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Objective: The purpose was to observe the anti-inflammatory effects of Dendrobium huoshanense polysaccharides (DHPs) on carrageenan-induced sterile air pouch synovitis. Materials and Methods: A total of 30 Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mice were randomly and equally assigned to the control, carrageenan-induced air pouch synovitis model (model), and carrageenan-induced air pouch synovitis model + DHP (200 mg/kg of body weight) (model + DHP) groups. Mice in the model + DHP group were intragastrically administered 200 mg/kg BW of DHP solution daily for 10 days. Mice in the control and model groups were intragastrically administered the same amount of distilled water. Two hours after intragastric administration on day 10, 1 mL of a 1% carrageenan solution in a sterile 0.9% saline solution was injected into the air pouch of mice in the model and model + DHP groups. Six hours later, the mice were sacrificed and 4 mL of ice-cold sterile 0.9% saline solution was injected into the air pouch to fully wash its inner wall. The lavage fluid was collected to observe the color and turbidity of the lavage fluid, as well as the appearance of the backside of the air pouch. The exudate volume, total number of leukocytes, protein content, levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) activity of the lavage fluid were analyzed. Results: The results showed that pretreatment with DHPs reduced the carrageenan-induced exudate volume (P < 0.01), total leukocytes (P < 0.05), and protein content (P < 0.01) in the air pouch lavage fluid. Furthermore, mice in the model + DHP group had significantly higher (P < 0.01) T-SOD activity and lower MDA content (P < 0.05), IL-1β (P < 0.05), and TNF-α (P < 0.01) levels in the air pouch lavage fluid compared with the model group. Conclusion: It is concluded that DHPs partially alleviated carrageenan-induced sterile inflammation, and its mechanism may be related to reducing exudation and scavenging oxygen-free radicals, inhibiting lipid peroxidation, and reducing the level of the proinflammatory factors, such as IL-1β and TNF-α.

Iron deficiency is prevalent worldwide, and iron supplementation is a promising strategy to address iron needs of the body. However, traditional oral supplements such as ferrous sulfate, ferrous succinate, and ferrous gluconate are absorbed in the form of ferrous ions, leading to lipid peroxidation and side effects due to other reasons. In recent years, saccharide-iron (III) complexes (SICs) as novel iron supplements have aroused attention for the high iron absorption rate and no gastrointestinal irritation at oral doses. In addition, research on the biological activities of SICs revealed that they also exhibited good abilities in treating anemia, eliminating free radicals, and regulating the immune response. This review focused on the preparation, structural characterization, and bioactivities of these new iron supplements, as promising candidates for the prevention and treatment of iron deficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A variety of bioactive compounds isolated from various botanical sources have been found to have therapeutic and immunotherapeutic effects on chicken coccidiosis. Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the anti‐coccidial potential of Enteromorpha prolifera polysaccharide (EP) in indigenous chickens in Northwest Ethiopia. Materials and Methods: A total of 78 male indigenous chickens were used for this study. The study had two treatment groups: (1) the EP non‐supplemented group (those fed on diets without EP and Eimeria oocyst inoculated) and (2) the EP group (those receiving diets supplemented with 400 mg EP/kg diet and Eimeria oocyst inoculated). Each treatment group had five replications. Following fourteen days of EP supplementation, 1.5 × 104 oocysts of mixed Eimeria species were inoculated into individual birds. Results: EP‐supplemented chicken showed significantly lower (p < 0.05) oocyst counts compared to non‐supplemented ones on 9 and 11 days post‐challenge. In addition, chickens in the EP‐supplemented group showed less severe lesion scores, with an average score of 1.33. Chickens that received EP showed a maximum of 27.27% protection against lesions. In contrast, the non‐supplemented chickens had a lower percentage of protection (19.83%). The maximum anti‐coccidial index value (146.98) was obtained from EP‐supplemented chickens. Chickens in the EP‐supplemented group exhibited a significantly higher (p < 0.05) weight gain. Conclusion: Overall, the inclusion of EP in chickens' diets shows promise as a potential anti‐coccidial strategy. However, additional research is required to explore the mechanisms by which EP in chickens' diet could involve in increasing the protection ability of chickens against coccidiosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Lianhua Qingwen capsule is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula having antiviral and anti‐inflammatory activities. During capsule production, a large amount of byproducts will be yielded and disposed of as waste by burying. Resourceful utilization of these kinds of TCM byproducts as feed additives through stage‐based co‐fermentation using enzyme and probiotics could reduce environmental stress and resource shortage. The in vitro characterization and the supplementary effects of fermented TCM byproducts (FTCM) for weaned piglets (initial body weight: 7.23 ± 0.33 kg; dose: basal diet + 300 mg kg−1 FTCM) were investigated. RESULTS: Higher reducing sugar content, total flavonoid content, flavonoid compounds (e.g. tectoridin, tricetin, flavone, apigenin, naringenin) and total antioxidant activity were determined in the FTCM compared to spontaneously fermented and unfermented materials. Supplementation of the FTCM to piglets did not significantly affect the feed intake, body weight gain and feed/gain ratio, but significantly decreased a proinflammatory cytokine, IL‐8, and increased intestinal total antioxidant activity (TAC) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. Moreover, FTCM supplementation increased α‐diversity of the colonic microbiota accompanied with increased abundance of Prevotella genus and Treponema berlinense species. Correlation analysis indicates that T. berlinense is responsible for the decreased IL‐8 level and enhanced intestinal TAC and SOD activities which might be mediated by a homoserine lactone molecule (3‐oxo‐C14). CONCLUSION: Overall, the stepwise co‐fermentation enriched bioactive compounds within the TCM byproducts and their dietary supplementation did not generate any side effect on growth performance but displayed beneficial effects on enrichment of potential probiotic T. berlinense and relevant functions. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine algae are becoming an important source of valuable candidates of functional food that remain unexplored. Compositional analysis showed that marine algae contain essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and minerals, of which polysaccharides are the main bioactive component. Depending on the source, marine algae polysaccharides are sulfated, which have diverse structures and compositions that influence their biological activities. A growing body of evidence has demonstrated that sulfated polysaccharides derived from marine algae (SPs) exhibit various bioactivities, especially immunomodulation. This review aims at summarizing the structural characteristics of SPs, their immunomodulatory effects, and the structural-immunomodulatory activity relationships between them from articles in recent decade, in order to provide a theoretical basis for the further applications of SPs as promising food or feed additives and possible health products to modulate the immune response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: N‐Carbamoyl‐aspartic acid (NCA) is a critical precursor for de novo biosynthesis of pyrimidine nucleotides. To investigate the cumulative effects of maternal supplementation with NCA on the productive performance, serum metabolites and intestinal microbiota of sows, 40 pregnant sows (∼day 80) were assigned into two groups: (1) the control (CON) and (2) treatment (NCA, 50 g t−1 NCA). Results: Results showed that piglets from the NCA group had heavier birth weight than those in the CON group (P < 0.05). In addition, maternal supplementation with NCA decreased the backfat loss of sows during lactation (P < 0.05). Furthermore,16S‐rRNA sequencing results revealed that maternal NCA supplementation decreased the abundance of Cellulosilyticum, Fournierella, Anaerovibrio, and Oribacterium genera of sows during late pregnancy (P < 0.05). Similarly, on the 14th day of lactation, maternal supplementation with NCA reduced the diversity of fecal microbes of sows as evidenced by significantly lower observed species, Chao1, and Ace indexes, and decreased the abundance of Lachnospire, Faecalibacterium, and Anaerovorax genera, while enriched the abundance of Catenisphaera (P < 0.05). Untargeted metabolomics showed that a total of 48 differentially abundant biomarkers were identified, which were mainly involved in metabolic pathways of arginine/proline metabolism, phenylalanine/tyrosine metabolism, and fatty acid biosynthesis, etc. Conclusion: Overall, the results indicated that NCA supplementation regulated intestinal microbial composition of sows and serum differential metabolites related to arginine, proline, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and fatty acids metabolism that may contribute to regulating the backfat loss of sows, and the birth weight and diarrhea rate of piglets. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was conducted in sub-city of Addis Ababa to isolate, characterize and identify Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from ready to consume Shamita. A total of forty five samples of ready to consume shamita were collected from randomly selected household brewers from three purposively selected sub-cities namely (Gulele, Arada, Yeka). For isolation of lactic acid bacteria, samples were serially diluted up to 10-6 and plated on MRS agar at 32oC for 48hours in anaerobic condition. Wellisolated colonies with typical characteristics were picked from each plate and were further sub cultured until pure isolates were obtained. Purely isolated colony was identified by cell morphology, cell arrangement, gram-staining, catalase test and acid production from glucose. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) (2011) software (ver.20). A total of 35 lactic acid bacteria isolates belonging to five genera Leuconostoc (31.43%), Pediococcus (8.57%), Lactobacillus (22.86%), Streptococcus (17.14%), Lactococcus (20%), were characterized and identified. Streptococcus, Leuconostoc, Pediococcus and Lactococcus were cocci shaped. In the present study the dominant genera of lactic acid bacteria identified from shamita samples were leuconostoc (31.43%). Therefore, traditional fermented beverages like Shamita can be a good source of lactic acid bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]