Cholesterol-Lowering Probiotics as Potential Biotherapeutics for Metabolic Diseases

Cardiovascular diseases are one of the major causes of deaths in adults in the western world. Elevated levels of certain blood lipids have been reported to be the principal cause of cardiovascular disease and other disabilities in developed countries. Several animal and clinical trials have shown a positive association between cholesterol levels and the risks of coronary heart disease. Current dietary strategies for the prevention of cardiovascular disease advocate adherence to low-fat/low-saturated-fat diets. Although there is no doubt that, in experimental conditions, low-fat diets offer an effective means of reducing blood cholesterol concentrations on a population basis, these appear to be less effective, largely due to poor compliance, attributed to low palatability and acceptability of these diets to the consumers. Due to the low consumer compliance, attempts have been made to identify other dietary components that can reduce blood cholesterol levels. Supplementation of diet with fermented dairy products or lactic acid bacteria containing dairy products has shown the potential to reduce serum cholesterol levels. Various approaches have been used to alleviate this issue, including the use of probiotics, especially Bifidobacterium spp. and Lactobacillus spp.. Probiotics, the living microorganisms that confer health benefits on the host when administered in adequate amounts, have received much attention on their proclaimed health benefits which include improvement in lactose intolerance, increase in natural resistance to infectious disease in gastrointestinal tract, suppression of cancer, antidiabetic, reduction in serum cholesterol level, and improved digestion. In addition, there are numerous reports on cholesterol removal ability of probiotics and their hypocholesterolemic effects. Several possible mechanisms for cholesterol removal by probiotics are assimilation of cholesterol by growing cells, binding of cholesterol to cellular surface, incorporation of cholesterol into the cellular membrane, deconjugation of bile via bile salt hydrolase, coprecipitation of cholesterol with deconjugated bile, binding action of bile by fibre, and production of short-chain fatty acids by oligosaccharides. The present paper reviews the mechanisms of action of anti-cholesterolemic potential of probiotic microorganisms and probiotic food products, with the aim of lowering the risks of cardiovascular and coronary heart diseases

Some results of whistler and VHF scintillation observations at Agra

179-182Results of whistler observations for the period Dec. 1989-Mar. 1991 and VHF scintillation observations for the period Jan. 1991-Mar. 1991 at the low latitude ground station of Agra are presented. It is shown that whistler activity at this station is very rare and sporadic. Large whistler activities have been observed at two occasions only, during fourteen months of observations. Some new results include the observations of higher harmonics of tweeks, daytime whistlers and daytime discrete chorus emissions for the first time in a low latitude ground station in India. The VHF scintillations at 244.168 MHz from FLEETSAT are recorded both during night and daytimes and their temporal variation of occurrence number and association with spread-F and sporadic-E irregularities are discussed

Effect of replacing oat fodder with fresh and chopped oak leaves on in vitro rumen fermentation, digestibility and metabolizable energy

Aim: A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of replacing oat fodder (OF) with fresh oak leaves (FOL) or chopped oak leaves (COL) on rumen fermentation and digestibility through in vitro gas production technique (IVGPT). Materials and Methods: Nine different diets were prepared by mixing OF with oak leaves (either FOL or COL) in different ratios (100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75, and 0:100). The rations were evaluated through Hohenheim IVGPT with 200 mg substrate and 30 ml of buffered rumen liquor. All the syringes were incubated at 39°C for 24 h in buffered rumen liquor of cattle. After 24 h, the total gas production was recorded, and the contents were analyzed for in vitro methane production, protozoa no. and ammonia-N. Results: Chopping (p<0.01) reduced the tannin fractions as well as non-tannin phenol. Increase in levels of oak decreased total gas production, methane, organic matter (OM) digestibility, and metabolizable energy (ME) values. The polyphenol content of the substrate did not show any significant difference on the protozoal count. Conclusion: In vitro studies revealed that the addition of oak leaves reduced the methane production and ammonia nitrogen levels; however, it also decreased the OM digestibility and ME values linearly as the level of the oak leaves increased in the diet. Chopping was effective only at lower inclusion levels. Further studies, especially in vivo studies, are needed to explore the safe inclusion levels of oak leaves in the diet of ruminants

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Not AvailableDifferent irrigation methods and mulching materials were tested at CAZRI, RRS, Bikaner during 2009 and 2010 on okra crop under hot arid conditions. Irrigation methods viz., drip (I1) and furrow (I2) and mulching materials viz., plastic (M1), hessian cloth (M2), indigenous materials (M3) and no mulch (M4) were evaluated in Split plot design with three replications using the okra cv. Varsha Uphar. Among the various treatments drip irrigation and plastic mulch alone and their interaction resulted in maximum plant height, number of branches, number of fruits per plant, fruit weight, fruit yield per plant and yield per hectare. Drip irrigation increased 13.5 percent and 12.9 percent fruit yield/ha over furrow method in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Plastic mulch recorded the highest fruit yield/ha in both the year which was 10.2, 17.7 and 32.7 percent higher compared to hessian cloth, indigenous material and no mulch, respectively.Not Availabl

Multistation analysis of VHF radio wave scintillations at low latitudes

267-272Simultaneous observations.of VHF-ionospheric scintillations at Bhopal, Varanasi and Agra, during the period (January 1991-December 1991) have been reported. Nocturnal variation .of.occurrence of scintillations is found to be higher at Bhopal as compared to that at Varanasi and Agra. Under the geomagnetic disturbances the scintiIlations are suppressed in pre-midnight period at all the three stations. Severity .of suppression is found to be more at Bhopal. The storms with the Dst value below - 100 nT, reaching in local nighttime or in very early morning hours are found to be most effective in giving rise to the scintillations in post-midnight period. The results have been interpreted in terms of (i) F-region irregularities associated with spread-F and (ii) coupling of high latitude and magnetospheric current systems with equatorial electric field

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Not AvailableThe choice of an appropriate crop and cropping systems is essential for achieving higher yield, profit and resource use efficiencies. Yield, returns and water productivity are important factors for determining suitability of crops and cropping systems in hot arid environment. A two-year (2012-13 and 2013-14) study was conducted in IGNP stage-I command area to determine productivity, profitability and water productivity of different crops and cropping systems. Yield, profit and water productivity varied markedly among different crops and cropping systems. The economic yield of crops varied from 1.6 Mg ha-1 to 4.2 Mg ha-1; and biomass yield varied from 5.8 Mg ha-1 to 10.1 Mg ha-1. The net return varied from Rs. 31421 ha-1 to Rs. 213680 ha-1. The clusterbean had highest profit followed by cotton, wheat, barley and Indian mustard. Clusterbean and wheat was the most profitable crop of kharif and rabi season, respectively. Among the kharif season crops, the clusterbean was 1.4-times more water productive than cotton, and among rabi season crops, barley was 1.3- and 1.6-times more water productive than wheat and Indian mustard, respectively. Cotton–wheat cropping sytem had highest yield followed by cotton-barley, clusterbean-wheat, cotton-mustard, and clusterbean-mustard systems. The clusterbean based cropping systems were more profitable and water use efficient than cotton based cropping systems.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableGrass based strip cropping systems for controlling soil erosion and enhancing system productivity under drought Situations of hot arid western RajasthanNot Availabl