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Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan where 40% of total camel population is present. People in Balochistan mostly use camel for milking, meat, draught and irrigation purposes to meet their socio-economic needs. Though the camel is a resistant animal, it may get affected by parasitic infections leading to reduced performance. The knowledge regarding occurrence of hemoparasites in camels is still unrevealed, especially in Balochistan. To this end, 384 blood samples were collected from camels from five districts of Zhob division through simple random sampling method. Samples were subjected to microscopic examination which showed 7.55% and 7.03% prevalence of Babesia and Theileria spp., respectively. Furthermore, the 18S rRNA gene of these parasites was amplified through PCR which showed prevalence rate of 25% and 21.35% in case of Babesia and Theileria spp., respectively. Sequence analysis of amplicons confirmed these parasites as B. caballi and T. annulata, Phylogeny of these parasites showed that they were included in a separate clade. Among different factors, the prevalence of these parasites was higher in female animals (Babesia (B)=27.30%, Theileria (T)=23.75%) and the animals with >5 year of age (B=27.27%, T=22.52%). Furthermore, the prevalence was significantly higher (p<0.05) in pregnant camels as compared to lactating and dry animals. Results of this study provide a systematic epidemiological data on the occurrence of Babesia and Theileria spp. in camel population in Balochistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was designed to develop Aloe vera juice (100%), and further analyze its phenolics and flavonoids contents. Moreover, the developed Aloe vera juice was scrutinized for its antioxidant potential, radical scavenging capacity and also for efficacy study of lipid lowering potential in rat models. The results indicated that total phenolic contents were 821 ± 16.71gallic acid equivalents (GAE) /100 mL and total flavonoid contents were 89±4.94quercetin equivalent (QE) /100 mL. Maximum antioxidant activity of juice was found to be 34 ± 1.99 %. The radical scavenging assays showed 20.6 ± 1.97 %, 2.33 ± 0.4 µmol trolox equivalent (TE)/mL and 7.33 ± 2.01µmolTE/mL for DPPH, FRAP and ABTS, respectively. In addition, the lipid lowering effect of Aloe vera juice was assessed by in vivo study on rats as the level of cholesterol and triglycerides in serum was reduced to 21 % and 25.7 % respectively. Furthermore, the intake of juice significantly increased (18.3 %) the level of high-density lipoproteins and decreased (52 %) the level of low-density lipoproteins, indicating its positive role of lipid metabolism in the body. The liver enzymes (30-39 %) and oxidative stress indices i.e., superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione were also significantly improved in G-II. Therefore, in vivo efficacy studies validated the functional potential of Aloe vera juice against hyperlipidemia induced metabolic dysfunctions. Hence, the provision of locally processed aloe juice could remarkably lower the lipid profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]