants divided into six categories depending on their body mass index (BMI). The ages of the participants ranged between 21 to 45 years. The BDNF serum level was measured using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. Results: A Kruskal–Wallis test showed a significant difference in BDNF between the different BMI categories, χ2(2) = 24.201, p p p Conclusions: In this study, our data support the hypothesis that low serum levels of BDNF are associated with high BMI and obesity in Saudi adults

Manganese Ferrite–Hydroxyapatite Nanocomposite Synthesis: Biogenic Waste Remodeling for Water Decontamination

Environmental pollution, especially water pollution caused by dyes, heavy metal ions and biological pathogens, is a root cause of various lethal diseases in human-beings and animals. Water purification materials and treatment methods are overpriced. Consequently, there is an imperative outlook observance for cheap materials for the purification of wastewaters. In order to fill up the projected demand for clean water, the present study aimed to make use of cost-effective and environmentally friendly methods to convert bone-waste from animals such as cows into novel composites for the decontamination of water. The bone-waste of slaughtered cows from the Najran region of Saudi Arabia was collected and used for the synthesis of hydroxyapatite based on the thermal method. The synthesized hydroxyapatite (Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2) was utilized to prepare a manganese ferrite/hydroxyapatite composite. The nanocomposite was categorized by diverse sophisticated procedures, for instance XRD, FE-SEM, EDX, TEM, UV, PL and FT-IR. This composite possesses outstanding photocatalytic activity against methylene blue dye, which is a common pollutant from industrial wastes. Moreover, the synthesised composite revealed exceptional bacteriostatic commotion towards E. coli and S. aureus bacteria, which are accountable for acute waterborne infections. The outcome of this study demonstrated that the integration of manganese ferrite into hydroxyapatite significantly intensified both antimicrobial and photocatalytic actions when compared to the virgin hydroxyapatite

Hematological and biochemical parameters among obese students at the PSAU, Alkharj, KSA

Management of obesity represents a global problem that challenges the provision of healthcare services in most countries. Saudi Arabia ranked number 29 on a 2007 list of countries with 6% of its population being overweight (BMI > 25).In a university setting, we studied hematological parameters (including whole blood counts, haemoglobin and platelets), the presence of basophilia, iron levels and lipid profiles in obese students, and also in non-obese student controls. We found a significant increase in whole blood count in obese compared to healthy individuals, and also found a high level of basophilia compared to healthy controls.  We also report that the obese student group suffered from low iron levels, and also a reduced total iron binding capacity, as compared to healthy controls. Levels of cholesterol and triglycerides was significantly higher in obese students compared to healthy controls. This study can be interpreted that universities across the Kingdom, and beyond, should consider targeting obesity management in their students to try to reduce the prevalence of obesity and associated disorders, and to support such healthcare programs by offering a variety of environmental, physical exercise and nutritional interventions

Relationship between obesity and immunological parameters among students at the PSAU University-Alkharj, KSA

Obesity represents a major worldwide health problem, all aspects of which have not fully defined, nor fully understood.  In the current study, we investigated a population of university students in terms of the relationship between incidence of obesity in individuals (n=171),within this larger cohort (n=500), with the comorbidities that these high BMI individuals also carried. We also report important statistical differences in blood levels each of cardiac-related protein (CRP)(p=0.002), IL-6(p=0.005), &leptin(p=0.02), when we related the blood values with individual student BMIs which were used as a measure of obesity

Relationship Between Obesity and Immunological Parameters Among Students at the PSAU University-Alkharj, KSA

Obesity represents a major worldwide health problem, all aspects of which have not fully defined, nor fully understood.  In the current study, we investigated a population of university students in terms of the relationship between incidence of obesity in individuals (n=171),within this larger cohort (n=500), with the comorbidities that these high BMI individuals also carried. We also report important statistical differences in blood levels each of cardiac-related protein (CRP)(p=0.002), IL-6(p=0.005), &leptin(p=0.02), when we related the blood values with individual student BMIs which were used as a measure of obesity

Hematological and Biochemical Parameters Among Obese Students at the PSAU, Alkharj, KSA

Management of obesity represents a global problem that challenges the provision of healthcare services in most countries. Saudi Arabia ranked number 29 on a 2007 list of countries with 6% of its population being overweight (BMI > 25).In a university setting, we studied hematological parameters (including whole blood counts, haemoglobin and platelets), the presence of basophilia, iron levels and lipid profiles in obese students, and also in non-obese student controls. We found a significant increase in whole blood count in obese compared to healthy individuals, and also found a high level of basophilia compared to healthy controls.  We also report that the obese student group suffered from low iron levels, and also a reduced total iron binding capacity, as compared to healthy controls. Levels of cholesterol and triglycerides was significantly higher in obese students compared to healthy controls. This study can be interpreted that universities across the Kingdom, and beyond, should consider targeting obesity management in their students to try to reduce the prevalence of obesity and associated disorders, and to support such healthcare programs by offering a variety of environmental, physical exercise and nutritional interventions