Effect of Andrographis paniculata and Psidium guajava leaves on growth performance and carcass of broiler chicken

A six-week experiment was conducted to study the effects of Andrographis paniculata (AP) and Psidium guajava (PG) on the growth performance and carcass quality of broiler chickens. Six hundred one-day-old (mixed sex) broiler chicks were used in ten dietary treatments, in a completely randomized design experiment. There were three replications in each treatment with 20 chicks per pen. The dietary treatments were 1) basal diet (control), 2) basal diet + antibiotic, 3) basal diet + 0.2% AP, 4) basal diet + 0.4% AP, 5) basal diet + 0.2% PG, 6) basal diet + 0.4% PG, 7) basal diet + 0.2% AP + 0.2% PG, 8) basal diet + 0.2% AP + 0.4% PG, 9) basal diet + 0.4% AP + 0.2% PG and 10) basal diet + 0.4% AP + 0.4% PG From 0-3, 3-6 and 0-6 weeks, feed intake, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio and mortality rate were not significantly different (P>0.05) among treatments. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) in percentages of eviscerated carcass, breast and leg among chicken fed different diets However, percentage of abdominal fat of male chicken fed basal diet + 0.2% AP + 0.2% PG were lower (P<0.05) than other treatments while female chickens fed the same diet were not statistically different

Cytotoxic and Antioxidant Activities of Antidesma thwaitesianum Müll Arg (Euphorbiaceae) Fruit and Fruit Waste Extracts

Purpose: To investigate the cytotoxic and antioxidant activities of the fruit and fruit waste (residue and marc) extracts of Antidesma thwaitesianum Müll. Arg., known as mamao in Thai, using chemical and cell-based assays.Methods: The cytotoxicity of mamao fruit and fruit waste extracts obtained by expression, maceration and decoction against a panel of six human cancer cell lines (COR-L23, A549, LS174T, PC-3, MCF7 and HeLa) was determined by sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay. In addition, their antioxidant activities were measured by chemical methods: 2,2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) radical scavenging assay and ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay and cell-based methods: nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) dye reduction assay and nitric oxide (NO) scavenging assay. The phenolic and flavonoid contents were assessed colorimetrically at 765 nm and 415 nm respectively.Results: Among the test extracts, the ethanol extracts of fresh fruits (FME) and marc left after squeezing fresh fruits (MME) exhibited moderate cytotoxicity against human breast MCF7 cells while the extract obtained by decocting the residue left after maceration of dried fruits (RDW) was moderately cytotoxic to lung large cell carcinoma COR-L23 cells. In the chemical assays, the extract obtained by decocting the residue left after maceration of dried marc (RMW) displayed the strongest ABTS radicalscavenging and ferric-reducing activities among the extracts. In the cell-based assays, however, FME and DME exerted potent nitric oxide scavenging activity whereas the extract obtained by decocting the residue left after maceration of fresh fruits (RFW) showed moderate superoxide radical-scavenging activity relative to the test extracts. The ABTS radical-scavenging and ferric-reducing activities of these extracts strongly correlate with their phenolic and flavonoid contents, indicating their specific contributions to such activities.Conclusion: The ethanol extracts of fresh and dried mamao fruits exhibit both cytotoxic and cellular antioxidant activities, and thus possess great potentials for application in the development of effective dietary supplements to prevent oxidative stress-induced diseases.Keywords: Antidesma thwaitesianum Müll. Arg., Cytotoxicity, Lung cell carcinoma, Antioxidant activity, Cellular assay

Cytotoxic activity of Thai medicinal plants against human cholangiocarcinoma, laryngeal and hepatocarcinoma cells in vitro

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cholangiocarcinoma is a serious public health in Thailand with increasing incidence and mortality rates. The present study aimed to investigate cytotoxic activities of crude ethanol extracts of a total of 28 plants and 5 recipes used in Thai folklore medicine against human cholangiocarcinoma (CL-6), human laryngeal (Hep-2), and human hepatocarcinoma (HepG2) cell lines in vitro.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cytotoxic activity of the plant extracts against the cancerous cell lines compared with normal cell line (renal epithelial cell: HRE) were assessed using MTT assay. 5-fluorouracil was used as a positive control. The IC₅₀(concentration that inhibits cell growth by 50%) and the selectivity index (SI) were calculated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The extracts from seven plant species (<it>Atractylodes lancea</it>, <it>Kaempferia galangal</it>, <it>Zingiber officinal</it>, <it>Piper chaba</it>, <it>Mesua ferrea</it>, <it>Ligusticum sinense</it>, <it>Mimusops elengi</it>) and one folklore recipe (Pra-Sa-Prao-Yhai) exhibited promising activity against the cholangiocarcinoma CL-6 cell line with survival of less than 50% at the concentration of 50 μg/ml. Among these, the extracts from the five plants and one recipe (<it>Atractylodes lancea</it>, <it>Kaempferia galangal</it>, <it>Zingiber officinal</it>, <it>Piper chaba</it>, <it>Mesua ferrea</it>, and Pra-Sa-Prao-Yhai recipe) showed potent cytotoxic activity with mean IC₅₀values of 24.09, 37.36, 34.26, 40.74, 48.23 and 44.12 μg/ml, respectively. All possessed high activity against Hep-2 cell with mean IC₅₀ranging from 18.93 to 32.40 μg/ml. In contrast, activity against the hepatoma cell HepG2 varied markedly; mean IC₅₀ranged from 9.67 to 115.47 μg/ml. The only promising extract was from <it>Zingiber officinal </it>(IC₅₀= 9.67 μg/ml). The sensitivity of all the four cells to 5-FU also varied according to cell types, particularly with CL-6 cell (IC₅₀= 757 micromolar). The extract from <it>Atractylodes lancea </it>appears to be both the most potent and most selective against cholangiocarcinoma (IC₅₀= 24.09 μg/ml, SI = 8.6).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The ethanolic extracts from five plants and one folklore recipe showed potent cytotoxic activity against CL-6 cell. Sensitivity to other cancerous cell lines varied according to cell types and the hepatocarcinoma cell line. HepG2 appears to be the most resistant to the tested extracts.</p

In vitro antioxidant and anticancer activity of young Zingiber officinale against human breast carcinoma cell lines

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ginger is one of the most important spice crops and traditionally has been used as medicinal plant in Bangladesh. The present work is aimed to find out antioxidant and anticancer activities of two Bangladeshi ginger varieties (Fulbaria and Syedpuri) at young age grown under ambient (400 μmol/mol) and elevated (800 μmol/mol) CO₂concentrations against two human breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The effects of ginger on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines were determined using TBA (thiobarbituric acid) and MTT [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide] assays. Reversed-phase HPLC was used to assay flavonoids composition among Fulbaria and Syedpuri ginger varieties grown under increasing CO₂concentration from 400 to 800 μmol/mol.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Antioxidant activities in both varieties found increased significantly (P ≤ 0.05) with increasing CO₂concentration from 400 to 800 μmol/mol. High antioxidant activities were observed in the rhizomes of Syedpuri grown under elevated CO₂concentration. The results showed that enriched ginger extract (rhizomes) exhibited the highest anticancer activity on MCF-7 cancer cells with IC₅₀values of 34.8 and 25.7 μg/ml for Fulbaria and Syedpuri respectively. IC₅₀values for MDA-MB-231 exhibition were 32.53 and 30.20 μg/ml for rhizomes extract of Fulbaria and Syedpuri accordingly.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Fulbaria and Syedpuri possess antioxidant and anticancer properties especially when grown under elevated CO₂concentration. The use of ginger grown under elevated CO₂concentration may have potential in the treatment and prevention of cancer.</p

Use of stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) in suckling and weaned pig diets

Four levels of stevia supplementation in the diet of suckling pigs with combination of two feeding methods in weaned pigs were studied. Twenty litters with nine piglets each were allocated to four groups and fed four dietary stevia supplementations (0, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6%) from 7 days old to 21 days, weanling age. Two male weanlings of average weight of each litter were selected and alloted to one of two feeding methods, one male was fed basal diet 1 continuously while the other was fed by alternating basal diet 2 and basal diet 1 for 35 days of experiment, according to the split plot in randomized complete block design.The results showed that piglets fed with 0.2 and 0.4% stevia in suckling diets had double daily feed intake compared to those fed 0% stevia in the diet (12.36 vs 5.93 g/d), but this difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The daily feed intake and average daily gain decreased when suckling pigs were fed with 0.6% stevia in the diet. Continuous or alternating feeding had no effect (P>0.05) on feed intake and growth performance of weaned pigs (aged 21-56 days) fed with various levels of stevia supplementation in the diets. However, daily feed intake of weaned pigs fed with 0.4% stevia (748 g/d) was significantly (P<0.01) higher than that of pigs fed with 0, 0.2 and 0.6% stevia in the diets (617, 649 and 589 g/d, respectively). Average daily gain followed the same pattern (507 vs 419, 455 and 401 g/d, respectively, P<0.01). Moreover, although feed cost per gain of piglets fed with 0.2 and 0.4% stevia in the diets were higher, the income was higher than those fed with 0% stevia in the diet