| Volume 3 | January - February 2004 | Number 1 |
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Potentials of Guinea Grass (Panicum maximum) as Forage Crop in Livestock Production [Abstract] [Full Text] Biological Significance of Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) in Human Health : A Review [Abstract] [Full Text] Prevalence and Etiology of Obesity - An Overview [Abstract] [Full Text] Chemical Composition of Crop Contents of Local Scavenging Chickens [Abstract] [Full Text] Participation of Rural People in Dairy Enterprise in a Selected Area of Bangladesh [Abstract] [Full Text] Reproducibility and Validity of the Food Frequency Questionnaire in a Rural Block of Haryana, India [Abstract] [Full Text] Performance and Egg Weight of Laying Hens Fed on the Diets with Various By-Product Oils from the Oilseed Extraction Refinery [Abstract] [Full Text] Diabetes Risk Factors in Middle Income Pakistani School Children [Abstract] [Full Text] Indicators and Nutritional Outcomes of Household Food Insecurity among a Sample of Rural Malaysian Women [Abstract] [Full Text] Effect of Dietary Fats on Glucose Tolerance, Insulin Sensitivity and Membrane Free Fatty Acids in Rats [Abstract] [Full Text] Biodistribution of Sodium Pertechnetate and Light Microscopy of Organs Isolated from the Rats: Study of the Effects of a Ginkgo biloba Extract [Abstract] [Full Text] Ginkgo biloba Extract: Experimental Model to Evaluate its Action on the Labeling of Blood Elements with Technetium-99m and on the Morphometry of Red Blood Cells [Abstract] [Full Text] [Top] [Table of Contents] [Home] . Pakistan Journal of Nutrition 3 (1): 1 - 4, 2004 © Asian Network for Scientific Information 2004 Forage Crop in Livestock Production A.A. Aganga and S. Tshwenyane Animal Science and Production, Botswana College of Agriculture, Gaborone Abstract:
Panicum maximum (guinea grass) is native to Africa but this grass was introduced to almost all tropical countries as a source of animal forage. It grows well on a wide variety of well drained soils of good fertility and it is suitable to stop soil erosion. It can survive quick moving fires which does not harm the underground roots and drought because of the deep, dense and fibrous root system. Guinea grass is a clump-forming perennial which grows best in warm frost free areas receiving more than 900 mm rainfall. Crude protein (CP) content of fresh guinea grass varied from 5.0 to 5.6% while guinea grass silage contains 5.0 to 5.5% CP. The digestibility (IVDOM) varied with the variety from 56.9% for Gatton to 87.7% for Vencidor. This paper reviews the potential of P. maximum as a forage for animal production in the tropics and Sub tropics. in Human Health - A Review Khalid Iqbal, Alam Khan and M. Muzaffar Ali Khan Khattak Department of Human Nutrition, NWFP Agricultural University, Peshawar, Pakistan Abstract:
The recognition of vitamin C (Ascorbic acid) is associated with history of an unrelenting search for the cause of the ancient hemorrhagic disease scurvy. Isolated in 1928, vitamin C is essential for the development and maintenance of connective tissues. It plays an important role in bone formation, wound healing and the maintenance of healthy gums. Vitamin C plays an important role in a number of metabolic functions including the activation of the B vitamin, folic acid, the conversion of cholesterol to bile acids and the conversion of the amino acid, tryptophan, to the neurotransmitter, serotonin. It is an antioxidant that protects body from free radicals' damages. It is used as therapeutic agent in many diseases and disorders. Vitamin C protects the immune system, reduces the severity of allergic reactions and helps fight off infections. Aien khan Afridi and Alam Khan Department of Human Nutrition, NWFP, Agricultural University, Peshawar, Pakistan E-mail: alamkhandr@yahoo.com Abstract:
Obesity is an excess body weight due to fat deposition as compared to set standards of body weight. Though it is determined by a number of methods, but body mass index (BMI) has become the measurement of choice for many obesity researchers and health professionals. BMI is a practical indicator of the severity of obesity. A more important aspect of obesity is the regional distribution of excess body fat. Mortality and morbidity ratio vary with the distribution of body fat, with the highest risk linked to excessive abdominal fat, usually called as Central obesity. Waist circumference is a useful measurement to the risks associated with obesity. Waist circumference and BMI are interrelated, waist circumference provides an independent prediction of risk over and above that of BMI. Prevalence of obesity varies amongst countries depending upon environmental and behavioral changes brought about by economic development, modernization and urbanization. The variation in prevalence of obesity epidemic in various races and communities of the world may be attributed to heredity, age, sex, diet, eating patterns, life style and/or behavior. The prevalence of obesity is minimum in China (3.8%) and Singapore (6.7%) and maximum in Micronesian Island of Naru (85% for male and 93% for female). In Pakistan, the prevalence is 7-8%. Obesity develops as a result of a complex interaction between a person's genes and the environment characterized by long-term energy imbalance due to excessive caloric consumption, insufficient energy out put (sedentary lifestyle, low resting metabolic rate) or both. Diet and life style play a significant role both in development and control of obesity. A virus Ad-36 found in obese individuals may be an additional factor to the escalating prevalence of obesity. Mahbubur Rashid, Bibek Chandra Roy and Asaduzzaman Department of Livestock Services, Krishi Khamar Sharak, Framgate, Dhaka, Bangladesh E-mail: rashidbd@hotmail.com Abstract:
The study assessed the chemical compositions of the crop contents of local chickens. A total of 70 local scavenging chickens (35 layers and 35 growers) were collected from rural areas of Bangladesh and were sacrificed. After dissection of the crops, the contents were dried under sunshine and ground and the ground contents of each crop were chemically analyzed. The mean weight of dried crop contents was 19.9±4.56 g for layer and 13.4±2.62 g for grower. The mean dry matter (DM) percentage of crop contents was 45.5±7.40 for layer and 48.9±7.06 for growers. The mean (% of DM) crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), crude fibre (CF), ash, nitrogen-free-extract (NFE), calcium (Ca) and total phosphorus (P) of the crop contents were 11.7±2.53, 2.07±0.954, 6.04±2.98, 12.4±5.51, 68.3±7.80, 1.32±0.793 and 0.459±0.177, respectively for layers and were 9.89±1.59, 2.11±2.21, 6.40±4.30, 12.3±6.71, 69.3±7.95, 0.761±0.406 and 0.336±0.200, respectively for growers. The calculated metabolizable energy (ME) was 2781±336 and 2755±441 kcal/kg DM for layers and growers, respectively. Crude protein, Ca and P contents were significantly higher (P<0.01) in layers compared to growers, but other nutrients did not vary significantly. The concentrations of chemical components of feeds scavenged by local chickens were less than the recommended nutritional levels, which varied with type of chicken. in a Selected Area of Bangladesh M.S. Rabbani1, M.M. Alam2, M.Y. Ali3, S.M.R. Rahman3 and B.K. Saha1 1Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), Dairy and Food project, Gazipur, Bangladesh 2Livestock Development Program, PROSHIKA, I/1-Ga, Section-2, Mirpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh 3Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), Agargaon, Dhaka, Bangladesh Abstract:
The aim of the study is to be participation of rural people in dairy enterprise in relation to their socio-economic characteristics in the selected areas of Bangladesh. The study was carried out at the five village of Bogra District of Bangladesh. From each village 20 farm families were selected with the purpose of the study and data were collected from them by direct interview. A total of 62% respondents were engaged in agriculture sector who have one or more dairy cattle. About 49% rural people were illiterate while 51% of them were literate. The result indicated that 65% men, 19% son, 10% women, 1% daughter and 4% servant were actively involved in the feeding practices. The farmer participation in feeding practices such as chopped straw, UMB and UTS, concentrate mixture and green grass to their cows were 90, 2, 40 and 90% respectively. In the study areas 78% rural people milked their cows once daily and about 31% farmers were inseminated their cows with artificial insemination. The Participation of in health care activities such as use of disinfectant to their dairy houses and utensils, use of vaccines, treated their diseased cow with veterinary Surgeon were 22, 22 and 29% respectively. It is evident that average total number of cattle per household was 6 and large farmers raised the highest number of crossbreed cattle (4.71 number/household). Small farmers were the highest of indigenous cattle raisers. Many problems were the barrier to milk production and establishing dairy enterprises in the study area. The result suggested that improved feeding technology, proper hygienic and sanitation program, proper treatment, sound breeding policy should be taken and more participation in management practices are necessary for increasing the milk production as well as establishing dairy enterprises. in a Rural Block of Haryana, India Umesh Kapil, Preeti Singh, Priyali Pathak and Ritu Pradhan Department of Human Nutrition, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi-110 029, India E-mail: kapilumesh@hotmail.com Abstract:
The present study was conducted amongst 212 subjects to assess the reproducibility and validity of the food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) methodology in a rural area of India. The findings of the present study revealed that FFQ for all the food groups is reproducible. A good validity was found between the two methodologies for all the food groups except for pulses. Diets with Various By-Product Oils from the Oilseed Extraction Refinery Nizamettin Senköylü, Hasan Akyürek, H. Ersin Samli and Nuri Yurdakurban Department of Animal Science, Agricultural Faculty, Trakya University, Tekirdag, Turkey E-mail: nsenkoylu@yahoo.com Abstract:
To test the changes in laying performance and egg weight, four diets were added with 30 g/kg of soya oil (control), sunflower acid oil, stearin and Bergafat (acid oil). Totally hundred and ninety two brown layer hens at the age of 31 weeks were randomly allocated to 48 cage replicates. Egg production, egg weight, feed intake and feed conversion ratio of the hens receiving the diets of acid oil, stearin and Bergafat was not significantly (P>0.05) different from that of the hens receiving the diet of soya oil. The diet with Bergafat insignificantly (P>0.05) leads to reduced egg weight being 59.3 g compared to the other diets with 61.2, 61.2 and 61.9 g values, respectively. The reduced egg weight with Bergafat might be associated with the low level of unsaturated fatty acid which resulted in less lipid deposition in the egg yolk. The linoleic acid contents of studied oils ranged from 23.9, 23.0, 21.4 and 11.6 g/kg for soya oil, sunflower acid oil, stearin and Bergafat, respectively. The results indicated that the diet linoleic acid content over 12 g/kg is not critical for egg weight. M. Zafar Iqbal Hydrie, Abdul Basit, Naeema Badruddin and M. Yakoob Ahmedani Research Department, Baqai Institute of Diabetology and Endocrinology, III-B, 3/17, Nazimabad-3, Karachi-746000, Pakistan Abstract:
To assess the risk factors for diabetes such as dietary habits, physical fitness score, physical activity, body mass index (BMI) and family history of diabetes amongst school children. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 103 children (ages 8-12 years), from middle-income families from two schools of Karachi. Data of physical fitness score was taken by a physical fitness test and BMI was calculated by measuring weight and height. Dietary records were taken by 24 hours self reported diet recall charts of two weekdays. Health knowledge was obtained by a questionnaire given to children and a separate questionnaire was given to mothers to get this information. Majority of the children took less healthy food from the choice given to them; according to the self reported dietary intakes, 88% had poor intake of vegetables, 84% had poor intake of milk while 80% had poor intake of fruits. More than 40% of the children consumed soft drinks and fast foods daily. A child on the average watched 2.9 hours of TV/per day on weekdays and 3.5 hours of TV of weekends. Physical fitness score of 45% of the children was unsatisfactory while 29% of children had BMI > 20 Kg/m2. Eighty four percent of the children had first or second degree relative with diabetes. Majority of the children had high risk factors for diabetes with unhealthy diet and low physical activity patterns augmented by strong family history of diabetes. This shows that these children are at increased risk of developing diabetes in later years and preventive measures are required early in life, including lifestyle and behavioral changes to save our future generations from developing diabetes. This information will help in designing interventions for better lifestyle and eating habits which may reduce the later incidence of diabetes in children at adulthood. among a Sample of Rural Malaysian Women Zalilah Mohd Shariff and Khor Geok Lin Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra, Serdang 43400 Selangor, Malaysia E-mail: zalilah@medic.upm.edu.my Abstract:
The objectives of this study were to determine the indicators and nutritional outcomes of household food insecurity among a sample of poor rural communities in Malaysia. The Radimer/Cornell Hunger and Food Insecurity Instrument was utilized to categorize food secure and insecure households. Demographic, socioeconomic, coping strategies and anthropometric information were collected through in-depth interviews with Malay and Indian women (n=200). More than 50% of the households experienced some degree of food insecurity. In general, the food insecure households were characterized as living below poverty line and had larger household size, more children, school-going children and non-working mothers. For both households, major expenditures were on foods, utilities, child education, loans and transportation with food insecure households spending higher proportion of their incomes (97%) compared to food secure households (84%). While more than 50% of food insecure women were overweight (26%) and obese (30%), the percentages of overweight and obese among food secure women were 30 and 9%, respectively. Similarly, more food insecure women (40%) had at-risk waist circumference (> 88cm) than food secure women (29%). Overweight and abdominal adiposity among the women were associated with a number of independent variables such as women as housewives, women with more children, larger household size and food insecurity. However, after adjusting for factors that are related to body mass index and waist circumference, only food insecurity remained as a significant risk factor for overweigh and at-risk waist circumference. Although more validity tests are required, the findings demonstrated that the Radimer/Cornell Hunger and Food Insecurity Instrument has some validity to be utilized in Malaysian population. Given that obesity is an emerging public health concern in the developing nations, the findings that food insecurity is a risk factor for overweight must be further investigated. Membrane Free Fatty Acids in Rats Mohammed Abdullah Alsaif Department of Community Health Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia E-mail: mohammedalsaif@yahoo.com Abstract:
The present work was designed to assess the possible effects of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFA) as fish oil, monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) as olive oil (OO), saturated fatty acid (SFA) as butter oil (BO) and their combinations on glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity and membrane free fatty acid levels. Relatively high fat (20% w/w, 40% energy) content diets were prepared and supplemented to adult male Wistar rats for 5-weeks. Body growth, intravenous glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity and membrane free fatty acid levels in hepatic cells and erythrocytes were measured. Mean body weights and total body fats were significantly increased in both SFA and MUFA diets fed rats as compared to control and n-3 PUFA dietary groups respectively. Significant impaired glucose tolerance and insulin insensitivity was observed in rats supplemented with SFA diet as compared to all other dietary groups. However, MUFA diet has not shown any significant effect on glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, although it significantly induced obesity in rats. The presence of (10%) fish oil in the diet corrected the adiposity affect of SFA and significantly reduced the impairment in glucose tolerance and insulin insensitivity. In conclusion, the results provide evidence that replacing SFA with MUFA is most beneficial even though MUFA promotes the obesity. Fish oil proven the protective effect against the impairment of glucose tolerance, insulin insensitivity and obesity which induced by butter oil. and Light Microscopy of Organs Isolated from the Rats: Study of the Effects of a Ginkgo biloba Extract S.R.F. Moreno*1, 2, J.J. Carvalho3, A.L.R. Nascimento3, R.S. Freitas2, G.F. Diré2, E.A. Lima2, G.L. Lima-Filho2, E.K. Rocha4 and M. Bernardo-Filho2 1Departamento de Patologia, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, RJ, Brazil 2Departamento de Biofísica e Biometria, 3Departamento de Histologia e Embriologia, 4Departamento de Biologia Celular e Genética, Instituto de Biologia Roberto de Alcantara Gomes, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil *E-mail: srfmoreno@hotmail.com Abstract:
Ginkgo biloba extract (EGb) is a phytoterapic used in the treatment of hypoxic conditions. This medicinal plant has several effects, specially, vasodilator, anti-inflammatory and anti-coagulant properties. It has antioxidant characteristics. Many substances have been reported to affect the biodistribution of different radiopharmaceuticals. We evaluated the influence of an EGb on: (i) the biodistribution of the technetium-99m (Tc-99m) and (ii) on the morphology of the organs from WISTAR rats. The animals were treated (6 days, intra gastric via) with EGb (40 and 400 mg/ml). After that, Tc-99m was injected and the animals were sacrificed. The organs were isolated and counted in a well counter. The percentages of radioactivity per organ (%ATI/organ) and radioactivity per gram (%ATI/gram) of each organ were calculated. Histological preparations were carried out with the pieces of organs (kidney, liver, duodena) withdrawn from the treated animals (400mg/ml EGb). The results showed that EGb altered (not significant, p>0.05) the biodistribution of the Tc-99m in the kidneys and liver. A significant (P<0.05) decrease in the uptake of this radiopharmaceutical in the duodena after the treatment with EGb 40 mg/ml and with EGb 400 mg/ml was observed (%ATI/organ and %ATI/gram). However, this decrease was not capable to alter the optical microscopy of the duodena. Morphological alterations on kidney and liver due to treatment (in vivo) were found. We suggest that the action of EGb could generate metabolites capable to promote modifications in the organs, such as, kidney and liver and to alter the biodistribution of the Tc-99m in the treated animals. its Action on the Labeling of Blood Elements with Technetium-99m and on the Morphometry of Red Blood Cells S.R.F. Moreno1,2, E.K. Rocha3, M. Pereira4, C. Mandarim-Lacerda4, R.S. Freitas2, A.L.R. Nascimento5, J.J. Carvalho5, G.L. Lima-Filho2, G. Diré2, E.A.C. Lima2 and M. Bernardo-Filho2 1Departamento de Patologia, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Rua Marquês do Paraná, 303/4o andar, 24030-210, Niterói, RJ, Brazil 2Departamento de Biofísica e Biometria, 3Departamento de Biologia Celular e Genética, 4Departamento de Anatomia, 5Departamento de Histologia e Embriologia, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto de Biologia Roberto Alcantara Gomes, Av. 28 de Setembro, 87, 20551-030, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil E-mail: srfmoreno@hotmail.com Abstract:
We have evaluated the influence of the Ginkgo biloba extract (infusion and crude extract) on the labeling of red blood cells (RBC) and plasma proteins with technetium-99m (Tc-99m). We also studied the morphometry of the RBC treated with Ginkgo biloba extract (EGb). Blood was withdrawn and incubated with EGb. Stannous chloride was added and, then, Tc-99m was added. Plasma (P) and RBC were isolated, also precipitated with trichloroacetic acid and soluble (SF) and insoluble fractions (IF) separated. The morphology of the RBC also was evaluated under optical microscope and morphometry. The analysis of the results shows that there is a decrease in the radioactivity on RBC and on IF of P and of RBC with the EGb. The study of the morphology of RBC showed important morphological alterations due to treatment with EGb. These observations were confirmed by morphometry. We suggest that the chemical agents presents in the Ginkgo biloba extract or its active metabolites could act, with: (i) a chelating action of the ions stannous/pertechnetate or (ii) by damages induced in plasma membrane; (iii) or by competition of the cited ions to the same bindings sites; or (iv) with possible generation of reactive oxygen species that could oxidize the stannous ion. |