PEG at compositions of 10, 15 and 20 g were added into the initial formulation of hydrogel L, which was composed of
6 g low molecular weight chitosan (LMC) and 14 g poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) in 100 g of 2% lactic acid. The mixtures
were moulded and exposed to γ radiation at 7 kGy. The hydrogels obtained were characterized in term of gel fraction,
swelling property, syneresis effect, FTIR, XRD and cross section morphology. The results indicated PEG reduces almost
27% crosslinking density of the LMC-PVP hydrogel yet increased hydrogel’s water holding capacity from 450% and 480%
to 750% and 650% in phosphate buffer solution (PBS) at pH5.5 and pH7.0, respectively. Also PEG enhanced the ability
of LMC-PVP hydrogel to retain its moisture from dehydration at body temperature. The morphological study showed PEG
developed thick pores wall and reduced the pores size of the hydrogels’ network.
Hypoglycaemic and antihyperglycemic activity of oil palm Elaeis guineensis fruit extract on normal and Streptozotocininduced
diabetic rats was studied. The oil palm fruit extract (OPF) were administered orally at different concentrations (100,
200 and 500 mg kg-1 b.w.) in fasting and post-prandial rats. Hypoglycaemia was not observed in the group of normal rats
treated with OPF. In fasting rats, OPF (500 mg kg-1 b.w.) has caused the blood glucose level (BGL) to reduce significantly.
For post-prandial diabetic rats, the antihyperglycemic activity was observed after OPF treatment at concentrations 200
and 500 mg kg-1. Chronic OPF treatments (for 28 days) had increased the diabetic rat’s body weight and reduced BGL as
well as improved plasma insulin secretion. The result of this study suggests E. guineensis palm fruit extract show evidence
of antihyperglycemic properties from the reduction of the BGL in diabetic rats.
Ficus deltoidea or Mas cotek is one of the common medicinal plants used in Malaysia has been claimed to have antidiabetic activity. However, scientific evidence to confirm its efficacy is still lacking. Thus, the present study was undertaken to evaluate the potential of ethanolic extract of Ficus deltoidea to reduce hyperglycaemia in streptozotocininduced diabetic rats at different prandial state. The results showed that, ethanolic extract of Ficus deltoidea significantly reduced fasting and postprandial hyperglycemia particularly after 4 and 6 hours of extract administration. Likewise, glucose tolerance activity was significantly improved in the presence of Ficus deltoidea ethanolic extract at a low dose, 100 mg/kg. It is suggested that ethanolic extract of Ficus deltoidea at particular doses, possess fasting and postprandial antihyperglycemic activity as well as glucose tolerance activity in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.
Ficus deltoidea atau nama tempatannya 'Alas Cotek' telah dipercayai secara tradisional mempunyai aktiviti hipoglisemia. Dalam kajian ini, aktiviti hipoglisemia ekstrak akuas Ficus deltoidea pada tikus normal dan diabetik ringan (aruhan streptozotocin) telah dikaji. Ekstrak pada dos berbeza (100, 500 dan 1000 mg/kg) telah diberi secara oral kepada kedua-dua kumpulan dalam keadaan puasa dan pasca prandial. Keputusan menunjukkan bahawa ekstrak akuas Ficus deltoidea tidak mempunyai kesan hipoglisemia pada tikus normal dan tikus diabetik ringan puasa. Pada tikus diabetik ringan pasca prandial, ekstrak akuas Ficus deltoidea pada dos 1000 mg/kg menunjukkan menunjukkan aktiviti hipoglisemia selepas 2 (p < 0.01), 4 (p < 0.05) and 6 (p < 0.01) jam pengambilan ekstrak. Mefformin, 500 mg/kg juga menunjukkan aktiviti hipoglisemia selepas 2 (p < 0.05), 4 (p < 0.01) and 6 (p < 0.01) jam pengambilan. Oleh sebab itu, kami mencadangkan bahawa mekanisme tindakan ekstrak akuas Ficus deltoidea mungkin melalui peningkatan pengambilan glukos oleh tisu otot serta pengurangan glukoneogenesis pada hepar.
Ficus deltoidea or locally known as Mas cotek is one of the common medicinal plants used in
Malaysia. Our previous studies showed that this plant have blood glucose lowering effect. Glucose
uptake into muscle and adipocytes cells is one of the known mechanisms of blood glucose lowering
effect. This study was performed to evaluate the effect of Ficus deltoidea on glucose uptake activity
into muscle cells. The cells were incubated with Ficus deltoidea extracts either a,lone or combination
with insulin. Amount of glucose uptake by L6 myotubes was determined using glucose tracer, 2-deoxy-
[l-:-Hj-glucose. The results showed that Ficus deltoidea extracts at particular doses enhanced basal or
insulin-mediated glucose uptake into muscle cells significantly. Hot aqueous extract enhanced glucose
uptake at the low concentration (10 pg/ml) whereas methanolic extract enhanced basal glucose uptake
at high concentrations (500 and 1000 fig/ml). Meanwhile, ethanolic extract enhanced glucose uptake at
low and high concentrations. Methanolic extract also mimicked insulin activity during enhancing
glucose uptake into L6 muscle cells. Glucose uptake activity of Ficus deltoidea could be attributed by
the phenolic compounds presence in the plant. This study had shown that Ficus deltoidea has the
ability to enhance glucose uptake into muscle cells which is partly contributed the antidiabetic activity
of this plant.
Ficus deltoidea is one of the common medicinal plants used in Malaysia. This epiphytic plant, from the Moraceae family has been claimed to have antidiabetic property. However, scientific evidence to confirm its efficacy is still lacking. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of ethanolic extract of F. deltoidea on glucose level in normal rats at different prandial state. The results showed that, all doses of ethanolic extract of F. deltoidea reduced fasting blood glucose particularly after 6 h of administration. Interestingly, the extract did not produce severe hypoglycemia as shown by its comparable effect with metformin. Likewise, postprandial hyperglycemia was also significantly reduced particularly after 4 and 6 h of administration. Furthermore, extract was used at a dose of 1000 mg/kg b.w., reduced postprandial hyperglycemia similar to metformin. This suggests that postprandial antihyperglycemic mechanism of this extract is mediated through enhancement of glucose uptake into muscle cells and reduction of hepatic gluconeogenesis. Glucose tolerance activity was also significantly improved in the presence of ethanolic extract of F. deltoidea. From this study, it is suggested that ethanolic extract of F. deltoidea reduced postprandial hyperglycemia and improves glucose tolerance activity in normal rats.