Oat Attenuation of Hyperglycemia-Induced Retinal Oxidative Stress and NF-B Activation in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats

The overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) plays a central role in the pathogenesis of endothelial damage in diabetes. To assess the effect of oat on experimental diabetic retinopathy, five groups of Albino rats were studied: nondiabetic control, untreated diabetic, and diabetic rats treated with 5%, 10%, and 20% (W/W) oat of the diet for 12 weeks. Novel data were obtained in this study indicating a protective role of oat against oxidative stress and diabetic retinopathy. The effects of oat on parameters of oxidative stress, AGE, and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-B) were assessed by ELISA and NF-B activation by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were also determined. After 12 weeks of diabetes, oat treatment reduced blood glucose levels, HbA1c, all oxidative stress markers, CML, normalized NF-B activation and TNF expression. Furthermore it reduced VEGF in the diabetic retina by 43% (). In conclusion, oat modulates microvascular damage through normalized pathways downstream of ROS overproduction and reduction of NF-B and its controlled genes activation, which may provide additional endothelial protection

Inhibition of α

Postprandial hyperglycemia is a predisposing factor for vascular dysfunction and organ damage. α-glucosidase is a hydrolytic enzyme that increases the glucose absorption rate and subsequently elevates blood glucose levels. Garlic (Allium sativum L.) is a rich source of several phytonutrients, including thiosulfinate (THIO). The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of THIO, a potent inhibitor of intestinal α-glucosidase, to reduce postprandial blood glucose. Male albino rats were randomly assigned to five different groups (n=10/group). Group 1 served as the control group. Groups 2–5 were injected intraperitoneally with a single dose of streptozotocin (STZ) to induce diabetes. Group 2 comprised untreated diabetic rats. Groups 3 and 4 contained diabetic rats that were given THIO orally (20 mg/kg body weight/day and 40 mg/kg body weight/day, resp.). Group 5 was the positive control having diabetic rats treated orally with acarbose (10 mg/kg body weight/day; positive control). Diabetic rats treated with THIO displayed a significant blood glucose reduction (p<0.001 and < 0.01 by analysis of variance, resp.) and a significant elevation in insulin compared with that of untreated rats. THIO is an effective noncompetitive intestinal α-glucosidase inhibitor that promotes hypoglycemic action (p<0.001) in STZ-injected rats. THIO is a promising agent for the management of postprandial hyperglycemia

Oat Protects against Diabetic Nephropathy in Rats via Attenuating Advanced Glycation End Products and Nuclear Factor Kappa B

Oat, a rich source of soluble fiber, was considered to have a possible preventive effect on the progression of diabetic nephropathy. The present study aimed to assess this preventive activity in a rat model of diabetic nephropathy. Adult Wister rats were injected by streptozotocin (65 mg/kg). Animals were fed with normal diet or with a diet containing 20% oat (W/W) for 21 weeks. At the end of 21 weeks, all the kidney tissues were collected for various examinations. Our results suggested that oat could decrease the Scr and glucose level in blood of diabetic rats significantly (), and increase the creatinine clearance (). In histopathological examination, oat-fed rats showed a significant decrease in glomerulus segmented sclerosis and incidence of tubule vacuolar degeneration. By ELISA, we reported that oat feeding resulted in decreasing the levels of IL-6 and AGE in serum and kidney homogenate. In addition, the levels of oxidative stress markers were markedly improved as a result of oat feeding. Furthermore, using EMSA, we showed that oat attenuated the activation of NF-B. Using RT-PCR, we found that oat could downregulate the TGF-1 and RAGE expression at mRNA levels. This study suggests that oat can suppress diabetic nephropathy in rats effectively and may slow down the renal fibrosis by the disruption of the detrimental AGE-RAGE-NFB axis

Free fatty acids profiling in response to carnitine synergize with lutein in diabetic rats

Background: The objective of this study was to investigate the fatty acids profiling in diabetic rats induced by sterptozocine (STZ) and their response to administration of lutein and carnitine.Materials and methods: Ninety male albino rats were divided into 6 groups as follows: Normal control. The remaining rats were injected i.p a single dose of STZ (65 mg /kg bw) for induction of diabetes. Diabetic rats were grouped as: GP II: (Untreated): GP III: Rats were given orally with L-lutein (100 mg/kg bw).GP IV: Rats were given carnitine (30 μg/kg) i.p. GP V: Rats were given carnitine and lutein GP VI were given metformin (100mg/kg bw/d) for 6 weeks.Results: Treatment of diabetic rats with lutein, L-carnitine, combined decreased the levels of glucose, HA1C compared with untreated diabetic (p&lt;0.001). Administration of L-lutein, carnitine, combined to normal rats significantly decreased the levels of myristic, palmitice, palmitoleic, stearic, linoleic, α-linolenic, arachidic and eicosadienoic when compared with control normal rats (p&lt;0.001).Conclusion: Abnormalities of fatty acids composition was observed in diabetic rats. Combination treatment with lutein and carnitine could ameliorate deleterious effect induced by STZ and attenuate the changed fatty acid compositionKeywords: Fatty acids profiling- lutein-carnitine-rat

Effect of fire smoke on some biochemical parameters in firefighters of Saudi Arabia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Firefighters who are facing fires, are frequently exposed to hazardous materials including carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen chloride, benzene, sulphur dioxide, etc. This study aimed to evaluate some relevant serum biochemical and blood hematological changes in activity involved firefighters in comparison to normal subjects.</p> <p>Subjects and Methods</p> <p>Two groups of male firefighters volunteered to participate in the study. The first included 28 firefighters from Jeddah, while the second included 21 firefighters from Yanbu, with overall age ranged 20–48 years. An additional group of 23 male non-firefighters volunteered from both cities as normal control subjects, of age range 20–43 years. Blood samples were collected from all volunteer subjects and investigated for some relevant serum biochemical and blood hematological changes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results obtained showed that, there were statistically significant differences in liver function, kidney function, serum lipid profile, cortisol, creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, iron and its biologically active derivatives, and blood picture in firefighters as compared with the normal control group. These results indicate that, fire smoke mainly affects serum biochemical and blood hematological parameters. Such results might point out to the need for more health protective and prophylactic measures to avoid such hazardous health effects that might endanger firefighters under their highly drastic working conditions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Besides using of personal protective equipments for firefighters to protect them against exposure to toxic materials of fire smoke, it is recommended that, firefighters must be under continuous medical follow up through a standard timetabled medical laboratory investigations to allow for early detection of any serum biochemical or blood hematological changes that might happen during their active service life and to allow for early treatment whenever necessary.</p

The Antidiabetic Effect of Low Doses of Moringa oleifera Lam. Seeds on Streptozotocin Induced Diabetes and Diabetic Nephropathy in Male Rats

The antidiabetic activity of two low doses of Moringa seed powder (50 and 100 mg/kg body weight, in the diet) on streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetes male rats was investigated. Forty rats were divided into four groups. The diabetic positive control (STZ treated) group showed increased lipid peroxide, increased IL-6, and decreased antioxidant enzyme in the serum and kidney tissue homogenate compared with that of the negative control group. Immunoglobulins (IgA, IgG), fasting blood sugar, and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA 1c ) were also increased as a result of diabetes in G2 rats. Moreover albumin was decreased, and liver enzymes and -amylase were not affected. In addition, the renal functions and potassium and sodium levels in G2 were increased as a sign of diabetic nephropathy. Urine analysis showed also glucosuria and increased potassium, sodium, creatinine, uric acid, and albumin levels. Kidney and pancreas tissues showed also pathological alteration compared to the negative control group. Treating the diabetic rats with 50 or 100 mg Moringa seeds powder/kg body weight in G3 and G4, respectively, ameliorated the levels of all these parameters approaching the negative control values and restored the normal histology of both kidney and pancreas compared with that of the diabetic positive control group

Synteny (co-linearity) in some cereal crops genomes as revealed by amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP), simple sequence repeats (SSR) and inter simple sequence repeats (ISSR) markers

Genomes of barley, maize, rice, wheat and sorghum were characterized based on three different mole-cular markers based on DNA sequence namely; Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms (AFLP), Simple  Sequence Repeats (SSR) and Inter Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR) markers. Five AFLP primer combinations were used for fingerprinting six cultivars which belongs to barley, rice and wheat cultivars leading to the  production of numerous AFLP bands, 300 of them were polymorphic. Thirty SSR markers were obtained from  fingerprinting eight cultivars belonging to the five studied species using 11 SSR primers, whereas 91 ISSR  markers were obtained from fingerprinting the same cultivars using 10 ISSR primers. All data were analyzed  using Numerical Taxonomy System of Multivariate Statistical (NTSYS-pc) software packages to address the relationship and studying the synteny between the genomes of the five cereal species. The resulted  dendrogram revealed that rice, barley and wheat genomes are more related to each other than sorghum and maize genomes that appeared close relatedness to each other but distant from other cereal's genomes under study. Barley and wheat genomes revealed close relatedness to each other compared to rice genome.Key words: Amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP), simple sequence repeats (SSR), inter simple sequence repeats (ISSR), wheat, barley, rice, synteny

Modulation of carcinogen-metabolizing enzyme by madinah mint (Mentha spp) in rat liver

Background: The present study was undertaken to assess whether boiling water mint extract (BWME) modulates the cytochrome P450 mixed function oxidase system.Materials and methods: Male albino rats were randomly divided into two groups, comprising 12 animals each. The first group served as control, whereas the second was maintained on BWME (10 % w/v) as its sole drinking liquid for six weeks. Liver microsomal were separated and subjected for phase I and II enzymes (cytochrome P450 mixed function oxidase) analysisResults: The results obtained showed that, BWME caused a significant elevation in the activity of epoxide hydrolase (p&lt;0.001) when compared with the control. However, glutathione S-transferase and glucuronosyl transferase activities were significantly decreased (p&lt;0.001 and p&lt;0.01) respectively compared with control. The mutagenic activity of N-nitrosopiperidine was lower in the minttreated hepatic microsomal compared with the controls.Conclusion: It can be concluded that BWME has the potential to suppress the activity of cytochrome enzymes involved in the bioactivation of chemical carcinogen; hence may display chemo preventive activity.Keywords: Carcinogen-PAH-Cytochrome P45

IMPACT OF ASPARTAME CONSUMPTION ON NEUROTRANSMITTERS IN RAT BRAIN

Background: Aspartame (APM), a common artificial sweetener, has been used for diabetic subjects and body weight control for a long time. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the impact of APM consumption on neurotransmitters and oxidative stress in rat’s brain. Materials and Methods: Four groups of male Wistar albino rats was used: Group1, control (Rats fed on normal diet). Group 2: Rats were received aspartame (50 mg/kg b w). Group3: Rats were received aspartame (75 mg/kg b w). Group 4: Rats were received aspartame (125 mg/kg b w). Five rats were decapitated after 10, 20, 30 and 40 days from start of experiment. Blood and brain tissue were collected for biochemical analysis. Biochemical analysis of brain tissue includes neurotransmitters (Acetylcholine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, γ-aminobutyric acid and serotonin). Serum for determination of lipid peroxidation (MDA), reduced glutathione and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Results: the data obtained showed that antioxidant activities (SOD and GSH) were reduced significantly (

Proanthocyanidin Attenuation of Oxidative Stress and NF- κ

Hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia result in oxidative stress and play a major role in the development of diabetic nephropathy (DN). We explored the effects of proanthocyanidin (PA) on the induction and progression of DN in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice. Diabetes Mellitus was induced in ten-week-old male apoE−/−mice using streptozotocin (STZ). Mice were fed with a high-fat diet in presence or absence of PA. PA treatment significantly reduced the high cholesterol levels, restored renal functions, and reduced albuminuria in the PA-treated diabetic mice compared with the diabetic untreated mice. In addition, the glomerular mesangial expansion in the diabetic mice was attenuated as a result of PA supplementation. Moreover, PA treatment restored the elevated levels of MDA and CML and the reduced activity of SOD and GSH in the diabetic mice. Furthermore, PA feeding reduced the activation and translocation of NF-κB to the nucleus compared with the diabetic untreated animals. Reduction of NF-κB activation resulted in the attenuation of the expression of IL-6, TGFβ, and RAGE which protected PA-treated mice against DN. The renoprotective effects of PA were found to be time independent regardless of whether the dietary feeding with PA was started pre-, co-, or post-STZ injection. In conclusion, part of the beneficial effects of PA includes the disruption of the detrimental AGE-RAGE-NFκB pathways