Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) contains a XIP-type xylanase inhibitor but none of the TAXI- and TLXI-types

A Bacillus subtilis xylanase improves nutrient digestibility, intestinal health and growth performance of broiler chickens undergoing an intestinal challenge

The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of a Bacillus subtilis xylanase on nutrient digestibility, intestinal health, and growth performance of broiler chickens undergoing an intestinal challenge. Nine hundred one-day-old Cobb 500 male chicks were randomly distributed into three dietary treatments with 10 replicates (30 birds/pen) until 42 d. Treatments were: Control (CT) diet, energy reduction (ER) diet, and the ER diet supplemented with B. subtilis endo 1,4-β-xylanase at 100 g/t (ER+xylanase). The ER diets had metabolizable energy reductions as per manufacturer guidelines: 80, 82, 87, and 92 kcal/kg for pre-starter, starter, grower, and finisher, respectively. All birds were challenged with Eimeria spp. on d 1 and Clostridium perfringens on d 12-14. Feed intake, body weight gain (BWG), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were evaluated weekly. On d 17, the intestinal permeability was determined using fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran (FITC-d) as marker. On d 21, I See Inside (ISI) methodology assessed intestinal alterations. On days 21 and 42, nutrient digestibility and cecal short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) concentrations were calculated. Data underwent ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis tests, followed by Fisher or Dunn tests, respectively. From 0 to 42 d, broilers fed the ER+xylanase diet had greater (P = 0.046) BWG than birds fed the ER diet, while FCR showed improvements in CT and ER+xylanase diets. Broilers fed the ER+xylanase diet had improved intestinal integrity with the lowest (P = 0.017) serum FITC-d concentration and highest (P = 0.057) Mucin-2. Pancreas ISI scores were worsened (P = 0.034) in CT and ER diets compared to ER+xylanase diet. Ileal digestibility of DM and energy, and SCFA were greater (P ≤ 0.006) in broilers fed the ER+xylanase diet compared to ER diet. In conclusion, the B. subtilis xylanase supplementation improved nutrient digestibility, enhanced intestinal barrier integrity and increased SCFA concentrations which improved growth performance in broilers undergoing an intestinal challenge. Results indicated that this xylanase was able to compensate the energy reduction in corn-soy diets fed to broiler chickens.

Antitussive, expectorant and bronchodilating effects of ethanol extract of Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench roots

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Root of Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench (RSB) is an herbal medicine in Traditional Chinese Medicine, still used in some rural areas in Central China as an alternative remedy to treat cough and asthma.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The study was aimed at evaluating the antitussive, expectorant and bronchodilating effects of ethanol extract of RSB, support its folk use with scientific evidence, and lay a foundation for its further researches.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

RSB was extracted with 80% ethanol aqueous in reflux conditions, solutions were concentrated in reduced pressure, and lyophilized in vacuum to yield the RSB extract. Antitussive evaluations were carried out with three different models including ammonia liquor induced mice cough, capsaicin induced mice cough, and citric acid induced guinea pigs cough; phenol red secretion experiments in mice were performed to evaluate the expectorant ability; bronchodilating effects were evaluated with a bronchoconstrictive challenge induced by acetylcholine chloride and histamine in guinea pigs.

RESULTS

In all the three antitussive tests, treatment of RSB significantly inhibited the frequency of cough, and prolonged the cough latent period in animals. And high dose of RSB (200mg/kg in mice and 100mg/kg in guinea pigs) created therapeutic activities as good as standard antitussive drug codeine phosphate (20mg/kg). In the expectorant evaluation, 50, 100 and 200mg/kg RSB treatment had significantly increased the amount of phenol red output for 0.39, 1.18, and 1.96 folds in mice tracheas. In the bronchodilating test, RSB treatment at 100mg/kg extended the preconvulsive time for 44.84% compared with that of before treatment in guinea pigs.

CONCLUSIONS

RSB is an effective alternative medicine for the treatment of cough with potent antitussive, expectorant and bronchodilating activities.

Algerian pearl millet ( Pennisetum glaucum L.) contains XIP but not TAXI and TLXI type xylanase inhibitors

An XIP (xylanase inhibiting protein) type xylanase inhibitor was purified from Algerian pearl millet ( Pennisetum glaucum L.) grains and characterized for the first time. Cation exchange and affinity chromatography with immobilized Trichoderma longibrachiatum glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 11 xylanase resulted in electrophoretically pure protein with a molecular mass of 27-29 kDa and a pI value of 6.7. The experimentally determined N-terminal amino acid sequence of the purified XIP protein is 87.5%, identical to that of sorghum ( Sorghum bicolor L.) XIP and 79.2% identical to that of wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) XIP-I. The biochemical properties of pearl millet XIP are comparable to those described earlier for sorghum XIP, except for the higher specific activity toward a T. longibrachiatum GH family 11 xylanase. On the basis of immunoblot neither TAXI nor TLXI type xylanase inhibitors were detected in pearl millet grains.