The slow improvement in micronutrient malnutrition globally and in India warrants a need for scaling-up scientifically proven, cost-effective public health interventions. The present review discusses the potential of staple food fortification as a complementary strategy to tackle micronutrient deficiencies, while addressing the current concerns raised regarding its implementation. The review indicates the below par status of current strategies like dietary diversity and supplementation to address multiple micronutrients deficiencies in India and the need for complementary strategies to tackle this problem.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSeveral preventive strategies to reduce dyslipidemia have been suggested, of which dietary modification features as an important one. Dyslipidemia is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease and strategies to manage dyslipidemia have been shown to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Although there are proven pharmacological therapies to help manage this condition, nutritional interventions are a safer option to help prevent and manage dyslipidemia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA detection method for genetically modified foods is an essential regulatory requirement for many countries. The present study is aimed at developing a qualitative method for detection of genetically modified organisms by combining PCR methodology with capillary gel electrophoresis (PCR-CGE) in a sequencing platform to detect Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)-cotton (MON 531) and Roundup Ready (RR) soybean (GTS 40-3-2). A sensitive duplex PCR-CGE method was developed in which target DNA sequences (35S and Nos) were separated both by size and color to detect 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA male cattle calf was detected as subclinically and naturally infected with Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) by a series of antemortem and postmortem tests. The MAP infection was identified by strong antibody and cell-mediated immune (CMI) response by a commercial ELISA kit and an intradermal Johnin test, respectively, in the initial antemortem examination. The antemortem status of the calf was further confirmed by MAP-specific interferon gamma (IFN-γ) response.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground & Objectives: Pre-clinical toxicology evaluation of biotechnology products is a challenge to the toxicologist. The present investigation is an attempt to evaluate the safety profile of the first indigenously developed recombinant DNA anti-rabies vaccine [DRV (100 μg)] and combination rabies vaccine [CRV (100 μg DRV and 1.25 IU of cell culture-derived inactivated rabies virus vaccine)], which are intended for clinical use by intramuscular route in Rhesus monkeys.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground & Objectives: Maternal undernutrition and hyperglycaemia during pregnancy, as well as foetal undernutrition affecting the development of foetal endocrine pancreas structure and function, especially that of β-cells is well known. This study was undertaken to look into the changes in pancreatic islets morphology of aborted normal human foetuses (16-20 wk old) of undernourished and adequately nourished mothers.
Methods: Foetuses were collected over a 24 month period from medically terminated pregnancies of six undernourished mothers (BMI <18.
Background & Objectives: The present study was carried out on stored rice variety PAU 201 in Punjab that was not permitted for milling and public distribution due to the presence of damaged grains at levels exceeding the regulatory limits of 4.75 per cent. The aim of the study was to determine fungal and aflatoxin contamination in the rice samples to assess hazard from the presence of damaged grains.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of lactobacilli on vaginal health and proinflammatory cytokines. Sixty-seven patients with bacterial vaginosis (BV), 50 with intermediate flora and 42 with normal vaginal flora were enrolled in this double-blind study. The subjects were randomized to receive probiotic lactobacilli vaginal tablets (L.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate nutritional and toxicological aspects of rice grown in fly ash amended soils. Rice was grown on soils with fly ash (200 t ha(-1) ) and without fly ash at two different geographical locations of India.
Results: One kilogram each of 36 samples randomly collected from three replicates of rice grown with and without fly ash was subjected to various analytical techniques to determine the nutrient composition, mineral and heavy metal content.
Background & Objectives: WNIN/Ob (obese and euglycaemic) and WNIN/GR-Ob (obesity with impaired glucose tolerance), were isolated and established from Wistar rat stock (WNIN). Both strains showed physical, physiological and biochemical indices related to obesity. We present here haematology, histology and pathophysiological changes between the phenotypes of these strains, lean (+/+), carrier (+/-) and obese (-/-).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFhe introduction of GM foods has led to the evolution of a food safety assessment paradigm that establishes safety of the GM food relative to its conventional counterpart. The GM foods currently approved and marketed in several countries have undergone extensive safety testing under a structured safety assessment framework evolved by international organizations like FAO, WHO, Codex and OECD. The major elements of safety assessment include molecular characterization of inserted genes and stability of the trait, toxicity and allergenicity potential of the expressed substances, compositional analysis, potential for gene transfer to gut microflora and unintentional effects of the genetic modification.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: To elucidate the sequential transfer of iron amongst ferritin, transferrin and transferrin receptor under various iron status conditions.
Methods: Incorporation of 59Fe into mucosal and luminal proteins was carried out in control WKY rats. The sequential transfer of iron amongst ferritin, transferrin and transferrin receptor was carried out in iron deficient, control and iron overloaded rats.
Aim: To investigate if cisplatin alters vitamin status and if VR modulates cisplatin induced intestinal apoptosis and oxidative stress in Wistar/NIN (WNIN) male rats.
Methods: Weanling, WNIN male rats (n = 12 per group) received adlibitum for 17 wk: control diet (20% protein) or the same with 50% vitamin restriction. They were then sub-divided into two groups of six rats each and administered cisplatin (2.
The absence of standard guidelines from National and International regulatory agencies for the safety evaluation of biotechnology products challenges the ingenuity of toxicologists. At present, the development of standard pre-clinical toxicology protocols for such products is on an individual case basis. The present investigation is an attempt to evaluate the safety profile of the first indigenously developed DNA based anti-rabies vaccine in India.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVitamin A is a known regulator of adipose tissue growth. In this paper, we report the possible role of dietary vitamin A supplementation in the regulation of adipose tissue mass, using a novel obese rat model of the WNIN/Ob strain developed at the National Centre for Laboratory Animal Sciences of the National Institute of Nutrition, India. Twenty-four male lean and obese rats of the WNIN/Ob strain were broadly divided into two groups at 7 months of age; each group was subdivided into two subgroups consisting of six lean and six obese rats and they were given diets containing either 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiet influences intestinal growth and function and vitamins modulate intestinal cell turnover. We have assessed the effects of chronic, moderate (50% of control) vitamin restriction and supplementation on intestinal epithelial cell (IEC) apoptosis and the relevance of this to alterations in tissue oxidative stress and antioxidant status. Feeding a vitamin-restricted diet to male, weanling WNIN rats for 20 weeks significantly increased IEC apoptosis, but only in the villi region, as evident from increased annexin V staining, M30 positivity, histological observations, DNA ladder formation, and reduced expression of Bcl-2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: We evaluated the effect of iron supplementation on biochemical indicators of iron status, namely hemoglobin (Hb), serum ferritin (SF), and serum transferrin receptor (sTfR), during pregnancy.
Methods: A prospective study was conducted in 73 pregnant women who received daily supplements of 60 mg of iron and 500 microg of folic acid for 100 d from 19 wk of gestation. The indicators of iron status (Hb, SF, and sTfR) at 19, 27, and 35 wk of gestation were analyzed.
PUFA of the n-6 and n-3 series have beneficial effects on key risk factors of coronary heart disease (CHD). Our earlier studies on the intake of FA and on the FA composition of plasma and platelet phospholipids suggested the need to improve the n-3 PUFA nutritional status in the Indian population. The present long-term study was conducted on 80 middle-aged Indian subjects (40 men and 40 women) using the subjects' own home-prepared diets to evaluate the effects of dietary n-3 PUFA on biochemical indices of CHD risk.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To study the effect of infection on iron status in children suffering from acute, mild or severe respiratory infections and to determine the nature of anemia in infection using serum transferrin receptor (sTfR) levels.
Design: Forty-three children aged between 3 and 5 y with no evidence of infection and receiving iron supplements in the preceding 100 days served as controls. Twenty-one children with mild upper respiratory infection and 94 children hospitalized for acute pneumonia constituted the experimental group.
Purpose: To investigate the effect of food, protein, and vitamin restriction on the susceptibility of lens crystallins to aggregation and chaperone activity of alpha-crystallin.
Methods: Thirty day old Wistar/NIN rats were maintained on regular rodent diet (C), 50% food restriction (FR), 75% protein restriction (PR), and 50% vitamin restriction (VR) diet for 20 weeks. At the end, alpha-, beta-, and gamma-crystallins were isolated from the lenses of these animals and subjected to in vitro aggregation induced by oxidation, UV irradiation and heat.
Neurological manifestations of skeletal fluorosis have been attributed to compressive radiculomyelopathy. Experimental fluorosis has shown evidence of myopathic changes. Data on human muscle pathology is very scanty.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTurmeric and its active principle curcumin have been extensively investigated for their antimutagenic and antioxidant effects in bacterial and animal systems. Because oral cancers are common in India, an experimental model of 7,12-dimethylbenzanthracene-induced buccal pouch tumors in Syrian Golden hamsters was used to evaluate the tumor retardation effects of turmeric and curcumin. Turmeric and/or curcumin was administered in the diet and/or applied locally for 14 weeks along with 7,12-dimethylbenzanthracene.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFree Radic Res
December 1995
Our earlier studies in vitro have shown that eugenol inhibits liver microsomal monooxygenase activities and carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced lipid peroxidation (Free Rad. Res. 20, 253-266, 1994).
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