Natrum mur 200c promotes seed germination and increases total protein, chlorophyll, rubisco and sugar in early seedlings of cowpea under salt stress

Background: High level of salinity deteriorates seed germination, growth and yield of crops in cultivated lands all over the world. There is no effective remedy to mitigate this global problem. Homeopathy offers a remedy like Natrum mur which at ultra high dilution ameliorates diseases of patients having strong desire for salt consumption. The purpose of the present study is to see whether potentized Natrum mur could alleviate salt stress in germinating seeds of cowpea Vigna unguiculata (L) Walp. Methods: Water-soaked seeds were kept over moist filter paper in covered petridishes which were divided into 5 groups: (1) unstressed and untreated control in sterile distilled water, (2) in 100mM sodium chloride solution, (3) seeds pretreated with Natrum mur 200c and then kept in sterile distilled water, (4) seeds pretreated with Natrum mur 200c and then transferred to 100mM NaCl solution and (5) seeds pretreated with 90% ethanol. Both Natrum mur 200 c and its diluent medium 90% ethanol were diluted with distilled water 1:100 before use for treatment. Results: Natrum mur 200c increased the rate of seed germination, seed water content and growth of seedlings. The drug also enhanced chlorophyll, soluble and insoluble sugar, rubisco and total protein content as compared to the untreated salt stressed group. Treatment with Natrum mur 200c increased salt tolerance in the seedlings as compared to the untreated salt stressed group. All the data were analyzed by ANOVA and the significance level was not less than 1%. Conclusion: Natrum mur 200c reversed the effects of salt stress in germinated seeds thereby providing evidence for Hahnemann’s similia principle in plants. Potentized Natrum mur could be safely used with profit on plants grown on brackish soil.

Sepia 200cH at 1:1000 dilution ameliorates salt stress in cowpea seedlings but its medium 90% ethanol proves ineffective at the same dilution

Soil salinity severely affects crop yield all over the world. In a recent study we observed that Natrum mur 200cH, a homeopathic remedy, improved growth in germinating cowpea seeds. In the present study we have tested another remedy Sepia, which is complementary to Natrum mur, on cowpea seedlings under salt stress. Cowpea seedlings grown over moist filter paper in petridishes were divided into 4 groups: (1) control in sterile water, (2) in 50mM NaCl solution, (3) seeds pretreated with 90% ethanol diluted with water 1:100 and then transferred to 50mM NaCl solution, (4) seeds pretreated with Sepia 200cH diluted with water 1:100 and transferred to 50mM NaCl solution. In another experiment the groups were same, but the dilution of 90% ethanol and Sepia 200cH was 1:1000 instead of 1:100. The purpose was to further reduce the ethanol content in both the drug and its vehicle 90% ethanol, so that the alcohol effect is minimized or abolished. The data were analysed by ANOVA followed by t-test. Sepia 200cH at both 1:100 and 1:1000 dilutions significantly increased growth, sugar, chlorophyll, protein and water content in seedlings as compared to the untreated salt-stressed group. The effect with the1000th dilution of Sepia 200cH was more pronounced than with its 100th dilution. The vehicle 90% ethanol at 1:100 dilution produced some positive effect on the seedlings, but the 1000th dilution of the vehicle produced no such effect. It is, therefore, concluded that Sepia 200cH could ameliorate salt stress in cowpea seedlings and that the 1000th dilution is more effective than its 100th dilution. The alcohol effect is totally eliminated with the 1000th dilution of 90% ethanol. Thus the 1000th dilution could retain the drug effect and eliminate the vehicle effect.

Chronic Stress and Gonadectomy Affect the Expression of Cx37, Cx40 and Cx43 in the Spinal Cord

The study aimed to determine whether the exposure to chronic stress and/or performance of gonadectomy might lead to disturbance in the expression of connexin (Cx) 37, 40 and 43 in the spinal cord (SC), as a potential explanation for sex differences in stress-related chronic pain conditions. After the rats were sham-operated or gonadectomized, three 10-day sessions of sham or chronic stress were applied. Immunohistochemistry and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to examine Cx localization and expression in the SC. The gonadectomy resulted in an increase of Cx37 expression in the dorsal horn (DH) of the female rats, but chronic stress suppressed the effects of castration. In male rats, only the combined effects of castration and chronic stress increased Cx37 expression. The influence of chronic stress on the DH Cx40 expression was inversely evident after the castration: increased in the ovariectomized female rats, while decreased in the orchidectomized male rats. We did not find any effect of chronic stress and castration, alone or together, on Cx43 expression in the DH, but the percentage of Cx43 overlapping the astrocyte marker glial fibrillary acidic protein (gfap) increased in the male stressed group after the castration. In conclusion, the association of the chronic stress with sex hormone depletion results in disturbances of the SC Cx expression and might be a possible mechanism of disturbed pain perception after chronic stress exposure.

A novel mouse model of postpartum depression using emotional stress as evaluated by nesting behavior

Postpartum depression is an important mental health issue not only for the mother but also for the child’s development, other family members, and the society. An appropriate animal model is desired to elucidate the pathogenesis of postpartum depression. However, methods for stress loading during pregnancy have not been established. Behavioral experiments to investigate postpartum depression-like behaviors should be conducted without stress because behavioral tests affect rearing behaviors such as lactation. Therefore, we developed a new mouse model of postpartum depression using a psychological stress method. Mating partners were made to witness their partners experiencing social defeat stress and then listen to their cries. Emotional stress loading during pregnancy significantly increased postpartum depression-like behaviors. Postpartum depression also affected nurturing behaviors and caused disturbances in pup care. Furthermore, nesting behavior was impaired in the stressed group, suggesting that the observation of nesting behavior may be useful for assessing social dysfunction in postpartum depression. These results demonstrate the utility of this new mouse model of postpartum depression.

Role of essential oils in antioxidant capacity and immunity in a rat model of mixed stress

Animal wellbeing is a balance between environmental stress and nutrition that regulates homeostasis. Augmentation of animal feed with essential oils can promote homeostasis. The present study was designed to observe the biochemical, immunological, and biological effects of daily administration of a mixture of essential oils (EOM) in a stressed rat model. Forty-eight adult male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly allocated to four groups, namely a control group (C), a stressed group (S), a treated group (Tr), and a stressed group that received the treatment (TrS). The treatment was applied by adding EOM to the water (0.2 ml/l) three days per week for 28 days. Two chronic stressors (isolation and crowding) were applied to animals in groups S and TrS. Total oxidant status (TOS) increased in the S group compared with C, whereas it decreased when fed with EOM. Although TOS was the same in S and C, it increased in Tr compared with C. There was a significant increase in interleukin 4 (IL-4) in S compared with C, and EOM reversed the IL-4 level. Nevertheless, an increase was seen in the weights of the liver, intestine, brain, and testes in TrS compared with S. The increase in water intake was a result of stress, but feeding with EOM decreased water consumption gradually. This study showed that 0.2 ml/l EOM had protective effects on antioxidant status, immunity and liver function, and decreased water consumption under stress conditions.

Effects of Long-Term Exposure to Cd2+ on the Common Carp (Cyprinus Carpio) HO Gene Family and Intestinal Immune Mechanisms

Heavy metal Cadmium (Cd2+) is an environmental pollutant that poses serious health hazards. Due to the increasing contamination of aquatic systems with Cd2+, the increased accumulation of Cd2+ in fish has become a food safety and public health concern. Heme oxygenase(HO) is an important antioxidant enzyme that plays a key role in defending the body against oxidative damage, but less research has been done in common carp. In this study, 6 HO genes were identified in the common carp genome database. Comparative genomics analysis showed considerable expansion of the HO genes and verified the four-round whole genome duplication (WGD) event in common carp. Phylogenetic analysis revealed all HO genes of common carp were clustered into orthologous groups indicating the highly conservative during evolution. In addition, the results of tissue distribution showed that most HO genes had extensive tissue distribution and showed tissue-specific expression patterns. Exposure to 0.5 mg/L Cd2+ significantly reduced the expression of TGF-β and IL-10 in common carp, which may indicate that Cd2+ exposure can destroy the physical barrier function of the intestine, inhibit intestinal immune defense and induce intestinal inflammation. In order to find a suitable concentration of Bacillus coagulans that could activate HO-1 genes and the immunity of the organism, we investigated the changes of HO-1 gene expression levels in the intestinal tract of common carp under Cd2+ stress at 30d and 60d by adding different concentrations of B. coagulans to the feed. The results showed that L2 upregulated HO-1 gene expression at different infection time points compared to the control/stressed group, but L1 and L3 almost inhibited the expression of most HO-1 genes. This result suggests that the optimum concentration of 2.0´108 CFU/g for activation of HO-1 gene expression by B. coagulans when subjected to Cd2+ stress may have an important role in organism resistance to oxidative stress and immune response. Also compared to the Cd2+ stressed group, the addition of B. coagulans to the diet provoked an upregulation of IL10 and TGF-β gene expression in almost all periods and reduced the ability to suppress intestinal immune defenses in L1, L2 and L3, with the L2 group showing the best induction level. Therefore, the addition of appropriate concentrations of B. coagulans may be a good way to activate HO-1 genes and reduce oxidative damage.

Transcriptional, Mitochondrial Activity, and Viability of Egyptian Buffalo’s Granulosa Cells In Vitro Cultured under Heat Elevation

It is documented that heat stress caused impairment on the reproductive performance of dairy animals. However, there are few reports that have focused on the molecular and intracellular responses of in vitro cultured buffalo granulosa cells during heat elevation. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of heat elevation during in vitro culture of buffalo granulosa cells on their viability, quality, mitochondrial activity, and transcriptional activity. Granulosa cells were harvested after aspiration of cumulus-oocytes complexes that were collected from abattoir ovaries. The granulosa cells were cultured in vitro either at a normal physiological temperature suitable for oocyte maturation and embryo development (38.5°C) or exposed to the elevated temperature of 40.5°C on day 3 of culture (the first two days were for confluence) for two hours of culture then continued at 38.5°C up to day 7 of culture. The viability of granulosa cells was measured using trypan blue and quality was estimated by measuring the level of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) on day 7. Moreover, metabolic activity was performed by measuring the fluorescent intensity of mitochondria. Moreover, transcriptional activity was done by profiling four selected candidate genes using quantitative real-time PCR. The results indicated that the granulosa cells viability rate significantly decreased in the heat stress group (25.1 ± 3.7), compared to the control group (36.6 ± 5.3) on confluence day (day 3). In addition, the viability rate on the last day of culture (day 7) decreased in heat stress, compared to control (83.7 ± 4.5 and 97.4 ± 0.4, respectively). On the other hand, there was a nonsignificant difference in ROS profile between the control (21.7*104 ± 1.3) and the heat-stressed group (15.7 ± 0.7) on day 7 of culture. However, the mitochondrial fluorescent intensity was higher in the control (21.9 ± 1.9) than in the heat-stressed group (15.4 ± 0.8) on day 7 of culture. The expression of cellular defense (HSF1) and apoptosis-inducing gene (P53) were significantly up-regulated in granulosa cells exposed to heat elevation, compared to the control group. On the other hand, the steroidogenesis-regulating gene (StAR) was down-regulated in granulosa cells cultured under heat shock, compared to the control group. In conclusion, heat stress reduced the viability of granulosa cells by inducing the expression of an apoptosis-related gene (P53) and compromised expression of genes regulating the steroid biosynthesis, which resulted in up-regulation of cell defense gene (HSF1) in an attempt to ameliorate the deleterious effect of heat stress on the biological activity of the granulosa cells.

Effect of Different Dietary Betaine Fortifications on Performance, Carcass Traits, Meat Quality, Blood Biochemistry, and Hematology of Broilers Exposed to Various Temperature Patterns

Improving broilers’ production in the hot region is essential to overcome heat-stress challenges. The current experiment examined the effects of betaine’s fortification (0.0, 0.075, 0.10, and 0.15%) to broiler chickens during days 1–40 of age. The growth period was divided into the starter (1–18 d) and growing-finishing (19–40 d). During the starter period, there was no heat challenge, and all birds were kept under the same conditions. At 18 days of age, half of the birds were kept under thermos-neutral temperature (TN, 22–24 °C), while the other half were kept under high temperature (HT, 35 °C). However, the production efficiency factor (PEF) was the best (p < 0.05) for birds that received 0.10% betaine. Betaine fortification improved (p < 0.05 and 0.01) body weight gain (BWG), feed conversion ratio (FCR), and production efficiency factor (PEF) in the cumulative finisher heat-stress challenge period (19–40 d). The best performance was achieved at 0.1% betaine fortification with 84 g gain, 4.6 points improvement in FCR, and 24 points improvements in PEF as compared to no betaine fortification. The heat-stressed group consumed less feed (239 g), gained less weight (179 g), converted feed less efficiently (2.6 points), and, as a result, had lower FEF (29 points) as compared to the TN group. Conclusively, heat challenge had a powerful effect on growth performance, meat characteristics, and blood parameters, especially during the grower-finisher period. Betaine fortification (0.1%) during heat stress reduced the negative impact on performance and improved production efficiency, suggesting that betaine is a useful nutritional tool under stress conditions that deserves further investigation.

Blue-Green Algae (Spirulina platensis) Alleviates the Negative Impact of Heat Stress on Broiler Production Performance and Redox Status

The modern broiler industry faces huge challenges to keep high production quality and quantity, especially under environmental heat stress conditions. The negative effect of heat stress on broiler productivity is mediated by oxidative stress induction. The blue-green alga (Spirulina platensis) has many applications in poultry nutrition with the high levels of bioactive antioxidant compounds, which can alleviate the oxidative stress damage induced by high ambient temperature. The current study was designed to investigate the effects of dietary Spirulina inclusion at different levels on growth performance, redox status, carcass traits, meat quality, blood hematology, and metabolites profile of broilers subjected to cyclic heat stress. A total of 300 one-day-old Cobb-500 broiler chicks were recruited. Starting from day 21 to 42 of age, birds were randomly divided into five treatment groups with 6 replicates × 10 birds per group, where the first one was provided with the basal diet and reared under normal thermal conditions (23 ± 1 °C) to serve as a negative control. Meanwhile, the other four groups were exposed to cyclic heat stress (34 ± 1 °C for 8 h per day) and were fed a basal diet supplemented with Spirulina at a concentration of 0, 0.5, 1 or 1.5%. Spirulina supplementation to heat-stressed broilers was able to alleviate the negative impacts of heat stress on the final average daily gain, body weight and feed conversion ratio, with the best impact observed among the chickens fed 1% Spirulina. Hematological results indicate increasing hemoglobin and hematocrit levels with Spirulina supplementation compared to the non-supplemented stressed group. Further, Spirulina supplementation significantly influenced blood lipid metabolites marked by reduced serum cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and increased high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels. The lipid peroxidation level was reduced (p < 0.05), while the antioxidant enzyme activity was increased with Spirulina supplementation to the heat-stressed group. Spirulina supplementation at 0.5 or 1% improved carcass dressing, breast and leg percentages. It can be concluded that dietary Spirulina supplementation at 0.5 or 1% to broiler reared under heat stress conditions can effectively improve broiler production performance and balance the redox status.

Investigating the relationship between bedtime procrastination, psychological stress, and mental health among Saudi undergraduate (Preprint)

BACKGROUND This study aimed to explore the relationship between bedtime procrastination, stress, and well-being among Saudi undergraduates. OBJECTIVE we want to see if bedtime delay is a new phenomenon that adds to the literature on procrastination in sleep among Saudi Arabian students. METHODS Participants from Saudi Arabia (N=536; 324 males, 60.4%; 212 females, 39.6%; M age = 24.27, SD = 5.62). Participants completed online questionnaires on the Bedtime Procrastination Scale (BPS), Stress Scale (SS), and Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF). RESULTS As hypothesized, results show that the Non-stressed were higher well-being more than the Stressed group, but the Stressed group was higher bedtime procrastination more than the Non-stressed. Additionally, results showed that bedtime procrastination was correlated positively with stress, and negatively with mental well-being. Moreover, males were higher bedtime procrastination than female; Orders are more bedtime procrastinating than youngers; students who live alone are more bedtime procrastinating than ones live with their family; students who live in the countryside are more bedtime procrastinating than who live in the city, and married students are more bedtime procrastinate than unmarried CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that bedtime delay is an important variable related to stress and defecting in well-being. procrastinators have risk-taking behaviors that can be included psychological problems.