OBJECTIVE: The study examines the effect of F. deltoidea on bone histomorphometric parameters, oxidative stress, and turnover markers in diabetic rats.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 6 animals per group) received one of the following treatments via gavage for 8 weeks: saline (diabetic control), metformin (1000 mg/kg bwt), and methanol leaves extract of F. deltoidea (1000 mg/kg bwt). A group of healthy rats served as normal control. The femoral bones were excised and scanned ex vivo using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) for histomorphometric analysis. The serum levels of insulin, oxidative stress, and bone turnover markers were determined by ELISA assays.
RESULTS: Treatment of diabetic rats with F. deltoidea could significantly increase bone mineral density (BMD) (from 526.98 ± 11.87 to 637.74 ± 3.90). Higher levels of insulin (2.41 ± 0.08 vs. 1.58 ± 0.16), osteocalcin (155.66 ± 4.11 vs. 14.35 ± 0.97), and total bone n-3 PUFA (2.34 ± 0.47 vs. 1.44 ± 0.18) in parallel with the presence of chondrocyte hypertrophy were also observed following F. deltoidea treatment compared to diabetic control.
CONCLUSIONS: F. deltoidea could prevent diabetic osteoporosis by enhancing osteogenesis and inhibiting bone oxidative stress. These findings support the potential use of F. deltoidea for osteoporosis therapy in diabetes.
Methods: In this study, type 2 diabetes model mice were induced by streptozotocin and high-fat diet (HFD) and used to evaluate the antihyperglycemic and anti-inflammatory effects of FFP. Mice were fed with HFD and challenged with 30 mg/kg body weight (BW) of streptozotocin for 1 month followed by 6 weeks of supplementation with 0.1 and 1.0 g/kg BW of FFP. Metformin was used as positive control treatment.
Results: Xeniji™-supplemented hyperglycemic mice were recorded with lower glucose level after 6 weeks of duration. This effect was contributed by the improvement of insulin sensitivity in the hyperglycemic mice indicated by the oral glucose tolerance test, insulin tolerance test, and end point insulin level. In addition, gene expression study has shown that the antihyperglycemic effect of FFP is related to the improvement of lipid and glucose metabolism in the mice. Furthermore, both 0.1 and 1 g/kg BW of FFP was able to reduce hyperglycemia-related inflammation indicated by the reduction of proinflammatory cytokines, NF-kB and iNOS gene expression and nitric oxide level.
Conclusion: FFP potentially demonstrated in vivo antihyperglycemic and anti-inflammatory effects on HFD and streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice.
AIM OF STUDY: To investigate the potential protective effects of L. flavescens in pancreatic β cells through inhibition of apoptosis and autophagy cell death mechanisms in in vitro and in vivo models.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: L. flavescens leaves were extracted using solvent in increasing polarities: hexane, ethyl acetate, methanol and water. All extracts were tested for INS-1 β cells viability stimulated by streptozotocin (STZ). The extract which promotes the highest cell protective activity was further evaluated for insulin secretion, apoptosis and autophagy signaling pathways. Then, the acute toxicity of extract was carried out in SD rats according to OECD 423 guideline. The active extract was tested in diabetic rats where the pancreatic β islets were evaluated for insulin, apoptosis and autophagy protein.
RESULTS: The methanolic extract of L. flavescens (MELF) was found to increase INS-1 β cells viability and insulin secretion against STZ. In addition, MELF has been shown to inhibit INS-1 β cells apoptosis and autophagy activity. Notably, there was no toxicity observed in SD rats when administered with MELF. Furthermore, MELF exhibited anti-hyperglycemic activity in diabetic rats where apoptosis and autophagy protein expression was found to be suppressed in pancreatic β islets.
CONCLUSION: MELF was found to protect pancreatic β cells function from STZ-induced apoptosis and autophagy in in vitro and in vivo.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 5 groups, namely: normal control (NC), diabetic control (DC), diabetic on 300 mg/kg b.w. MP, diabetic on 300 mg/kg b.w. metformin, and diabetic on MP and metformin combined therapy. Treatment was done orally for 4 weeks, and NC and DC groups received distilled water as vehicle.
KEY FINDINGS: Results showed increased fasting blood glucose and serum markers of hepatic lesion (aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase and gamma-glutamyl transferase), increased hepatic lactate dehydrogenase activity, decreased hepatic superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione-S-transferase and glutathione reductase activities, increased immunoexpressions of nuclear factor kappa B, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin(IL)-1β and caspase-3, and decreased immunoexpressions of IL-10 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen in the liver of DC group. Histopathology of the liver revealed numerous hepatocytes with pyknotic nuclei and inflammatory infiltration, while periodic acid-schiff staining decreased in the liver of DC group. Treatment with MP attenuated these negative effects and was comparable to metformin. Furthermore, these effects were better attenuated in the combined therapy-treated diabetic rats.
SIGNIFICANCE: Malaysian propolis attenuates hepatic lesion in DM and exerts a synergistic protective effect with the anti-hyperglycemic medication, metformin.
OBJECTIVES: To investigate the anti-atherosclerotic activity of a C. nutans leaf methanol extract (CNME) in a type 2 diabetic (T2D) rat model induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) and low-dose streptozotocin.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups: non-diabetic fed a standard diet (C), C + CNME (500 mg/kg, orally), diabetic fed an HFD (DM), DM + CNME (500 mg/kg), and DM + Metformin (DM + Met; 300 mg/kg). Treatment with oral CNME and metformin was administered for 4 weeks. Fasting blood glucose (FBG), serum lipid profile, atherogenic index (AI), aortic tissue superoxide dismutase levels (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) were measured. The rats' aortas were stained for histological analysis and intima-media thickness (IMT), a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis.
RESULTS: The CNME-treated diabetic rats had reduced serum total cholesterol (43.74%; p = 0.0031), triglycerides (80.91%; p = 0.0003), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (56.64%; p = 0.0008), AI (51.32%; p
PURPOSE: This study provides new insights on the changes of endogenous metabolites caused by I. aquatica ethanolic extract and improves the understanding on the therapeutic efficacy and mechanism of I. aquatica ethanolic extract.
METHODS: By using a combination of 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) with multivariate analysis (MVDA), the changes of metabolites due to I. aquatica ethanolic extract administration in obese diabetic-induced Sprague Dawley rats (OB+STZ+IA) were identified.
RESULTS: The results suggested 19 potential biomarkers with variable importance projections (VIP) above 0.5, which include creatine/creatinine, glucose, creatinine, citrate, carnitine, 2-oxoglutarate, succinate, hippurate, leucine, 1-methylnicotinamice (MNA), taurine, 3-hydroxybutyrate (3-HB), tryptophan, lysine, trigonelline, allantoin, formiate, acetoacetate (AcAc) and dimethylamine. From the changes in the metabolites, the affected pathways and aspects of metabolism were identified.
CONCLUSION: I. aquatica ethanolic extract increases metabolite levels such as creatinine/creatine, carnitine, MNA, trigonelline, leucine, lysine, 3-HB and decreases metabolite levels, including glucose and tricarboxylic acid (TCA) intermediates. This implies capabilities of I. aquatica ethanolic extract promoting glycolysis, gut microbiota and nicotinate/nicotinamide metabolism, improving the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and reducing the β-oxidation rate. However, the administration of I. aquatica ethanolic extract has several drawbacks, such as unimproved changes in amino acid metabolism, especially in reducing branched chain amino acid (BCAA) synthesis pathways and lipid metabolism.
METHODS: HKEx was evaluated using GC-MS and undertaken for a three-week intervention in fructose-fed STZ-induced Wistar albino rats at the doses of HKEx50, HKEx100, and HKEx200 mg/kg bw. Following intervention, blood serum was examined for biochemical markers, and liver tissue was investigated for the mRNA expression of catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and superoxide dismutase (SOD1) by RTPCR analysis. Most abundant compounds (oleanolic acid, 7α, 28-olean diol, and stigmasterol) from GC-MS were chosen for the network pharmacological assay to verify function-specific gene-compound interactions using STITCH, STRING, GSEA, and Cytoscape plugin cytoHubba.
RESULTS: In vivo results showed a significant (P < 0.05) decrease of blood sugar, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), creatinine kinase (CK-MB), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and increase of liver glycogen, glucose load, and serum insulin. Out of three antioxidative genes, catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD1) were found to be few fold increased. Oleanolic acid and stigmasterol were noticed to strongly interact with 27 target proteins. Oleanolic acid interacted with the proteins AKR1B10, CASP3, CASP8, CYP1A2, CYP1A2, HMGB1, NAMPT, NFE2L2, NQO1, PPARA, PTGIR, TOP1, TOP2A, UGT2B10, and UGT2B11 and stigmasterol with ABCA1, ABCG5, ABCG8, CTSE, HMGCR, IL10, CXCL8, NR1H2, NR1H3, SLCO1B1, SREBF2, and TNF. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis revealed the involvement of 25 target proteins out of twenty seven. Cytoscape plugin cytoHubba identified TNF, CXCL8, CASP3, PPARA, SREBF2, and IL10 as top hub genes. Pathway analysis identified 31 KEGG metabolic, signaling, and immunogenic pathways associated with diabetes. Notable degree of PPI enrichment showed that SOD1 and CAT are responsible for controlling signaling networks and enriched pathways.
CONCLUSION: The findings show that antioxidative genes have regulatory potential, allowing the HKEx to be employed as a possible antidiabetic source pending further validation.
METHODS: The petroleum ether, chloroform and methanol extracts of F. deltoidea were prepared and subjected to standardization using preliminary phytochemical and HPLC analysis. Dose selection was made on the basis of acute oral toxicity study (50-5000 mg/kg b. w.) as per OECD guidelines. Diabetes mellitus was induced with streptozotocin and rats found diabetic were orally administered with the extract (250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg) for 14 days. Levels of blood glucose and insulin were measured in control as well as diabetic rats on 0, 7 and 14th day. In addition, glucose metabolism regulating gene expression was assessed using RT-PCR.
RESULTS: HPLC analysis revealed that the methanol extract is enriched with C-glycosylflavones particularly, vitexin and isovitexin. In oral glucose tolerance test, oral administration of the methanol extract increased the glucose tolerance. The methanol extract showed significant (P
METHOD: Neonatal streptozotocin-induced non-obese type 2 diabetic rats were treated with a methanolic extract of EO (250 or 500 mg/kg) for 28 days, and blood glucose, serum insulin, and plasma antioxidant status were measured. Insulin and glucagon immunostaining and morphometry were performed in pancreatic section, and liver TBARS and GSH levels were measured. Additionally, EA was tested for glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and glucose tolerance test.
RESULTS: Treatment with EO extract resulted in a significant decrease in the fasting blood glucose in a dose- and time-dependent manner in the diabetic rats. It significantly increased serum insulin in the diabetic rats in a dose-dependent manner. Insulin-to-glucose ratio was also increased by EO treatment. Immunostaining of pancreas showed that EO250 increased β-cell size, but EO500 increased β-cells number in diabetic rats. EO significantly increased plasma total antioxidants and liver GSH and decreased liver TBARS. EA stimulated glucose-stimulated insulin secretion from isolated islets and decreased glucose intolerance in diabetic rats.
CONCLUSION: Ellagic acid in EO exerts anti-diabetic activity through the action on β-cells of pancreas that stimulates insulin secretion and decreases glucose intolerance.