Hypoglycaemic and Antioxidant Effects of Propolis of Chihuahua in a Model of Experimental Diabetes

Propolis is a bee-collected natural product that has been proven to have various bioactivities. This study tested the effects of a Mexican propolis on streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus in a murine model. The results showed that an ethanolic extract of propolis of Chihuahua (EEPCh) significantly inhibited increases in blood glucose and the loss of body weight in diabetic mice. EEPCh increased plasma insulin levels in STZ-diabetic mice, whereas, in untreated diabetic mice, there was no detection of insulin. EEPCh had a high antioxidant capacity (SA50 = 15.75 μg/mL), which was directly related to the concentrations of total phenols (314 mg GAE/g of extract) and flavonoids (6.25 mg QE/g of extract). In addition, increased activities of the enzymes superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase were observed in diabetic mice treated with EEPCh. Compounds such as pinocembrin, quercetin, naringin, naringenin, kaempferol, acacetin, luteolin, and chrysin were identified by HPLC-MS analysis. This investigation demonstrated that propolis of Chihuahua possesses hypoglycaemic and antioxidant activities and can alleviate symptoms of diabetes mellitus in mice. These effects may be directly related to the chemical composition of propolis, as most of the compounds identified in propolis are reportedly active in terms of the different parameters evaluated in this work

Antimicrobial activity of Bursera morelensis ramírez essential oil

Background: Bursera morelensis, known as “Aceitillo”, is an endemic tree of Mexico. Infusions made from the bark of this species have been used for the treatment of skin infections and for their wound healing properties. In this work, we present the results of a phytochemical and antimicrobial investigation of the essential oil of B. morelensis.Materials and Methods: The essential oil was obtained by a steam distillation method and analyzed using GC-MS. The antibacterial and antifungal activities were evaluated.Results: GC-MS of the essential oil demonstrated the presence of 28 compounds. The principal compound of the essential oil was α-Phellandrene (32.69%). The essential oil had antibacterial activity against Gram positive and negative strains. The most sensitive strains were S. pneumoniae, V. cholerae (cc) and E. coli (MIC 0.125 mg/mL, MBC 0.25 mg/mL). The essential oil was bactericidal for V. cholera (cc). The essential oil inhibited all the filamentous fungi. F. monilifome (IC50 = 2.27 mg/mL) was the most sensitive fungal strain.Conclusions: This work provides evidence that confirms the antimicrobial activity of the B. morelensis essential oil and this is a scientific support about of traditional uses of this species.Keywords: Essential oil; Medicinal plants; Tehuacan-Cuicatlan Valley; Burseraceae; Burser

Noncommutative gravity coupled to fermions: second order expansion via Seiberg-Witten map

We use the Seiberg-Witten map (SW map) to expand noncommutative gravity coupled to fermions in terms of ordinary commuting fields. The action is invariant under general coordinate transformations and local Lorentz rotations, and has the same degrees of freedom as the commutative gravity action. The expansion is given up to second order in the noncommutativity parameter {\theta}. A geometric reformulation and generalization of the SW map is presented that applies to any abelian twist. Compatibility of the map with hermiticity and charge conjugation conditions is proven. The action is shown to be real and invariant under charge conjugation at all orders in {\theta}. This implies the bosonic part of the action to be even in {\theta}, while the fermionic part is even in {\theta} for Majorana fermions.Comment: 27 pages, LaTeX. Revised version with proof of charge conjugation symmetry of the NC action and its parity under theta --> - theta (see new sect. 2.6, sect. 6 and app. B). References added. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:0902.381

On Noncommutative Minisuperspace and the Friedmann equations

In this paper we present noncommutative version of scalar field cosmology. We find the noncommutative Friedmann equations as well as the noncommutative Klein-Gordon equation. Interestingly the noncommutative contributions are only present up to second order in the noncommutitive parameter. Finally we conclude that if we want a noncommutative minisuperspace with a constant noncommutative parameter as viable phenomenological model, the noncommuative parameter is very small.Comment: 4 pages, no figures, revte

Effect of the inclusion of Bacillus spp. in growing–finishing pigs’ diets: a meta-analysis

This meta-analysis determined the effect of Bacillus spp. on growth performance of growing–finishing pigs and then assessed causes for the heterogeneity of responses detected using meta-regression. A database of 22 articles published from 2000 to 2020 was identified, and 9 articles fitted the selection criteria and were integrated in the final database. Statistical analysis was performed to analyze the effect size for ADG, average daily feed intake (ADFI), and F:G ratio using a standardized means difference (SMD) at a 95% confidence interval. A meta-regression analysis was used to investigate the cause of heterogeneity, using the individual SMD for each study assessment as the outcome and the associated SE as the measure of variance. Dietary Bacillus spp. supplementation had no effect on ADFI (SMD: −0.052, p = 0.138) and numerically increased ADG (SMD: 0.113, p = 0.081) and reduced the F:G ratio SMD: −0.127, p < 0.001). Meta-regression outcomes suggested that the number of animals per group was an essential component promoting heterogeneity in ADG. Overall, the inclusion of Bacillus spp. (median 486 mg/d) in growing–finishing pigs can increase ADG and can decrease the F:G ratio

Regulación de la expresión de IL-33 e IL-17 por la modulación farmacológica de HIF-1 en un modelo murino de inflamación alérgica pulmonar

Objetivo: Evaluar el efecto de la modulación farmacológica de HIF-1 en la expresión de IL-33 e IL-17 en un modelo murino de inflamación alérgica pulmonar (IAP) con diferentes grados de severidad. Métodos: 5 ratones/grupo recibieron ovoalbúmina (OVA) 1(leve), 2(moderada) o 3(severa) retos vía i.t. previa sensibilización como alergeno, además los grupos de inducción o inhibición de HIF-1α, recibieron EDHB (OVA+EDHB) i.p. o 2ME (OVA+2ME) i.t. respectivamente. Los grupos controles recibieron solución salina (SS) de igual forma. Se realizaron tinciones de HE (infiltrado inflamatorio), PAS (producción de moco) e inmunohistoquímicas de HIF-1α, IL-33, IL-17, analizando cuantitativamente por patología digital. Resultados: Obtuvimos diferentes grados de severidad a mayor número de retos, incrementando la expresión de HIF-1, correlacionando con la expresión de IL- 33/IL-17. Aumentando o disminuyendo, respectivamente por la modulación farmacológica. Conclusiones: Lo anterior sugiere que la alta expresión de HIF-1 favorece la producción de IL-33 e IL-17 contribuyendo al daño en el tejido pulmonar y la severidad de la enfermedad y estas pueden ser reguladas a través de la modulación de HIF-1

Effect of replacing soybean meal (Glycine max) with sesame meal (Sesamum indicum) on productive traits, carcass characteristics, and gross profit margin in fattening lamb's diets.

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of replacing soybean meal (Glycine max) with sesame meal (Sesamum indicum) on productive traits, carcass characteristics, and gross profit margin (GMP) in fattening lamb's diets. For this, 42 Katahdin lambs were divided into three treatments in duplicate: basal diet + soybean meal (100S), basal diet + sesame meal/soybean meal (50/50SA), and basal diet + sesame meal (100A). Dry matter intake, daily weight gain (DWG), total kg gained (KgT), feed conversion (FC), and feed efficiency (FE) were evaluated; upon reaching the weight for sale, the animals were slaughtered, and hot carcass weight (HCW) was evaluated. The results were analyzed with a completely randomized design with repeated measures. Regarding time, no differences were found between treatments, for DWG (0.171 ± 0.006 kg/d), FC (6.7 ± 0.55), FE (0.175 ± 0.02), KgT (2.86 ± 0.13 kg), HCW (50.97 ± 0.79 kg), as well as for chest depth (26.96 ± 0.33 cm), leg width (20.63 ± 0.028 cm), leg diameter (60.7 ± 0.44 cm), and ribs width (24.05 ± 0.14 cm). GPM was 16.50%, 18.63%, and 19.97% for 100S, 50/50SA, and 100A, respectively. Overall, in fatting lamb diets, replacing soybean meal with sesame meal by either 50% or 100% substitution could be a feasible feeding strategy as in both cases, gross profit was increased, and no negative effects were found for productive traits and carcass quality

LITIO COMO TERAPIA NEUROPROTECTORA EN EL MODELO APPSL/PS1M146L DE LA ENFERMEDAD DE ALZHEIMER

El litio se utiliza desde hace varias décadas en el tratamiento de trastornos bipolares y la depresión, y recientemente se debate su uso potencial en patologías neurodegenerativas como la enfermedad de Alzheimer (AD). Diversos estudios han puesto de manifiesto su efecto positivo como potente inhibidor de GSK3beta disminuyendo la fosforilación de tau, la producción de Abeta e incrementando plasticidad sináptica. Sin embargo, su posible efecto neuroprotector previniendo la muerte neuronal in vivo no ha sido aun demostrado ya que la mayoría de los modelos transgénicos de AD no presentan pérdida neuronal. Nuestro modelo APPSL/PS1M146L sufre una pérdida significativa de neuronas SOM/NPY en hipocampo y corteza entorrinal desde edades tempranas (6 meses) con un marcado desarrollo de distrofias axonales. En este trabajo hemos estudiado el posible efecto neuroprotector del litio en este modelo animal mediante tratamiento crónico en la dieta desde los 3 hasta los 9 meses de edad. Se han utilizado técnicas imnunohistoquímicas, western blots y análisis por RT-PCR, y además se ha determinado la carga amiloide, el grado de compactación y el tamaño de las placas. El resultado más relevante de este estudio fue la preservación de la población de interneuronas SOM/NPY tanto en hipocampo como corteza entorrinal en los animales tratados, mientras que en los no tratados existió una pérdida significativa de esta supoblación neuronal. El efecto neuroprotector del litio se manifestó también en una marcada disminución de tau fosforilado, distrofias axonales y marcadores sinápticos, junto con una mejora cognitiva de los animales utilizando el test de reconocimiento de objetos. Este efecto preventivo del litio parece estar asociado con cambios en la formación de placas de Abeta que podrían afectar a su toxicidad, ya que los animales tratados presentaron placas más pequeñas y apariencia más compacta. Financiación: FIS PI12/01431 (AG) y FIS PI12/01439 (JV).Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

High-E_T dijet photoproduction at HERA

The cross section for high-E_T dijet production in photoproduction has been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 81.8 pb-1. The events were required to have a virtuality of the incoming photon, Q^2, of less than 1 GeV^2 and a photon-proton centre-of-mass energy in the range 142 < W < 293 GeV. Events were selected if at least two jets satisfied the transverse-energy requirements of E_T(jet1) > 20 GeV and E_T(jet2) > 15 GeV and pseudorapidity requirements of -1 < eta(jet1,2) < 3, with at least one of the jets satisfying -1 < eta(jet) < 2.5. The measurements show sensitivity to the parton distributions in the photon and proton and effects beyond next-to-leading order in QCD. Hence these data can be used to constrain further the parton densities in the proton and photon.Comment: 36 pages, 13 figures, 20 tables, including minor revisions from referees. Accepted by Phys. Rev.