Biochemistry Research International最新文献

Writing an effective manuscript is one of the pivotal steps in the successful closure of the research project, and getting it published in a peer-reviewed and indexed journal adds to the academic profile of a researcher. Writing and publishing a scientific paper is a tough task that researchers and academicians must endure in staying relevant in the field. Success in translating the benchworks into the scientific content, which is effectively communicated within the scientific field, is used in evaluating the researcher in the current academic world. Writing is a highly time-consuming and skill-oriented process that requires familiarity with the numerous publishing steps, formatting rules, and ethical guidelines currently in vogue in the publishing industry. In this review, we have attempted to include the essential information that novice authors in their early careers need to possess, to be able to write a decent first scientific manuscript ready for submission in the journal of choice. This review is unique in providing essential guidance in a simple point-wise manner in conjunction with easy-to-understand illustrations to familiarize novice researchers with the anatomy of a basic scientific manuscript.

Palm olein (PO) and lard are considered harmful to health because of their highly saturated fatty acid content. On the contrary, olive oil (OO) with its high level of polyunsaturated fatty acids is considered healthier. This study aims to evaluate the effects of high consumption of these oils on carbohydrate metabolism and vascular function. Male Wistar rats were fed ad libitum for 12 weeks with different high fat diets (HFD) containing 30% of each oil. Systemic glycemia, insulinemia, and lipidemia were assessed by routine methods or by ELISA. GLUT4 muscular expression and hepatic and muscular Akt phosphorylation were analyzed by western blot. Vascular function was evaluated, ex vivo, on aortic rings and on the variations of isometric tensions. The results show that fasting blood glucose was increased with PO and OO diets and decreased with lard. Compared to control diet, this increase was significant only with PO diet. The area under the curve of IPGTT was increased in all HFD groups. Compared to control diet, this increase was significant only with PO. In contrast, stimulation of the pathway with insulin showed a significant decrease in Akt phosphorylation in all HFD compared to control diet. KCl and phenylephrine induced strong, dose-dependent vasoconstriction of rat aortas in all groups, but KCl EC₅₀ values were increased with lard and OO diets. The inhibitory effect of tempol was absent in PO and lard and attenuated in OO. Vascular insulin sensitivity was decreased in all HFD groups. This decreased sensitivity of insulin was more important with PO and lard when compared to OO diet. In conclusion, the results of this study clearly show that high consumption of palm olein, olive oil, and lard can compromise glucose tolerance and thus insulin sensitivity. Furthermore, palm olein and lard have a more deleterious effect than olive oil on the contractile function of the aorta. Excessive consumption of saturated or unsaturated fatty acids is harmful to health, regardless of their vegetable or animal origin.

Objective: Food proteins provide amino acids (AAs) and serve as building blocks of all vital organs, muscles, hormones, and biological fluids such as blood. Eggs are known as a good source of protein. This study compared the protein quality of bird eggs (raw and boiled), using their AA scores since some individuals consume raw eggs for various reasons. Research Methods. Eggs studied were exotic chicken, local chicken, turkey, quail, and guinea fowl eggs. The eggs were shelled and their contents (boiled and raw) lyophilized. The standard AOAC method (Kjeldahl) was used to determine protein content, while the amino acid composition was measured using an AA analyzer. The total AA scores were calculated based on the whole hen's egg AA profiles. Statistical significance was accepted at p < 0.05.

Results: The Guinea fowl egg had the highest total amino acid score (TAAS) of 0.92. The other scores ranged as follows: 0.82 (quail) >0.81 (turkey) >0.75 (exotic chicken), and the lowest score was 0.65 (local chicken). The least scores were phenylalanine: 0.34 (exotic chicken), phenylalanine and serine: 0.36 (local chicken), leucine and aspartic acid: 0.41 (turkey), methionine: 0.31 (quail), and glutamic acid: 0.33 (guinea fowl). Also, guinea fowl egg had the highest total essential amino acid (TEAA) (49.6 g/100 g protein), i.e., % TEAA (55.1%), while exotic chicken egg had the lowest (41.1%), but the highest % NEAA (58.9%).

Conclusion: Guinea fowl eggs had the highest EAA and TAA content. Its consumption should particularly be encouraged for children as this can significantly reduce the risk of protein-energy malnutrition and prevent protein deficiencies.

Herbal medication developed from natural resources has to have antibacterial and antioxidant effects. The aim of this research is to look at the chemical makeup of Solanecio gigas (S. gigas) stem bark essential oil (EO), as well as the effectiveness of EO and extracts (chloroform, ethyl acetate, and methanol) against human pathogenic bacteria and their antioxidant activity. The GC-MS analysis identified 23 components, accounting for 98.7% of the total oil containing Methylene chloride (49.2%), sabinene (10.5%), 1-nonene (11.3%), Terpinen-4-ol (6.9%), Camphene (4.3%), γ-terpinene (3.6%), α-phellandrene (2.9%) β-myrcene (2.6%), 1,2,5-Oxadiazol-3-carboxamide, 4,4'-azobis-2,2'-dioxide (2.4%), α-terpinene (1.9%), 1-Octanamine, N-methyl- (1.9%), ρ-cymene (1.6%) as major components. The antibacterial efficacy of the EO and extracts (25, 50, 100, and 200 mg/ml) was demonstrated by the inhibitory zones (8.5 ± 0.47-23.3 ± 0.36 and 7.2 ± 0.25-22.0 ± 0.45 mm), respectively. The MIC values of the extracts and the EO were 120-150 and 240 to <1100 μg/ml, respectively. The EO also demonstrated a significant antibacterial impact. The EO and methanolic extract had free radical scavenging activities with IC₅₀ value, 13.8 ± 0.48 and 4.2 ± 0.04 μg/ml, respectively. In comparison to the other extracts, the methanolic extract had the greatest phenolics (100.2 ± 0.13 μg GAE/mg of dry extract) and flavonoid contents (112.1 ± 0.18 μg CE/mg of dry extract).

Pleurotus ostreatus mushroom contains important bioactive compounds and has several biological activities; however, mushroom growing substrates have major influence on chemical and functional characteristics of the mushroom. Hence, the study aimed to evaluate the influence of supplementing mushroom growing substrates with wheat bran (WB) towards yield/productivity, bioactive compounds, and antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of P. ostreatus. The mushroom was cultivated on sugarcane substrates supplemented with increasing levels of WB (0%-20%). The mushroom extracts were screened for bioactive compounds using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Antimicrobial activity was carried out using microplate assay, while antioxidant potential was investigated using reducing power assay. The addition of supplements on mushroom growing substrates had an influence on mushroom yield; hence, higher supplementation (18% and 20%) produced higher yield. The GC-MS revealed several bioactive compounds with known activity, such as vitamin E, phenol, fatty acids, and terpenoids. Concentration-dependent antioxidant activity was observed; hence, extracts at higher concentrations gave significantly higher reducing power. The P. ostreatus extract had antimicrobial activity against all the tested organisms, with S. aureus showing high susceptibility to most of the extracts. However, mushrooms grown on bagasse substrates supplemented with 14% (0.02 mg/ml) and 20% WB (0.08 mg/ml) proved to have better antimicrobial activity on Escherichia coli. The difference in susceptibility demonstrates that substrates type and composition could have an influence on bioactive compounds found within mushrooms, also influencing medicinal properties of edible mushroom. Thus, supplementing mushroom growing substrates not only improve yield, but also can contribute to bioactive compounds with medicinal potential.

Background: Afzelia africana is a plant species with reported numerous medicinal potentials and secondary metabolites. Various parts of the plant have been applied for the treatment of hernia, rheumatism, pain, lumbago, malaria, etc. The study seeks to evaluate the phytochemical constituents, antiplasmodial, and ESI-MS scan of bioassay-guided fractions from the methanol extract of the bark of the plant.

Aims: The main aim of the study was to carry out bioassay-guided fractionation of the crude methanol extract of Afzelia africana in order to isolate fractions and to evaluate their antiplasmodial activities and ESI-MS fingerprints.

Methods: The methods employed include column chromatographic fractionation, phytochemical screening, antiplasmodial activity (malaria SYBER green assay (MSF)), and ESI-MS profile (full ESI-MS scan).

Results: The column chromatographic fractionation and phytochemical screening of the plant led to the separation of the following four fractions: 1 (flavonoids, phenolics, glycosides, terpenoids, and steroids), 2 (alkaloids, anthraquinones, flavonoids, phenolics, glycosides, terpenoids, and steroids), 3 (anthraquinones, flavonoids, phenolics, glycosides, terpenoids, and steroids), and 4 (alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolics, glycosides, terpenoids, and steroids). The antiplasmodial activities of the fractions were tested against the 3D7 strain of Plasmodium falciparum with reported stronger activities for 1 (IC₅₀: 0.097 ± 0.034 μg/mL) and 3 (IC₅₀: 1.43 ± 0.072 μg/mL), and weaker activities for 2 (IC₅₀: >100 μg/mL) and 4 (IC₅₀: 37.09 ± 6.14 μg/mL). The full ESI-MS fingerprint of fractions 1, 2, 3, and 4 revealed the presence of 14, 24, 34, and 37 major molecular ions or compounds in each fraction, respectively.

Metabolomics is a comprehensive analysis of metabolites existing in biological systems. As one of the important "omics" tools, the approach has been widely employed in various fields in helping to better understand the complex cellular metabolic states and changes. Bacterial metabolomics has gained a significant interest as bacteria serve to provide a better subject or model at systems level. The approach in metabolomics is categorized into untargeted and targeted which serves different paradigms of interest. Nevertheless, the bottleneck in metabolomics has been the sample or metabolite preparation method. A custom-made method and design for a particular species or strain of bacteria might be necessary as most studies generally refer to other bacteria or even yeast and fungi that may lead to unreliable analysis. The paramount aspect of metabolomics design comprises sample harvesting, quenching, and metabolite extraction procedures. Depending on the type of samples and research objective, each step must be at optimal conditions which are significantly important in determining the final output. To date, there are no standardized nor single designated protocols that have been established for a specific bacteria strain for untargeted and targeted approaches. In this paper, the existing and current developments of sample preparation methods of bacterial metabolomics used in both approaches are reviewed. The review also highlights previous literature of optimized conditions used to propose the most ideal methods for metabolite preparation, particularly for bacterial cells. Advantages and limitations of methods are discussed for future improvement of bacterial metabolomics.