Effect of chronic supplementation with methylsulfonylmethane on oxidative stress following acute exercise in untrained healthy men

Objective  This study was conducted to assess the effects of chronic daily methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) supplementation on known markers of oxidative stress following acute bouts of exercise in untrained healthy young men. Methods  Eighteen untrained men volunteered for this study. Participants were randomized in a double-blind placebo-controlled fashion into two groups: MSM (n = 9) and placebo (n = 9). The participants took supplementation or placebo daily for 10 days before running. Participants ran 14 km. The MSM supplementation was prepared in water at 50 mg/kg body weight. The placebo group received water. Serum malondialdehyde (MDA), protein carbonyl (PC) and plasma oxidized glutathione (GSSG) were measured as markers of oxidative stress. The plasma-reduced glutathione (GSH) level and the GSH/GSSG ratio were determined as markers of plasma antioxidant capacity. Key Findings  Acute exercise led to elevated levels of serum MDA, PC and plasma GSSG. MSM supplementation maintained PC, MDA and GSSG at lower levels after exercise than the placebo. The plasma level of GSH and the ratio of GSH/GSSG were significantly higher in the MSM supplemented group. Conclusions  These results suggest that chronic daily oral supplementation of MSM has alleviating effects on known markers of oxidative stress following acute bouts of exercise in healthy young men

The Analgesic Effect of Salvia reuterana: The Analgesic Effect of Salvia reuterana

Salvia reuterana, commonly known as Maryam Goli Esfahani, is a member of the Labiateae family. In Iranian folk medicine, aerial parts of S. reuterana have been used as sedative and anxiety. Evaluation of various extracts of the plant for their analgesic activity revealed that treatment of mice with n-hexane extract (500 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly increased the latency time as compared to the control group. Fractionation of the hexane extract of S. reuterana led to the isolation of sclareol as the main compound (0.19% w/w). Column chromatography was used to isolation of compounds from S. reuterana and a spectroscopic method including NMR was used to identification of the isolated compound. Evaluation of the analgesic effect of sclareol using a hot plate, tail-flick, and formalin tests in mice confirmed the potent analgesic effect of sclareol as an effective compound of S. reuterana. These results showed that the n-hexane extract of aerial parts of S. reuterana and its main constituent sclareol showed significant analgesic activity in different rodent nociceptive behavioral tests