Effect of Carnitine and herbal mixture extract on obesity induced by high fat diet in rats

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Obesity-associated type 2 diabetes is rapidly increasing throughout the world. It is generally recognized that natural products with a long history of safety can modulate obesity.</p> <p>Aim</p> <p>To investigate the development of obesity in response to a high fat diet (HFD) and to estimate the effect of L-carnitine and an Egyptian Herbal mixture formulation (HMF) (consisting of T. chebula, Senae, rhubarb, black cumin, aniseed, fennel and licorice) on bodyweight, food intake, lipid profiles, renal, hepatic, cardiac function markers, lipid Peroxidation, and the glucose and insulin levels in blood and liver tissue in rats.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>White male albino rats weighing 80-90 gm, 60 days old. 10 rats were fed a normal basal diet (Cr), 30 rats fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for 14 weeks during the entire study. Rats of the HFD group were equally divided into 3 subgroups each one include 10 rats. The first group received HFD with no supplement (HFD), the 2^ndgroup HFD+L-carnitine and the third group received HFD+HMF. Carnitine and HMF were administered at 10^thweek (start time for treatments) for 4 weeks.</p> <p>Body weight, lipid profile & renal function (urea, uric acid creatinine) ALT & AST activities, cardiac markers, (LDH, C.K-NAC and MB) the oxidative stress marker reduced glutathione (GSH), and Malondialdehyde (MDA) catalase activity, in addition to glucose, insulin, and insulin resistance in serum & tissues were analyzed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Data showed that feeding HFD diet significantly increased final body weight, triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol, & LDL concentration compared with controls, while significantly decreasing HDL; meanwhile treatment with L-carnitine, or HMF significantly normalized the lipid profile.</p> <p>Serum ALT, urea, uric acid, creatinine, LDH, CK-NAC, CK-MB were significantly higher in the high fat group compared with normal controls; and administration of L-carnitine or herbal extract significantly lessened the effect of the HFD. Hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, and high insulin resistance (IR) significantly increased in HFD in comparison with the control group. The treatment with L-carnitine or HMF improved the condition. HFD elevated hepatic MDA and lipid peroxidation associated with reduction in hepatic GSH and catalase activity; whereas administration of L-carnitine or herbal extract significantly ameliorated these hepatic alterations.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>HFD induced obesity associated with a disturbed lipid profile, defective antioxidant stability, and high values of IR parameters; this may have implications for the progress of obesity related problems. Treatment with L-carnitine, or HMF extract improved obesity and its associated metabolic problems in different degrees. Also HMF has antioxidant, hypolipidaemic insulin sensitizing effects. Moreover HMF might be a safe combination on the organs whose functions were examined, as a way to surmount the obesity state; and it has a distinct anti-obesity effect.</p

Ayçiçeği (Helianthus annuus L.) Yetiştiriciliğimizde Çeşit ve Ekim Zamanı

Birçok ayçiçeği (Helianthus annuus L.) çeşidi Rusya, Arjantin, Avustralya, Hindistan, Ukrayna, Türkiye, ABD gibi bazı ülkelerde başarıyla yetiştirilmektedir. Bu durum bitkide adaptasyon esnekliğinin oldukça geniş olduğunu; tohum verimi, tohum yağ oranı, yağ asitlerinin kompozisyonu gibi özelliklerinin çeşit ve ekim zamanına karşı duyarlı olduğunu göstermektedir. Örneğin, geç yapılan ekim, ayçiçeğinde verimini şidettle azaltmaktadır. Ayrıca bu özellik, yağ verimi için başlıca varyasyon kaynağını oluşturmaktadır. Öte yandan, ayçiçeği tarımında kullanılacak çok sayıda çeşit bulunmaktadır. Her şeyden önemli olarak bu çeşitlerin ilgili tarımsal özelliklerini bilmek ve en uygun zamanda ekimi gerçekleştirmek başarılı bir ayçiçeği yetiştiriciliği için son derece önemli bir faktördür

How sowing date affects development and performance of safflower through climate variables

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) has unrealized potential as an alternative crop in many semiarid regions including central Argentina. Our objective was to relate how temperature and precipitation conditions with fall (5 June 2012 and 23 Apr. 2013) and winter sowing (13 Aug. 2012 and 20 Aug. 2013) affected phenology, yield, yield components, and oil percent in four winter and eight spring-type safflower accessions in the semiarid region of central Argentina. Fall sowing was associated with lower temperatures, higher precipitation, lower heat/moisture stress indices and precipitation deficits than winter sowing. Rosette period lasted 55 d longer, and stem elongation to anthesis period 30 d longer in fall than in winter sowing. However, anthesis was advanced only few days in fall sowing and duration of postanthesis development was comparable between sowing regimes and years. Fall sowing plants averaged 3,252 filled grains m–2 and a grain yield of 109.8 g m–2, whereas winter sowing plants averaged 1,443 filled grains m–2 and a grain yield of 49.3 g m–2. Grain yield was 35% higher in winter than in spring-type accessions, but winter types had lower oil percent (22.0%) than spring-types (33.3%). In the semiarid region of central Argentina, we recommend fall sowing as it extended the growing season in terms of days preanthesis and presented favorable climatic conditions for safflower development.Fil: Franchini, María Clara. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Agronomía; ArgentinaFil: Flemmer, Andrea Cecilia. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Agronomía; ArgentinaFil: Lindström, Lilia Ivone. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Agronomía; ArgentinaFil: Carrin, Maria Elena. Universidad Nacional del Sur; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química; ArgentinaFil: Constenla, Diana Teresita. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Johnson, Richard Coburn. Washington State University; Estados Unido