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Objectives: Aminoacidopathies are inborn errors of metabolism (IEMs) that cause intellectual disability in children. Luckily, aminoacidopathies are potentially treatable, if diagnosed earlier in life. The focus of this study was the screening of aminoacidopathies in a cohort of patients suspected for IEMs. Methods: Blood samples from healthy (IQ > 90; n = 391) and intellectually disabled (IQ < 70; n = 409) children (suspected for IEMs) were collected from different areas of Northern Punjab, Pakistan. An analytical HPLC assay was used for the screening of plasma amino acids. Results: All the samples (n = 800) were analyzed on HPLC and forty-three out of 409 patient samples showed abnormal amino acid profiles mainly in the levels of glutamic acid, ornithine and methionine. Plasma concentration (Mean ± SD ng/mL) were significantly high in 40 patients for glutamic acid (patients: 165 ± 38 vs. controls: 57 ± 8, p < 0.00001) and ornithine (patients: 3177 ± 937 vs. controls: 1361 ± 91, p < 0.0001). Moreover, 3 patients showed abnormally high (53.3 ± 8.6 ng/mL) plasma levels of methionine. Conclusion: In conclusion, biochemical analysis of samples from such patients at the metabolites level could reveal the underlying diseases which could be confirmed through advanced biochemical and genetic analyses. Thus, treatment to some of such patients could be offered. Thus burden of intellectual disability caused by such rare metabolic diseases could be reduced from the target populations.

In present study, proximate chemical composition and tocopherol content were evaluated for estimation of food quality. The maize genotypes with promising agronomic parameters were analyzed for their biochemical composition and further guidance for maize crop improvement with respect to quality traits. Twelve (12) genotypes (n= 60) of maize (Zea mays L.) cultivated at Maize and Millet Research Institute, Yousafwala, Sahiwal, Punjab, Pakistan were evaluated for diversity based on protein, crude fiber, moisture contents, oil contents and tocopherol. The results showed that the crude protein contents were ranged from 1.75 to 5.25%, crude fiber 2.12 to 2.55%, fat contents 2.83 to 5.20%, moisture contents 9.75 to 11.95% and total tocopherol 1971 to 9382 µg/g -tocopherol was found in maximum concentration and crude fiber in minimum percentage. These findings will be helpful to produce quality products from the maize and valuable to protect human beings against degenerative processes, such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salting-out-assisted liquid-liquid extraction (SALLE) was developed to extract thiacloprid (THI) from fruits and vegetables. SALLE conditions (NaCl/Na2SO4, pH, and solvent polarity) were investigated at various levels for the optimal recovery of THI. Meanwhile, reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) conditions were balanced over 1-100 µg/mL of THI. The optimized SALLE-RP-HPLC method offered 78.33-92.00% recovery of standard THI at an acceptable repeatability 1.81-4.30% and reproducibility 1.08-4.74%. The detection and quantification limits were found to be 0.03 and 0.05 µg/mL, respectively. The real-time analysis verifies its suitability and ease of use for the determination of THI in agricultural commodities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Total 372 samples (169 sample from summer and 203 samples from winter) of milk and dairy products were collected from major cities of Punjab, Pakistan, during 2014–2015. The aflatoxin M 1 (AFM 1 ) levels were analyzed using HPLC, equipped with floresce n ce detector. The results have showed that AFM 1 was detected in 77 (45.5%) samples of milk and dairy products from summer at the range of LOD to 229.6 ng/L, and 114 (56.1%) samples from winter at a range of LOD to 345.8 ng/L. The highest mean of AFM 1 i.e. 94.9 ± 5.4 ng/L from summer and 129.6 ± 8.4 ng/L from winter was detected in raw milk samples. The results have shown that 37.5% of milk, 32% of UHT milk, 12.5% of powdered milk, 20% of flavored milk, 20% of yogurt and 16% of flavored milk samples from summer were found exceeded the recommended levels of AFM 1 i.e 50 ng/L (European Union permissible limit), as compared to 38.1%, 37.1%, 15.6%, 21.4%, 27.7% and 40% samples of milk, UHT milk, powdered milk, flavored milk, yogurt and flavored yogurt from winter, respectively. The mean level of AFM 1 in samples of milk, UHT milk and powdered milk samples from winter season has significantly (p˂ 0.05) higher as compared to the mean levels in samples from summer season. The dietary exposures of AFM 1 in milk and dairy products were calculated in five different age groups and the highest level of 3.42 and 3.33 ng/L/day in summer and 4.7 and 4.6 ng/L/day in winter were found in 1–5 years of male and female infants, respectively. The results of present study have shown significant levels of AFM 1 in milk and dairy products from Punjab, Pakistan and could pose considerable thereat to the health of local population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cirrhinus mrigala was exposed to sub-lethal concentrations of carbosulfan (carbamate) and parathion (organophosphate) to study the toxic effects on acetylcholinesterases (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterases (BuChE) activity in the brain, gills, liver, kidneys, blood and flesh, compared with control samples. The fingerlings of Cirrhinus mrigala were exposed to three sub-lethal concentrations of parathion (0.041, 0.020 and 0.013 mg/L) and carbosulfan (0.098, 0.049 and 0.033 mg/L) in three replicates for 60 days. The activity of cholinesterases (AChE and BuChE) was significantly inhibited, even at the lowest exposure levels of parathion and carbosulfan, in gills, liver, kidney and muscle of the fish. Findings from this study have demonstrated that inhibition of AChE and BuChE activity in C. mrigala is a useful biomarker in assessing the aquatic environment contaminated by anticholinesterases not only in the brain, but also in other vital organs; hence, it can be used as a biomarker for monitoring purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Florfenicol, a broad spectrum bacteriostatic antibiotic belonging to amphenicol class, is widely used in poultry and livestock for the treatment of various infections. The major metabolite of florfenicol in different animal species is florfenicol amine which is exploited as the marker residue for the determination of florfenicol. Analysis of florfenicol merely by solvent extraction cannot determine the accurate amount of the drug present in incurred tissues (muscle, liver and kidney) of treated birds, as indicated by this study. Thus the methods solely based on solvent extraction may lead to false negative results. A reliable LC–MS/MS based confirmatory method for the analysis of florfenicol and its metabolites in chicken muscle was developed and validated according to the European Union Commission Decision 2002/657/EC. The method was based on acid hydrolysis to liberate non-extractable residues having presumably been covalently bound to tissues, and to convert all the florfenicol residues as well as its metabolites into florfenicol amine. The amine was subsequently recovered with ethyl acetate at pH 10.5, defatted and further cleaned up with dispersive solid phase extraction (dSPE). The LC separation was achieved on reverse phase C-18 column with isocratic elution using acetonitrile/water mobile phase and the analysis was performed on linear ion trap mass spectrometer. Calibration curve was obtained over a concentration range of 25–600 μg/kg for chicken muscles. The accuracy values ranged from 84 to 101.4% and the precision values for within day and between days ranged from 1.2-11.7%, respectively. Limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOD), CCα and CCβ values were 0.98, 3.2, 113 and 126 μg/kg, respectively. The developed method was highly robust and was further applied to estimate the relative distribution of solvent-extractable against solvent-non-extractable florfenicol drug residues in muscle, liver and kidney samples of broiler chicken after 5 days of oral dosing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hot peppers used as natural flavoring and coloring agents are usually irradiated in prepacked form for decontamination. The effects of gamma radiation on the stability of functional components such as capsaicinoids and antioxidant compounds (carotenoids, ascorbic acid and total phenolics) were investigated in hot peppers ( Capsicum annuum ). Whole dried peppers packed in polyethylene bags were gamma irradiated at 0 (control), 2, 4, and 6 kGy and subsequently stored at 25 °C for 90 days. The irradiation dose did not substantially affect the initial contents of capsaicinoids, ascorbic acid and total phenolics, though the concentration of carotenoids declined by 8% from the control (76.9 mg/100 g) to 6 kGy radiation dose (70.7 mg/100 g). Similarly, during storage for 90 days at ambient temperature the concentrations of capsaicinoids and total phenolics remained fairly stable with mean percent reductions from 3.3% to 4.2%, while the levels of total carotenoids and ascorbic acid significantly ( p < 0.05) declined by 12% and 14%, respectively. Overall, neither irradiation nor subsequent ambient storage could appreciably influence the contents of functional components in hot peppers. These results revealed that gamma irradiation up to 6 kGy can be safely used for decontamination to meet the needs for overseas markets without compromising product quality.

The maintenance of the quality and storage life of perishable fruits and vegetables is a major challenge for the food industry. In this study, the effects of different temperatures, packaging materials and storage time on the stability of capsaicinoids and antioxidants, such as total carotenoids, ascorbic acid and total phenolic compounds, were studied in three commercially cultivated hot pepper hybrids, namely Sky Red, Maha and Wonder King. For this purpose, dry whole pods were packed in jute bags and low-density polyethylene bags (LDPE), stored for five months under controlled conditions at 20, 25 or 30 ○ C and analyzed on Day 0 and at 50-day intervals until Day 150. The three hot pepper hybrids differed significantly with respect to their capsaicinoids and antioxidant concentrations, but the results indicated that with the increase in storage temperature and time, a gradual and steady decrease in these levels was equally observed for all hybrids. Overall, mean concentrations after five months were significantly reduced by 22.6% for ascorbic acid, 19.0% for phenolic compounds, 17% for carotenoids and 12.7% for capsaicinoids. The trends of capsaicinoids and antioxidants evolution were decreasing gradually during storage until Day 150, this effect being more pronounced at higher temperature. Furthermore, the disappearance rates of capsaicinoids and antioxidants were higher in peppers packed in jute bags than in those wrapped with LDPE. In conclusion, despite the sensitivity of capsaicinoids and antioxidants to oxygen, light and moisture, the packaging in natural jute or synthetic LDPE plastic bags, as well as the storage at ambient temperature preserved between 77.4% and 87.3% of the initial amounts of these health- and nutrition-promoting compounds during five months' storage.