Determining the In Vivo Efficacy of Plant-Based and Probiotic-Based Antibiotic Alternatives against Mixed Infection with Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli in Domestic Chickens

Restrictions on the use of antimicrobial compounds have led to a surge of interest in alternative solutions, such as natural, plant-based compounds. In our study, we investigated the efficacy of three feed supplements containing different additives, namely, probiotics (Lactobacillus spp., "Test substance A"), turmeric (Curcuma longa L., "Test substance B"), and fenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecum, "Test substance C"). In the experiment, we tested 180 birds of the Bábolna Tetra-SL laying hybrid breed that were infected with Salmonella enteritidis strains. The birds were randomly divided into six groups: three groups treated with the different additives, a negative control group, a positive control group, and an antibiotic-treated group using enrofloxacin. We examined the maturation and the time course of shedding of Salmonella; at the end of rearing, pathological and histopathological examinations were performed. When Salmonella was isolated from the cloacal swab samples, the enrofloxacin-treated group had a high number of animals shedding Salmonella by day 9, which was like the group treated with test material C. The greatest reduction in Salmonella shedding was observed in the groups treated with test materials A and B. In terms of pathological parameters, villus length and crypt depth were significantly better in the group treated with test material C compared to the positive and negative controls, and when comparing the body weight of the tested animals, the group treated with test material B had a significantly larger absorption surface area compared to the positive control group. Overall, the supplement with test material C proved to be the most effective. In the future, it is worthwhile to investigate the combination of the tested active substances for their possible synergistic effects and to perform a dose-response study to select the optimal dosage.

Hepatoprotective effect of Trigonella foenum graecum against ethanol-induced cell death in human liver cells (HepG2 and Huh7)

BACKGROUND

The plant Trigonella foenum graecum, also known as fenugreek, has been shown to have anticancer, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. In this study, the hepatoprotective effect of fenugreek seed extract (FSE) against ethanol-induced cell death was investigated in human liver cells (HepG2 and Huh7).

METHODS AND RESULTS

The cytotoxic effect of FSE and ethanol on cells was evaluated by exposing the cells at different concentrations. Following that, the cells were pre-incubated with 5-25 μg/ml FSE, followed by a cytotoxic concentration (0.5 mM) of ethanol. MTT and neutral red uptake assays were performed in treated cells to assess the ability of FSE to protect cells from the cytotoxic effects of ethanol. When compared to controls, ethanol treatment significantly reduced the viability of HepG2 and Huh7 cells and altered the cell morphology, whereas treatment with FSE significantly increased cell viability and reversed ethanol-induced morphological changes. Furthermore, pretreatment with FSE dose-dependently reduced lactate dehydrogenate (LDH) leakage, lipid peroxidation (LPO) level, and catalase activities while increasing glutathione (GSH) level induced by ethanol. Pretreatment with FSE also reduced the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), caspase enzyme activities, and protein expression of caspase-3 and -9. In HepG2 cells, ethanol-induced apoptosis was observed, whereas FSE treatment reduced apoptosis by downregulating the expression of pro-apoptotic marker genes and upregulating the antiapoptotic gene.

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, this study reports on the mechanistic details of the hepatoprotective potential of FSE. The results also suggest that fenugreek seeds may be useful in preventing liver diseases caused by toxicants such as ethanol.

Nutrient mixture from germinated legumes: Enhanced medicinal value with herbs-attenuated liver cirrhosis

Among various food processing strategies, germination and dehulling enhance the nutritional content of the food, and the addition of herbs to this could improve the medicinal value. The milled powders of germinated Macrotyloma uniflorum (horse gram) and Vigna radiata (green gram) were used to make the nutrient mixture. Further, Curcuma longa (turmeric) and Trigonella foenum graecum (fenugreek) were used to improve its medicinal value. The prepared nutrient mixture has high nutritional value, antioxidant potential, and reduced antinutrient factors. Supplementation of nutrient mixture reduced oxidative stress-mediated hepatocyte injury on the CCl₄ -induced liver cirrhosis model. Further, histological examination (H&E and Sirius red), matrix metalloproteinase gelatin zymography, and Western blot revealed the management of hepatic stellate cells in an inactive stage thereby reduced cirrhosis. These findings conclude that the supplementation of nutrient mixture formulation protected and effectively prevented liver cirrhosis. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: This study has a good impact on nutritional therapy for liver diseases. Many of the chronic liver diseases are associated with severe malnutrition and hypoalbuminemia, which further worsens the condition. This study would emphasize the nutritional therapy to treat such imbalance and enriching the medicinal value of nutrition mixture with herbs could target different pathophysiological changes and provide better defense in liver disease patients. Since this nutrient mixture is from common edible natural resources, it could reach the pharmaceutical industry's attention to the highest production and marketing.

LC-MS/MS analysis and network pharmacology of Trigonella foenum-graecum - A plant from Ayurveda against hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia with combination synergy

BACKGROUND

The seed of Trigonella foenum-graecum L. (Methika in Sanskrit) is a well known kaphahara (balancing kapha) herb in Ayurveda indicated in Prameha or early diabetes mellitus. It is also useful in obesity and reduces lipid level of blood.

PURPOSE

We aimed to explore the metabolites present in the plant extract and to establish the combination synergy and the network pharmacology along with the underlying the mechanism of action involved.

STUDY DESIGN

LC-MS/MS based metabolite screening followed by ADME screening and finally network pharmacology exploration of the mechanism of action involved against hyperlipidemia and hypolipidemia with neighbourhood based combination synergy approach.

METHODS

Ethanolic extract of Trigonella foenum-graecum L. (TFHE) was subjected to LC-MS/MS analysis to identify the active constituents. Oral bioavailability and drug likeness was screened for all the compounds. Databases- Binding DB, DAVID, KEGG and STRING were used to gather information to develop the networks. The networks were constructed using Cytoscape 3.2.1. Combination synergy analysis was performed with the help of Cytoscape network analyzer tool with neighbourhood approach.

RESULTS

The LC-MS/MS analysis identified 13 compounds which were found to be bio-available and drug like following the QED and Veber drug likeness parameters. The pathway analysis showed enrichment for different pathways like MAPK pathway (p-4.69E-07), JAK-STAT pathway (p-6.30E-05), Adipocytokine (p-0.00179), Type 2 Diabetes mellitus (0.00441), Insulin signalling pathway (p-0.0121), mTOR signalling pathway (p-0.000378), which are all connected to hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia. The combination synergy network identified 23 targets interacting with 13 compounds based on a network neighbourhood approach.

CONCLUSION

The network pharmacology analysis strongly suggested the multimode evidences that TFHE largely works on the insulin signalling pathway and mainly based on its antioxidant potential due to its interaction with carbonic anhydrase. Various compounds were found to be interacting with key proteins that activates EGFR/AKT/mTOR signalling cascade which has therapeutic implication in hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia. The combination synergy network analysis based on neighbourhood approach can help us in further understanding mechanism of multi-molecular fixed dose combinations.

Effect of a multi-ingredient based food supplement on sexual function in women with low sexual desire

Background

Studies have demonstrated that women with low desire and low excitement have negative feelings regarding their physical and emotional satisfaction, as well as their happiness. In this study, we evaluate the efficacy of Libicare® - a multi-ingredient food supplement - to improve sexual function in postmenopausal women.

Methods

This was an exploratory, prospective, non-controlled, observational study. Postmenopausal women aged 45–65 with a risk of sexual dysfunction (Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) < 25.83) were included during routine clinical visits and treated with 2 tablets of Libicare® daily for 2 months. Libicare® is an oral food supplement containing Trigonella foenum graecum, Turnera diffusa, Tribulus terrestris, and Ginkgo biloba dry extracts. Primary endpoint: change vs. baseline in FSFI score. Secondary endpoints: 1) changes in testosterone and serum steroid levels of free testosterone and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) levels and 2) tolerability.

Results

A total of 29 patients (mean age: 54.69 years) were included. FSFI mean (SD) score showed a significant increase: 20.15 (4.48) vs 25.03 (6.94), baseline vs final; p = 0.0011, paired t-test. Most patients (86.2%) increased their FSFI score. All FSFI domains, except dyspareunia, showed significant increases. The highest increase was observed in the desire domain (p = 0.0004). Testosterone and SHBG levels were assessed in 21 patients. A significant increase in testosterone level was observed: 0.41 (0.26) vs. 0.50 (0.34) pg/mL, baseline vs. final; p = 0.038, Wilcoxon test. 52.4% of patients increased their testosterone levels. Finally, a significant decrease was observed in SHBG level: 85 (32.9) vs. 73 (26.8) nmol/L, baseline vs. final; p = 0.0001; paired t-test. 95.2% of patients decreased their SHBG levels.

Conclusion

In this pilot study, a significant improvement in sexual function and related hormone levels was observed with Libicare®. Further studies must be conducted to confirm these exciting results.

Trial registration

Current Controlled Trial ISRCTN12928573. Date of registration: 28/March/2019. Retrospectively registered.

Beneficial Role of Hydro-alcoholic Seed Extract of Trigonella foenum graecum on Bone Structure and Strength in Menopause Induced Osteopenia

Background

The current strategies to prevent and treat menopausal osteoporosis are hormone replacement therapy (HRT). However, the long-term use of hormone replacement therapy is limited due to its side-effects. Alternately, use of phytoestrogens has been implicated. Trigonella foenum graecum (TFG) seeds are rich in phytoestrogen and known traditional medicine to treat menopause induced hyperlipidemia. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the role of dietary TFG seed extract on bone structure and mechanical properties in ovariectomized rats.

Methods

Twenty four female Wistar rats were randomly allocated into four groups; 1) control, 2) ovariectomized, 3) ovariectomized + TFG seed extract and 4) ovariectomized + 17β-estradiol. TFG seed extract/17β-estradiol was administered for 30 days, 14 days after ovariectomy. After the treatment, right femora were collected to measure the length and biomechanical properties, and left femora were gathered to study the micro architectural changes while tibia were collected to measure the dry weight.

Results

Maximum flexor load to break femur bone was significantly low in ovariectomized rats in comparison with control rats (P<0.05). Supplementation with TFG significantly improved the maximum flexor load (P<0.05) and tibia dry weight (P<0.01) compared to ovariectomized untreated rats. TFG administration also significantly preserved the trabecular (P<0.01) and cortical bone (P<0.05) thickness compared to ovariectomized rats.

Conclusion

This study found that dietary intake of TFG seeds can improve the bone structure and biomechanical properties in ovariectomized rats indicating that TFG may be an alternative treatment strategy to prevent the menopause induced osteopenia.

Toxicological evaluation of a saponin-rich standardized extract of fenugreek seeds (FenuSMART®): Acute, sub-chronic and genotoxicity studies

•

Safety evaluation of a standardized extract of fenugreek seeds (FenuSMART).

•

Acute and subchronic oral toxicity studies of FenuSMART on Wistar rats.

•

Mutagenicity study of FenuSMART.

The present study investigated the safety of a saponin-rich standardized extract of fenugreek seeds (FenuSMART^®; FHE), that has been clinically shown to be effective in ameliorating the postmenopausal discomforts and establishing hormonal balance. The safety was assessed by oral acute (2500 mg/kg b. wt. for 14 days) and subchronic (250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg b. wt. for 90 days) toxicity studies on Wistar rats and mutagenicity studies employing Salmonella typhimurium strains. Administration of FHE did not produce any toxicologically significant changes in clinical/behavioral observations, ophthalmic examinations, body weight, organ weight, feed consumption, urinalysis, hematology and clinical biochemistry parameters when compared to the untreated control group of animals. Highest dose recovery group (1000 mg/kg b. wt.) of animals also showed no mortality or adverse events; with hematological and biochemical parameters at par with those of controls. Terminal autopsy revealed no alterations in relative organ weight or any treatment-related histopathology changes. FHE also showed no mutagenicity upon Ames test employing TA-98, TA-100 and TA-102 Salmonella typhimurium strains with or without metabolic activation. Based on the results of the study, the no observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) of FHE was determined as 1000 mg/kg b. wt./day, the highest dose tested.

In-vitro Activity of Trigonella foenum graecum Seeds Against a Clinical Strain of Acanthamoeba Genotype T4

Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) is a sight-threatening infection of the cornea disease that often presents with a lengthy and not fully effective treatment. Current therapeutic options against Acanthamoeba are not very effective against the cyst. Calibrated trophozoite/cyst suspension was incubated with the same volume of serial dilutions of the Trigonella foenum graecum aqueous extract (200, 250, 350, 450, 600, and 750 mg/mL) in microcentrifuge tubes and mixed by pipetting up and down. After that, the tubes were incubated at 26 ºC for 24, 48, and 72 h. The obtained result revealed that incubation of the extract (at concentrations ranging from 200 to 750 mg/mL) with Acanthamoeba was able to decrease the number of viable trophozoites and cysts. In the presence of up to 450 mg/mL non-viable trophozoites were observed whereas cysts were only eliminated when incubated with 750 mg/mL of the extract after 24 h. Furthermore, no cytotoxicity of the extract even at the highest concentration tested in the study showed to be toxic for corneal cells. Further studies should be carried out in order to elucidate the active compounds involved in the observed anti-Acanthamoeba activities which could be used for the development of novel therapeutic approaches against Acanthamoeba infections.

The constituents of essential oil in leaves of Karaj accession of Trigonella foenum graecum

The chemical composition of the essential oils of Karaj accession of Trigonella foenum graecum leaves was detected by hydro-distillation and analysed by gas chromatography (GC-FID) and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) apparatuses for first time. Thirty-six compounds representing 95.3% of the total components were identified. The patterns of the main compounds were (2E)-Hexenal (26.61%), n-Hexadecanoic acid (10.14%) and (E)-b-Ionone (7.99%). Other notable constituents were Thymol (4.79%), 6,10,14-trimethyl-2-Pentadecanone (4.59%), Carvacrol (3.40%), (E)-Nerolidol (3.32%) and (2E,6Z)-Nonadienal (3.30%). (2E)-Hexenal was found as the most dominant component in this study.

Invitro Anti-mycotic Activity of Hydro Alcoholic Extracts of Some Indian Medicinal Plants against Fluconazole Resistant Candida albicans

BACKGROUND

Candidiasis is one of the most common opportunistic infections caused by Candida albicans. Fluconazole is the drug of choice for prevention and management of this condition. However, the emergence of fluconazole resistant candidal strains has become a major concern. Many herbs like fenugreek, cinnamon, papaya, oregano, garlic are rich in phytochemical constituents known to express antimycotic activity. With the available information, the present research study was carried out to assess the invitro anti-mycotic activity of hydro alcoholic extracts of Trigonella foenum-graecum seeds, Cinnamomum verum bark and Carica papaya leaves and seeds against fluconazole resistant Candida albicans.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Hydro alcoholic extracts of Trigonella foenum-graecum (seeds), Cinnamomum verum (bark), Carica papaya CO.2 strain (male and female leaves) and Carica papaya CO.2 strain (seeds) were prepared by maceration. The anti-mycotic activity of the prepared extracts against Candida albicans was assessed by agar well diffusion method. Three independent experiments were performed in triplicates and the mean and standard deviation were calculated. Minimum inhibitory concentration was determined.

RESULTS

The results of the present study revealed that all the extracts exhibited anti-mycotic activity in a dose dependent manner and minimum inhibitory concentration of all the extracts was found to be 15.62 μg/ml.

CONCLUSION

The results of the present study shed light on the fact that plant extracts could be used not only as an alternate drug for management of fluconazole resistant candidiasis but also explored further for oral cancer prevention as a therapeutic adjunct.

Fenugreek seed extract treats peripheral neuropathy in pyridoxine induced neuropathic mice

Trigonella foenum graecum commonly known as Fenugreek exerts normoglycemic and insulinotropic effects in humans by compounds from its seed and leaf extracts. Some studies reported that treating pregnant mice with fenugreek seed could cause toxic effects on the nervous system of its pubs during developmental growth, while in some other studies neuroprotective properties were considered for it. Safety of anti-diabetic drugs for nervous system is very important because peripheral neuropathy is a common complication of diabetes and hazardous drugs could worsen it. In this study, the effect of treatment with fenugreek seed extract on the function of sciatic nerves of neuropathic mice was evaluated. Neuropathy was induced in male mice by pyridoxine intoxication. After that, animals were treated with 0.2, 2 and 20 mg/kg of hydro-alcoholic extract of fenugreek seeds for 10 days, tail flick, electrophysiological and histological assays were performed to evaluate the effect of fenugreek seed extract on function of the peripheral nerves. Our data showed that fenugreek has anti neuropathic effect and restores the function of nerve fibers. Results of electrophysiological recordings stated that the highest rate of healing was occurred in 20 mg/kg fenugreek extract treated animals. In conclusion, findings of the present study demonstrate that treatment with fenugreek seed extract can potentially facilitate healing from pyridoxine induced peripheral neuropathy in mice.

Chemomodulatory Effect of Trigonella foenum graecum (L.) Seed Extract on Two Stage Mouse Skin Carcinogenesis

Cancer is not a single disease but a group of complex genetic diseases of aged cells. Chemoprevention of cancer is the attempt to use natural and synthetic compounds to intervene in the early stages of cancer, before invasive disease begins. Consuming a diet rich in plant foods can provide a milieu of phytochemicals and non-nutritive plant substances that possess health-protective effects. Some phytochemicals derived in spices and herbs as well as other plants possess substantial cancer preventive properties. Thus the cancer chemo preventive potential of naturally occurring phytochemicals is of great interest because of their preventive role and as they are not perceived as "medicine". During the course of present study Trigonella foenum graecum (L.) seed- TFGS (commonly called fenugreek) extract was given at pre-initiational, post-initiational, promotional and throughout the experiment along with 7,12-dimethylbenz [a] anthracene DMBA and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate TPA treatment in Swiss albino mice. A significant reduction of papillomas in DMBA + TPA + TFGS (400 mg/kg. body wt.) treated group was found to be effective in decreasing the rate of tumor incidence in comparison to control. Furthermore, cumulative number of papillomas, tumor yield and tumor burden were also found to be reduced. The TFGS extract treatment before DMBA and TPA application (i.e. Pre initiation) were more effective than that of treatment during, and /or after DMBA treatment, however TFGS extract treatment was most effective when treated throughout all the stages of tumorigenesis. The TFGS treatment also showed a modulatory influence on mouse hepatic antioxidant defense system (GSH and LPO level).