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Effect of Combined Citrullus Colocynthis and Rhazya Stricta Use in Najdi Sheep
Abstract
The effect of oral administration of 0.25 g/kg/day of Citrullus colocynthis fruits, 0.25 g/kg/day of Rhazya stricta leaves or mixture of the two plants at 0.25 g/kg/day of C. colocynthis fruits plus 0.25 g/kg/day of R. stricta leaves in Najdi sheep was examined. Oral administration of 0.25 g/kg/day of C. colocynthis fruits or 0.25 g/kg/day of R. stricta leaves for 42 days proved not fatal but that of the mixture of the two plants (0.25 g + 0.25 g/kg/day) proved fatal within 26 days with profuse diarrhea, dehydration, loss in condition, ataxia and recumbency, prior to death. These manifestations accompanied by enterohepatonephrotoxicity, gelatinization of the renal and epicardial fat and transudate in serous cavities were correlated with alterations in serum LDH and AST activities and concentrations of total protein, albumin, globulin, bilirubin, cholesterol and urea and hematology.
... He had fresh bleeding from his rectum, and an examination revealed extreme tenderness and slight tenderness in the lower abdomen [5]. These manifestations may be accompanied by transudate in serous cavities, epicardial fat, gelatinization of renal tissue, and enterohepato-nephrotoxicity [88]. ...
Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad. (Cucurbitaceae) is widely distributed in the desert areas of the world. The fruit bodies of C. colocynthis are recognized for their wide range of nutraceutical potential, as well as medicinal and pharmaceutical uses. The plant has been reported for various uses, such as asthma, bronchitis, cancer, colic, common cold, cough, diabetes, dysentery, and jaundice. The fruit has been extensively studied for its biological activities, which include insecticide, antitumor, and antidiabetic effects. Numerous bioactive compounds have been reported in its fruit bodies, such as essential oils, fatty acids, glycosides, alkaloids, and flavonoids. Of these, flavonoids or caffeic acid derivatives are the constituents associated with the inhibition of fungal or bacterial growth, whereas eudesmane sesquiterpenes or sesquiterpene lactones are most active against insects, mites, and nematodes. In this review, the scientific evidence for the biological activity of C. colocynthis against insecticide, cytotoxic, and antidiabetic effects is summarized.
... These results suggesting molecular changes as a deletion or frame shift mutations in one or more loci which affect gene expression and interruption in biochemical pathways of DNA and protein synthesis consequently as Alkaloids in Punica granatum peel and seeds extracts often do. These results are consistent with the results obtained25262728. Some of the components of Punica granatum may act as intercalation agent or generates free radicals which are interacted with genomic DNA to account for the observed deletions, as suggested by similar results obtained2930 in their study with Cryptolepis sangvinolehta and Aspergillus terreus. ...
Punica granatum are utilized by local people as the part of their meal. Peoples supposed to consume Punica granatum seed and their peel was thrown as waste. Present study was designed to evaluate the antibacterial activity of the DMSO, ethanol and methanol extracts of Egyptian and Taif cultivars of Punica granatum peel and seeds extracts against five opportunistic pathogens namely Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas sp. and Bacillus sp. (as a gram positive bacteria) and Escherichia coli and Aeromonas hydrophila (as a gram negative bacteria). The antimicrobial activity of plant peels and seeds extracts were compared with that of Streptomycin, as reference antibiotics. Evaluations were based on the zone of inhibition using agar well diffusion assay. The inhibitory activity was found to be dose dependent. The methanol extract of the peels from the two cultivars at 15 mg/ml dosage were found to be active antimicrobials against all the test microorganisms. While, the maximum antimicrobial activity for the seeds extracts were reported at 60 mg/ml. Escherichia coli was reported to have significant susceptibility against most of the extract followed by Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas sp. Additionally, we evaluated the effect of the peels and seeds extract on the DNA damage of the bacterial genome using the repetitive element PCR analysis technique (Rep-PCR). The Rep-PCR results significantly showed that there are a polymorphic numbers of genetic bands, which were found in E. coli treated bacteria and absent in the untreated bacteria. This study indicates that aqueous DMSO, methanol and ethanol extracts of peels and seeds of the two cultivars of Punica granatum may be utilizes as a potential source of antimicrobial and mutagen agents.
Key words: Punica granatum, antibacterial activity, Peels and seeds extracts and Rep-PCR.
... Antihyperlipidemic or hypocholesterolaemic effects have also been reported (Dahanukar et al., 2000;Kuda et al., 2004). Alterations in serum aspartate transaminase, lactate dehydrogenase, alanine aminotransferase, iron, bilirubin, urea, total protein, albumin and calcium concentrations, elevated serum creatinine and phosphorus have been reported (Adam, 1998;Adam et al., 2000;Aslani et al., 2004;Mahgoub et al., 2008). Sheep consuming feeds containing phenols and condensed tannins had reduced haematocrit (Mahgoub et al., 2008), while those consuming castor bean had increased haematocrit (Aslani et al., 2007). ...
Livestock production systems and welfare standards of farm animals are changing. The concept of ‘clean, green and ethical’ animal production has been promoted to address societal demands for agricultural products which are produced with fewer chemical inputs (‘clean’), less impact on the environment (‘green’) and greater care of the animals (‘ethical’). Livestock production in developed countries relies to varying degrees on synthetic chemicals to manage livestock health, promote production and regulate impacts on the environment. However, some negative effects and consequences of these practices are emerging and there is a search for alternative options and more ‘natural’ ways of managing animal production. Bioactive plants and plant compounds, when included as feed and food components, have a broad range of effects in animals, including health promoting benefits animal production, but they can also be toxic or even lethal. While medicinal plants have been exploited for centuries, and are still used in developing countries to treat animals and promote their productivity, these practices generally lack documentation, research and standardization. There is global interest in harnessing bioactive properties of plants and their secondary compounds as alternatives to chemical, drugs and growth promoters. However, we need to gather information about their sources, concentrations and structure, as well as obtain knowledge of their absorption, metabolism and biological effects on the animal in order to evaluate their future use in livestock production. In this context, we discuss bioactive plants and compounds and elaborate on some of their effects on select animal functions and health, outlining benefits and limitations of their use in livestock production, as well as, research gaps in this area and future directions.
... The DNA and protein quantities study revealed a significant decrease in all auxotrophic mutants compared with the wild type, suggesting a molecular changes as a deletion in one or more loci which affect gene expression and interruption in biochemical pathways of Genetic effects of R. stricta on A. terreus DNA and protein synthesis consequently as Alkaloids in Rhazya stricta leaves extract often do. These results are consistent with the results obtained by Mukhopadhyay et al, 1983; David et al., 1997; Adam et al., 2000 and Morita, et al., 2005. Polymorphic DNA bands were obtained in mutants comparing to wild type with all RAPD primers which were used, This observation gives good evidence to the ability of Rhazya stricta extract to induce point mutation as a result of deletion compromising at least one nucleotide as revealed by the disappearance of many genetic bands as compared with wild type. ...
Dense conidial suspensions of Aspergillus terreus were treated with elevated concentrations of aqueous extracts of the wild plant Rhazya stricta leaves. Samples were taken at regular intervals in each treatment and assayed for survival percentage, auxotrophic mutants, quantities of DNA and total protein and farther subjected to RAPD and SDS-PAGE tests, respectively. It was found that the extract has potent lethal and mutagenic activities. Survival percentage decreased as the concentration or time of exposure increased. Frequency of auxotrophic mutants increased with increase in concentration or exposure time. Most auxotrophic mutants were amino acid requiring mutants. Quantity of DNA of each mutant was significantly less than in corresponding control and so on for total protein. The RAPD results demonstrated polymorphic numbers of genetic bands, which were the electrophoretic products of PCR for all mutants compared with the wild type strain. SDS-PAGE results expressed a polymorphism of protein bands as well. All these results strongly point out the mutagenicity of the leaves extract of R. stricta.
Health consciousness and increased knowledge about the side effects of synthetic drugs have enhanced interest in traditional medicines. Medicinal plants offer cures for various diseases, leading to improved living standards. This has brought ethnomedicinal studies into the spotlight and increased demand for herb-based medicines. Citrullus colocynthis is an herbaceous plant containing an abundance of nutrients that play a key role in the improvement of wellbeing. C. colocynthis has many biological properties, such as antioxidative, hypoglycemic, antibacterial, anti-cancerous, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, gastrointestinal tract, reproduction, protection, anti-microbial, antidiabetic, hypolipidemic, antineoplastic, profibrinolytic, anti-allergic, pesticidal, and immune-stimulatory. There are numerous bioactive compounds like cucurbitacin, flavonoids, and polyphenols in C. colocynthis that give it medicinal properties. Herein, we have extensively compiled, reviewed, and analyzed significant information on C. colocynthhis from the best published available evidence in PubMed, Scopus (Embase), Web of Science (Web of Knowledge), Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar, etc. Scientific literature evidenced that owing to the bioactive constituents, including cucurbitacin, polyphenols, flavonoids, and other potent molecules, C. colocynthis has many pharmacological and physiological functions. It possesses multi-beneficial applications in treating various disorders of humans and animals. So, the primary purpose of this comprehensive review is to provide an overview of the findings of positive impacts and risks of C. colocynthis consumption on human health, especially in poultry and veterinary fields. In the future, this narrative article will be aware of discoveries about the potential of this promising natural fruit and its bioactive compounds as the best nutraceuticals and therapeutic drugs in veterinary and human medicine.
Undoubtedly, natural products with bioactive components such as fruits and berries from the Mediterranean areas are largely appreciated and highly consumed around the world due to their significance as possible novel therapeutical agents, with immense medicinal properties and a possible profound effect on health. According to epidemiological information, there were positive correlations of high consumption of fruits and berries with a low risk of various chronic diseases as these foods are rich sources of nutrients, and energy with a high content of vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants, polyphenols, and numerous other classes of biological active compounds. Apart from the functional role of fruits and berries on health, they may contain components which in turn lead to toxicity on some occasions, inducing mild or severe symptoms (diarrhea, vomiting, paralysis, coma, or even death) that vary based on various factors such as dose, sensitivity of the individual and the way of exposure. Considering the above data, this paper aims to review the recent literature about the biological activities and therapeutic potentials, toxicity, and toxic components of selected Mediterranean fruits and berries, evaluating on the one hand the potential beneficial role of these foods, and on the other hand their possible toxic health effects.
Citrullus colocynthis is a pharmaceutical plant which belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family. This plant is used in the treatment of many diseases, but its excessive usage causes poisoning and even death. In this study, the effects of different parts of Citrullus colocynthis including fruit, leaf, and fruit and leaf mixture on clinical, hematological, and biochemical parameters of sheep blood serum were investigated. Twenty male Baluchi sheep of about 1 year old were admitted to the study. The animals were divided into three treatment groups and one control group and received fruit, leaf, and fruit and leaf mixture of Citrullus colocynthis with a dose of 0.25 g/kg for 1 month. Repeated measures ANOVA statistical test by using SPSS statistical software was used to compare the results between groups. The results showed that the amount of cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoproteins, total bilirubin, respiratory rate, heartbeat rate, and temperature, after the administration of Citrullus colocynthis, is significantly different (p < 0.05). These changes indicated that different parts of Citrullus colocynthis at the dose of 0.25 g/kg/BW for 28 days do not induce considerable adverse effects on several body systems. Moreover, their usage might have some benefits due to decreasing the amount of triglycerides and cholesterols.
La production des plantes médicinales n'est pas très développée actuellement, qu'il s' agisse d'espèces spontanées ou d'espèces cultivées. L'Algérie importe des plantes médicinales d'origine tropicales, des extraits de plantes médicinales et des principes actifs, destinés à l'industrie pharmaceutique ou cosmétique. La plupart des ces produits, parmi lesquels les huiles essentielles, pourrait être produit localement. Après extraction des huiles essentielles des feuilles chez les 2 espèces, par la méthode d'hydrodistillation, nous avons procédé à l'analyse par chromatographie en phase gazeuse. Les résultats ont montré la présence de 29 produits contenus dans l'huile essentielle de Melissa officinalis. Parmi les 20 produits identifiés, 7 constituants se sont révélés majoritaires. Chez Mentha pulegium L, parmi les 33 produits contenus dans l'huile essentielle, 21 ont été identifiés dont 5 sont majoritaires.
Spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) leaves represent an important dietary source of nutrients, antioxidants and antimicrobials. As such, spinach leaves play an important role in health and have been used in the treatment of human diseases since ancient times. Here, the aims were to optimize the extraction methods for recovering antimicrobial substances of spinach leaves, determine the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of the antimicrobial substances against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus and, finally, evaluate the effects of spinach leaves’ antimicrobials on bacterial DNA using central composite face-centered methods. The effect of the extracts on both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial models was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and random amplification of polymorphic (bacterial) DNA (RAPD). The optimal extraction conditions were at 45 °C, ultrasound power of 44% and an extraction time of 23 min. The spinach extracts exhibited antimicrobial activities against both bacteria with MICs in the 60–100 mg/ml range. Interestingly, SEM showed that the treated bacterial cells appear damaged with a reduction in cell number. RAPD analysis of genomic DNA showed that the number and sizes of amplicons were decreased by treatments. Based on these results, it was inferred that spinach leaf extracts exert bactericidal activities by both inducing mutations in DNA and causing cell wall disruptions.
Reports on experimental hepatotoxicities in domestic animals were reviewed in order to investigate the relationship between the location of liver lesions and hyperbilirubinaemia. A purely centrilobular lesion tends to produce little effect on bilirubin concentration in the circulation. A mild to moderate hyperbilirubinaemia is predictable if a centrilobular lesion is extensive enough to include cells of the outer zones, however, even an apparently mild periportal liver lesion, but one that affects the integrity of cell membranes, results in a marked rise in bilirubin concentration in the circulation.
The toxicity of Rhazya stricta leaves for Najdi sheep is described in 9 sheep assigned as untreated controls, Rhazya-treated at 0.25 g/kg/d and Rhazya-treated at 1 g/kg/d. The oral use of 1 g/kg/d caused body weight depression, ruminal bloat, diarrhea, dyspnea and weakness of the hind limbs. Enterohepatonephropathy, pulmonary congestion, hemorrhage and emphysema, lymphocytes in vital organs, and congestion of the blood vessels of the heart were associated with increases in serum AST and LDH, in elevated bilirubin and urea concentrations, and decreased total protein, albumin and calcium concentrations, and leucopenia and anemia.
Goats were fed with fresh or dry A. hispidum at the rates of 5 and 10 g per kg per day for periods up to 38 days. The main signs of poisoning were jaundice, diarrhoea, weakness of the hind limbs and debility. The lesions consisted of necrosis and portal fibroplasia in the liver, dilatation and degeneration of the kidney tubules, atrophy of the testes, pulmonary haemorrhage and oedema and splenic haemosiderosis. These changes were accompanied by increases in the concentrations of aspartate aminotransferase, ammonia and bilirubin and decrease in the levels of total protein and calcium in the serum. Haematological changes indicated the development of haemolytic anaemia.
The toxicity of 5 Sudanese plants credited with medicinal value for man, i.e. Citrullus colocynthis, Jatropha aceroides, J. glauca, Solanum dubium and Lagenaria siceraria, was studied by giving the dried or minced plants to Nubian goats, Desert sheep or Zebu calves by mouth or stomach tube. The clinical, haematological and pathological changes indicated that all five plants reduced the ability of the liver to synthesize protein, although there was no evidence of interference with the excretion of bilirubin. Kidney dysfunction and haemoconcentration also occurred. Citrullus colocynthis and Jatropha species in doses of 0.5 to 10 g per kg per day killed goats after dosing for periods ranging from 1 day to 2 weeks. Calves were less susceptible. The fruits and leaves of L. siceraria, in doses of 1 to 5 g per kg per day, caused death after a similar period but with less regularity. The seeds were less toxic. The fruits of S. dubium in doses of 2.5 to 10 g per kg per day killed goats in 2 to 5 days. Similar doses of the leaves caused deaths in 8 to 36 days. In sheep, both fruits and leaves required a longer period of dosing to cause death.
Copper sulphate was administered by the oral or intravenous route to five dromedary camels. Two camels (1 and 2) receiving copper sulphate at 200 mg per kg per day by drench died within 8 days and camel 3, receiving 100 mg per kg per day by the same route, was slaughtered on day 172. Intravenous injection of 2 mg per kg per day caused the death of camel 4 on day 95 and camel 5, treated similarly, was slaughtered on day 138. Anorexia, dullness, diarrhoea, dehydration and recumbency in camels 1 and 2 were probably clinical signs of copper toxicity. Camels 3, 4 and 5 lost weight. Jaundice was not a prominent clinical sign. The main lesions in camels 1 and 2 were fatty change and necrosis of the liver cells, dilatation and necrosis of kidney tubules, catarrhal abomasitis, enteritis and congestion of the blood vessels of the heart. In camels 3, 4 and 5 the hepatic lesions were mild, with leucocytic infiltration and gastrointestinal and heart lesions were either mild (camel 3) or absent (camels 4 and 5). Cytoplasmic copper granules in hepatic cells were generalized in distribution but more concentrated in the centrilobular zone. In the kidney these granules were confined to the cells of the proximal convoluted tubules. Copper accumulated in the liver and kidneys of all the camels and zinc accumulated in the liver and kidneys of those receiving copper sulphate intravenously. Macrocytic hypochromic anaemia developed in camels 3, 4 and 5 and haemoconcentration in camels 1 and 2. The concentration of serum copper, zinc and iron increased in animals 1, 2 and 4, and unbound iron binding capacity decreased in four camels. There was a rise in the activity of gamma GT, GOT, LDH and CPK in the serum of all the animals. Serum ALP activity, however, increased in camels 1 and 2 and decreased in camels 3, 4 and 5.
Citrullus colocynthis seed was fed at 2% and 10% of the basal diet to 7-d-old Bovans-type chicks for 6 w. Average body weights and efficiency of feed utilization were markedly depressed in the chicks on 10% Citrullus feed, and the serum activities of LDH, AST and CK and concentrations of total lipid and zinc were significantly increased. The concentration of serum total iron binding capacity was particularly reduced in chicks on 2% Citrullus feed. The concentrations of other serum and blood constituents and of hepatic copper, manganese and zinc were not significantly changes. Lesions seen in the intestines, livers, kidneys and other tissues were fully reversed 4 w after removal from the experimental diet.
Saudi Rhazya stricta is used in folkloric medicine for the treatment of various disorders. R stricta leaves were fed to male Wistar albino rats at 2%, 10% or 50% of the diet for 6 w. Decreased growth rate, soft feces, dullness, ruffled hair and hepatonephrotoxicity were observed in rats on 10% and 50% Rhazya diet. Fifty percent Rhazya was fatal to rats, and hepatorenal lesions at 3 and 6 w confirmed changes in serum enzyme activity and in total protein, albumin, bilirubin and urea concentrations. Serum copper was decreased and zinc was increased in rats on 50% R stricta at 3 and 6 w, and were accompanied by anemia and neutropenia. Two percent Rhazya diet promoted growth as the plant leaves contained 28.3% crude protein and 16.6% crude fat and were not deficient in copper, zinc or iron.
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Comparative Effects on Chicks of Some Indigenous Plants
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