8 research outputs found
Assessment of growth hormone gene polymorphism effects on reproductive traits in Holstein dairy cattle in Tunisia
Research to assess the effect of single genes on reproductive traits in
bovine species is imperative to elucidate genes' functions and acquire a
better perspective of quantitative traits. The present study was undertaken
to characterize genetic diversity in the bovine growth hormone (GH) gene in a
population of 410 Holstein dairy cows in Tunisia. The analyses were based on
single nucleotide polymorphisms, and GH-AluI and GH-MspI detections and genotyping
were carried out using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction
fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Data were analyzed using a mixed linear model with the MIXED procedure
to reveal the possible effect of GH genotypes on reproductive traits.
The frequency data of AluI(L//V) and MspI(+//−)
alleles were 87.04//12.96 and 70.06//29.94, respectively.
The distribution of the frequency of GH
genotypes for LL/LV/VV and (−/−)//(+/−)//(+/+) were
77.75//18.59//3.66 and 15.37//29.13//55.50, respectively. The results of the
statistical analyses proved that GH-AluI showed a substantial favorable
effect on exanimate traits except for the age at first calving; however, only
a suggestive effect of GH-MspI on the calving interval (CI) and the days open (DI) was
found. The homozygous LL genotype seemed to be advantageous with respect to the
CI and the DI compared with LV and VV genotypes. Heterozygous MspI(+/−) cows
tended to have a longer CI and DI than MspI(+/+) and
MspI(−/−) cows, but the difference was not statistically significant.
A significant effect of different GH-AluI–MspI combined genotypes was
found on the number of inseminations per conception, the CI and
the DI, and the LL/– combined genotype seemed to be associated with
better reproductive performance.
Based on these results, the LL genotype of the GH locus can be
considered to be a favorable genotype for reproductive traits in Holstein dairy
cattle, although these findings need to be confirmed by further research before
polymorphisms can be used in a marker-assisted selection program.</p
Rhaponticum acaule (L) DC essential oil: chemical composition, in vitro antioxidant and enzyme inhibition properties
Background: α-glucosidase is a therapeutic target for diabetes mellitus (DM) and α-glucosidase inhibitors play a
vital role in the treatments for the disease. Furthermore, xanthine oxidase (XO) is a key enzyme that catalyzes
hypoxanthine and xanthine to uric acid which at high levels can lead to hyperuricemia which is an important cause
of gout. Pancreatic lipase (PL) secreted into the duodenum plays a key role in the digestion and absorption of fats.
For its importance in lipid digestion, PL represents an attractive target for obesity prevention.
Methods: The flowers essential oil of Rhaponticum acaule (L) DC (R. acaule) was characterized using gas
chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The antioxidant activities of R. acaule essential oil (RaEO) were also
determined using 2,2’-azinobis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS), reducing power,
phosphomolybdenum, and DNA nicking assays. The inhibitory power of RaEO against α-glucosidase, xanthine
oxidase and pancreatic lipase was evaluated. Enzyme kinetic studies using Michaelis-Menten and the derived
Lineweaver-Burk (LB) plots were performed to understand the possible mechanism of inhibition exercised by the
components of this essential oil.
Results: The result revealed the presence of 26 compounds (97.4%). The main constituents include germacrene D
(49.2%), methyl eugenol (8.3%), (E)-β-ionone (6.2%), β-caryophyllene (5.7%), (E,E)-α-farnesene (4.2%),
bicyclogermacrene (4.1%) and (Z)-α-bisabolene (3.7%). The kinetic inhibition study showed that the essential oil
demonstrated a strong α-glucosidase inhibiton and it was a mixed inhibitor. On the other hand, our results
evidenced that this oil exhibited important xanthine oxidase inhibitory effect, behaving as a non-competitive
inhibitor. The essential oil inhibited the turkey pancreatic lipase, with maximum inhibition of 80% achieved at
2 mg/mL. Furthermore, the inhibition of turkey pancreatic lipase by RaEO was an irreversible one.
Conclusion: The results revealed that the RaEO is a new promising potential source of antioxidant compounds,
endowed with good practical applications for human health.
Keywords: α-glucosidase, Antioxidant activity, Chemical composition, Pancreatic lipase inhibition, Rhaponticum
acaule essential oil, Xanthine oxidase