Repurposing distillation waste biomass and low-value mineral resources through biochar-mineral-complex for sustainable production of high-value medicinal plants and soil quality improvement

High cost of synthetic fertilizers and their hazardous effects catapult the exploration of alternative nutrient formulations and soil amendments. This study aimed to synthesize a novel biochar-mineral-complex (BMC), and evaluate its nutrient supplying and soil improvement performances. In a hydrothermal reaction, the BMC was prepared using a biochar derived from distillation waste of Lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) and farmyard manure, for the first time via fortification with low-grade rock phosphate and waste mica. The BMC showed improved physico-chemical properties and nutrient availability than the pristine biochar. When applied to a deeply weathered acidic soil, the BMC significantly (P < 0.05) improved the herbage and bioactive compound (sennoside) yields of a medicinal plant (senna; Cassia angustifolia Vahl.) compared to the pristine biochar, farmyard manure, vermicompost, and chemical fertilizers. The BMC also improved the soil quality by increasing nutrient and carbon contents, and microbial activities. Soil quality improvement facilitated greater nutrient uptake in senna plants under BMC compared to the pristine biochar, and conventional organic and chemical fertilizer treatments. This study thus encourages the development of BMC formulations not only to overcome the limitation of sole biochar application to soils, but also to phaseout chemical fertilizers in agriculture. Moreover, BMC could bestow resilience and sustainability to crop production via value-added recycling of waste biomass and low-grade mineral resources.

Production of human anti-glycophorin-A monoclonal antibodies and their purification by pseudoaffinity chromatography using a convective interaction media monolithic column

Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against glycophorin-A (GPA) could be used in identifying MN blood groups, detecting specific markers of erythroid differentiation, and studying parasite interactions. Large-scale production of MAbs in bioreactors demands an efficient and rapid separation technology. The present study describes the production of a human anti-GPA monoclonal antibody and its purification using a pseudo-bioaffinity L-histidine-convective interaction media (CIM) monolithic column. Hybridomas were generated by fusion of mouse myeloma cell line (Sp2/0) and spleen cells from the mouse immunized with Triton X-100 solubilized RBC membrane proteins. Hybridomas producing antibodies specific to commercial glycophorin-A were screened by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The antibodies produced by the stable clones were found to be IgG1 with kappa light chain. Purification of IgG1 MAbs from the cell culture supernatant carried out with a CIM-EDA-histidine disk resulted in high specific activity with purification fold of 8.3 in the fraction eluted with MOPS buffer containing 0.2 M NaCl. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and ELISA showed that the antibodies obtained were highly pure, with high antigen-binding efficiency. The results indicate that faster separation and efficient recovery of high-purity anti-GPA MAbs could be achieved by using CIM-EDA-histidine disk.

Magnesium deficiency enhances oxidative stress and collagen synthesis in vivo in the aorta of rats

Magnesium deficiency has been shown to produce vascular lesions in experimental animals, but the underlying mechanisms of vascular injury are not clear. It has been reported that in rodents, magnesium deficiency enhances circulating levels of factors that promote free radical generation and are mitogenic. In pursuance of these observations, the present study tested the hypothesis that magnesium deficiency may enhance oxidative stress and trigger an accelerated growth response in vivo in the aorta of rats. Oxidative stress was evaluated in terms of levels of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances in the serum and aorta and activity of superoxide dismutase and catalase in the aorta; fractional rates of collagen synthesis were assessed using [3H]-proline. Serum and tissue levels of magnesium and calcium were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The present study demonstrated for the first time that magnesium deficiency significantly (P < 0.001) increases levels of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances in the aorta of rats. Other changes in the aorta of animals on the Mg-deficient diet included a significant reduction (54%, P < 0.001) in the activity of superoxide dismutase and catalase (37%, P < 0.01) and a 19% increase in net fractional rates of collagen synthesis (P < 0.05). While serum magnesium was significantly reduced in these animals (P < 0.001), aortic tissue levels of magnesium in these animals remained unaltered throughout the duration of the study, suggesting the existence of other control mechanisms, apart from reduced tissue levels of magnesium, mediating the observed effects. These findings suggest that magnesium deficiency may trigger a wound healing response, involving oxidative injury and growth stimulation, in the vascular system.

Depressed antioxidant defense in rat heart in experimental magnesium deficiency. Implications for the pathogenesis of myocardial lesions

Magnesium (Mg) deficiency has been shown to produce myocardial lesions in different experimental models. Based on several lines of evidence, it has been proposed that oxidative injury to the cardiac muscle may explain the pathobiology of such lesions. In pursuance of this postulation, the present study examined the effect of dietary deficiency of Mg on the activity of the antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase, in rat heart. This article reports a significant lowering of the activity of both these enzymes in the cardiac tissue in Mg-deficient rats. Since depressed antioxidant defense in the heart may enhance myocardial susceptibility to oxidative injury, the observation is of possible relevance to the pathogenesis of cardiac lesions in Mg deficiency.

Magnesium deficiency-related changes in lipid peroxidation and collagen metabolism in vivo in rat heart

Magnesium deficiency is known to produce a cardiomyopathy, characterised by myocardial necrosis and fibrosis. As part of the ongoing investigations in this laboratory to establish the biochemical correlates of these histological changes, the present study probed the extent of lipid peroxidation and alterations in collagen metabolism in the heart in rats fed a magnesium-deficient diet for 28, 60 or 80 days. While lipid peroxidation was measured by the thiobarbituric acid reaction, collagen turnover rates and fibroblast proliferation were assessed using [3H]-proline and [3H]-thymidine, respectively. Tissue levels of magnesium and calcium were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. A 39% increase in the cardiac tissue level of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances was observed on day 60 of deficiency (p < 0.001). A marked drop in collagen deposition rate (59%, p < 0.001%) on day 28 but a significant rise in fractional synthesis rate (12%, p < 0.001) and collagen deposition rate (24%, p < 0.001) on day 60 were observed. A fibroproliferative response in the heart was evident on day 80 but not at earlier time-points. Thus, the present study provides evidence of increased lipid peroxidation and net deposition of collagen in the myocardium in response to dietary deficiency of magnesium. These changes were, however, not directly related to alterations in the tissue levels of Mg. It is suggested that the increase in cardiac collagen synthesis and fibroplasia associated with Mg deficiency may represent reparative fibrogenesis, upon oxidative damage to the cardiac muscle, and is mediated by a mechanism independent of changes in cardiac tissue levels of Mg.

Cerium stimulates protein biosynthesis in rat heart in vivo

The aim of the study was to ascertain whether Ce, a lanthanide that has been implicated in the pathogenesis of tropical endomyocardial fibrosis, interferes with the biosynthetic repertoire of the cardiac muscle in vivo. Female Sprague-Dawley rats received Ce chloride iv at 1.3 mg/kg body wt.; controls received an equal volume of physiological saline. Rates of protein synthesis and transcription in cardiac muscle, measured in terms of incorporation of (3H)-phenylalanine and (3H)-uridine, respectively, into trichloroacetic acid-insoluble material were found to be significantly higher in Ce-treated animals. As low levels of Ce were earlier shown to stimulate collagen as well as noncollagen protein synthesis in cardiac fibroblasts in vitro, the stimulatory effect of the element in vivo reported here supports the speculation that it may influence the expression of proteins like collagen in the heart and contribute to their accumulation as in endomyocardial fibrosis.