Natural products such as plant extracts and complex microbial secondary metabolites have recently attracted the attention of scientific world for their potential use as drugs for treating chronic diseases such as Type II diabetes. Non-Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (NIDDM) or Type II diabetes has complicated basis and has various treatment options, each targeting different mechanism of act...

The effects of grain and carbohydrase enzyme supplementation were investigated on digestive physiology of chickens. A total of 625 one-day-old chicks (Ross 308) were randomly assigned to five treatments in a completely randomized design. Treatments included two different types of grains (wheat, and barley) with or without a multi-carbohydrase supplement. A corn-based diet was also considered to...

Excessive ethanol consumption is a common risk factor for acute and chronic pancreatitis. Ethanol could lead to the onset of pancreatitis in a number of ways; the most recently discovered is its effect on intrapancreatic digestive enzyme activation, by either sensitizing acinar cells to pathologic stimuli or stimulating the release of a secretagogue (cholecystokinin) from duodenal I cells. Rece...

In Gryllus bimaculatus , more digestive enzymes (amylase, trypsin, aminopeptidase) are secreted in the caecum of fed crickets than in unfed crickets, but the enzymes are released continuously at a basal rate in unfed animals. The rate of synthesis of the enzymes appears to parallel their rate of release. Digestive enzymes are released in response to a specific ratio of nutrients, although a hig...

Two isoforms of ATP diphosphohydrolase (ATPDase; EC 3.6.1.5 ) have been previously characterized, purified, and identified. This enzyme is an ectonucleotidase that catalyzes the sequential release of γ- and β-phosphate groups of triphospho- and diphosphonucleosides. One of its putative roles is to modulate the extracellular concentrations of purines in different physiological systems. The purpo...

Juvenile piracanjuba, Brycon orbignyanus, in the wild consume protein from both plant and animal sources. Digestion of protein in piracanjuba begins in the stomach with pepsin, at low pH, and is followed by hydrolysis at alkaline pH in the lumen of the intestine. The digestive system in piracanjuba was evaluated to characterize the enzymes responsible for the digestion of feed protein and their...

this study was undertaken to estimate specific activities of rhodanese and 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (mst) in different tissues of turkey. enzyme activities were determined in tissue samples from freshly killed adult male turkeys by measurement of thiocyanate amounts produced by the action of enzymes on suitable substrates. activities of rhodanese and mst in examined tissues of turke...