Effects of turmeric powder on intestinal and biliary functions: The influence of curcuminoids concentration on spontaneous contractility

Two turmeric food powders (C1 and C2) were studied for curcuminoid content and their effects on the guinea pig intestinal tract in vitro. C1 contained a higher curcuminoid content than C2 (5.22% vs 2.31%). C1 and C2 increased gallbladder (similar to 10%) and biliary smooth muscle tone (similar to 15%), without affecting the sphincter of Oddi smooth muscle contractility. C2 was more effective than C1 in lowering ileum tone (-22% vs -37%), whereas the reverse occurred in the colon (-50% vs 20%). Standard Fast Fourier transforms and absolute powers analysis of the frequency bands highlighted that, in the bile duct, C2 induced contractions of higher variability and ampler oscillations of low-frequency waves. At the Oddi sphincter, C1 had a biphasic effect, increasing and then drastically decreasing the oscillations. The same occurred with C2 in the ileum, while both samples reduced the fluctuations in the colon

Effect of Colic Vein Ligature in Rats with Loperamide-Induced Constipation

Introduction. Medical treatment in chronic constipation is not always successful. Surgery is indicated in unresponsive selected severe cases. This study presents the distal venous colic ligation in rat as a novel surgical approach. Materials and Methods. 16 rats (study group) were evaluated in 3 phases of 6 days each: A (normal conditions), B (loperamide-induced constipation), and C (colic vein legation) and compared with rats treated in phase C with PEG 4,000 (control group). Blood biochemical and physiological parameters, daily fecal water content (FWC), and histological analysis were performed in all study phases. Results. No biochemical and physiological parameters changes were observed. FWC decreased in phase B and increased in phase C in both groups with a grow up to 2.3-fold in study group compared to control (P < 0.0001). Moreover, in study group, a high number of colonic goblet cells were detected (phase C versus phase B: P < 0.001) while no differences were registered in control. Conclusion. By ligature of the colic vein in constipated rats, an increase in FWC and goblet cells higher than in PEG treated rats was detected. The described surgical procedure appeared effective, simple, and safe; further studies in animal models, however, are necessary to assess its clinical applicability

Cardiac and Vascular Synergic Protective Effect of Olea europea

This study was aimed at investigating the cardiovascular effects of an Olea europea L. leaf extract (OEE), of a Hibiscus sabdariffa L. flower extract (HSE), and of their 13 : 2 w/w mixture in order to assess their cardiac and vascular activity. Both extracts were fully characterized in their bioactive compounds by HPLC-MS/MS analysis. The study was performed using primary vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs) to investigate the antioxidant and cytoprotective effect of the extracts and their mixture and isolated guinea-pig left and right atria and aorta to evaluate the inotropic and chronotropic activities and vasorelaxant properties. In cultured HUVECs, OEE and HSE reduced intracellular reactive oxygen species formation and improved cell viability, following oxidative stress in dose-dependent manner. OEE and HSE exerted negative inotropic and vasorelaxant effects without any chronotropic property. Interestingly, the mixture exerted higher cytoprotective effects and antioxidant activities. Moreover, the mixture exerted an inotropic effect similar to each single extract, while it revealed an intrinsic negative chronotropic activity different from the single extract; its relaxant activity was higher than that of each single extract. In conclusion OEE and HSE mixture has a good potential for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical application, thanks to the synergistic effects of the single phytochemicals

Effect of Colic Vein Ligature in Rats with Loperamide-Induced Constipation

Introduction. Medical treatment in chronic constipation is not always successful. Surgery is indicated in unresponsive selected severe cases. This study presents the distal venous colic ligation in rat as a novel surgical approach. Materials and Methods. 16 rats (study group) were evaluated in 3 phases of 6 days each: A (normal conditions), B (loperamide-induced constipation), and C (colic vein legation) and compared with rats treated in phase C with PEG 4,000 (control group). Blood biochemical and physiological parameters, daily fecal water content (FWC), and histological analysis were performed in all study phases. Results. No biochemical and physiological parameters changes were observed. FWC decreased in phase B and increased in phase C in both groups with a grow up to 2.3-fold in study group compared to control (P &lt; 0.0001). Moreover, in study group, a high number of colonic goblet cells were detected (phase C versus phase B: P &lt; 0.001) while no differences were registered in control. Conclusion. By ligature of the colic vein in constipated rats, an increase in FWC and goblet cells higher than in PEG treated rats was detected. The described surgical procedure appeared effective, simple, and safe; further studies in animal models, however, are necessary to assess its clinical applicability

Liver and intestinal protective effects of Castanea sativa Mill. bark extract in high-fat diet rats

The effects of Castanea sativa Mill. have been studied in high fat diet (HFD) overweight rats. Natural Extract of Chestnut bark (Castanea sativa Mill.) (ENC®), rich in ellagitannins, has been studied in 120 male Sprague-Dawley rats, divided in four groups. Two groups were controls: regular (RD) and HDF diet. Two groups received ENC®(20 mg/kg/day): RD + ENC®and HFD + ENC®. At baseline and at 7, 14 and 21 days, weight gain, serum lipids, plasma cytokines, liver histology, microsomial enzymes and oxidation, intestinal oxidative stress and contractility were studied. HFD increased body weight, increased pro-inflammatory cytokines, induced hepatocytes microvescicular steatosis, altered microsomial, increased liver and intestinal oxidative stress, deranged intestinal contractility. In HFD-fed rats, ENC®exerted antiadipose and antioxidative activities and normalized intestinal contractility, suggesting a potential approach to overweight management associated diseases

Nutraceuticals in Gastrointestinal ailments : an emerging paradigm

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic gastrointestinal disorder, of multifactorial origin. The pathogenetic mechanisms consist of immune dysregulation, altered intestinal microflora, oxidative stress, defects in the gastrointestinal mucosal barrier and increased permeability, altered intestinal motility, whose interplay leads to the onset of a state of chronic mucosal inflammation.1 The drugs for IBD treatment include corticosteroids, immunosuppressants, and anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α antibodies, and new therapeutic molecules, that increase the risk of opportunistic infections and malignancies. Furthermore, their efficacy decreases over time and highlights the need to identify new molecular targets for IBD therapy .1 Scientific Research aims at identifying tools able to affect several targets, with minimal side effects. Nutraceutical identifies foods, or food phytochemicals, of animal or vegetal origin, with pharmaceutical properties. Many vegetal extracts determine several effects towards the gastrointestinal tract, which may result in clinical benefits in subjects suffering from IBD.2 Castanea sativa Mill. bark extract (ENC), containing high amounts of hydrolizable tannins (Fig. 1), inhibits spasmodic contractions, induced by carbachol, histamine, potassium chloride, and barium chloride in guinea pig ileum and by carbachol or serotonin in guinea pig proximal colon.3 Furthermore, ENC increases gallbladder contraction and relaxes the sphincter of Oddi, suggesting its chronic administration may result not only in a restoration of gastrointestinal contractility, but also in the prevention of gallstone disease. 4 Also Acacia catechu Willd. extract (ACE) was investigated.5 ACE contains high amounts of catechins, such as (-)-Epicatechin and (+)-Catechin. This extract decreases, in a concentration-dependent manner, colon and ileum spontaneous contractility. In addition, ACE exerts a calcium antagonistic effect, more potent in proximal colon than in ileum. Furthermore, it exhibits antimicrobial effects against Campylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella spp., without inhibiting Bifido and Lactobacillus. These data support the use of ENC and ACE as coadjuvant in the treatment of IBD