Anti-Diabetic Activity of Melothria Heterophylla (Lour.) Cogn. in Streptozotocin Induced Diabetic Rats

ABSTRACT Melothria heterophylla (Lour.) Cogn. (Cucurbitaceae) widely distributed in India and used ethnically by tribal people in India for controlling blood sugar. This promotes us to undertake a study to examine the possible antidiabetic activity of the plant extracts in normal and streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. A single dose study was studied in the normal rats for 12hrs. Oral glucose tolerance test was performed in normal rats after receiving glucose orally (2gm/kg). Diabetes was induced with streptozotocin (50mg/kg, i.p.) and a dose of 300mg/kg of Petroleum ether (PEMH), Methanol (MEMH) and Aqueous (AEMH) extracts were then administered orally to experimental diabetic rats for 21 days. Glibenclamide was used as standard reference. Fasting blood glucose levels, changes in body weight and liver weight, serum albumin, serum urea, total protein, total lipid profile, haemoglobin, SOD, GSH and TBARS were evaluated. Single dose study of extracts on normal rats showed a significant decrease in the fasting blood glucose levels when compared with the normal control rats. Oral glucose tolerance test clearly indicate that MEMH and PEMH extracts shown a significant reduce in the blood glucose levels, AEMH extract showed little effect. In diabetic rats, treatment with the PEMH, MEMH and AEMH showing significant reduction in the fasting blood glucose levels, serum cholesterol, serum triglycerides, LDL-C and VLDL-C levels. A significant escalation is seen in the levels of HDL-C, haemoglobin, body weight and liver weight. Whereas the antioxidant levels of SOD, GSH and TBARS improved than the untreated diabetic rats. The study reveals that the plant extracts of Melothria heterophylla showed significant antidiabetic activity in normal fasted rats, OGTT in normal rats and in STZ induced diabetic rats

A computational model of excitation and contraction in uterine myocytes from the pregnant rat

Aberrant uterine myometrial activities in humans are major health issues. However, the cellular and tissue mechanism(s) that maintain the uterine myometrium at rest during gestation, and that initiate and maintain long-lasting uterine contractions during delivery are incompletely understood. In this study we construct a computational model for describing the electrical activity (simple and complex action potentials), intracellular calcium dynamics and mechanical contractions of isolated uterine myocytes from the pregnant rat. The model reproduces variant types of action potentials – from spikes with a smooth plateau, to spikes with an oscillatory plateau, to bursts of spikes – that are seen during late gestation under different physiological conditions. The effects of the hormones oestradiol (via reductions in calcium and potassium selective channel conductance), oxytocin (via an increase in intracellular calcium release) and the tocolytic nifedipine (via a block of L-type calcium channels currents) on action potentials and contractions are also reproduced, which quantitatively match to experimental data. All of these results validated the cell model development. In conclusion, the developed model provides a computational platform for further investigations of the ionic mechanism underlying the genesis and control of electrical and mechanical activities in the rat uterine myocytes

Promises and lies: can observers detect deception in written messages

Abstract: We design a laboratory experiment to examine predictions of trustworthiness in a novel three-person trust game. We investigate whether and why observers of the game can predict the trustworthiness of hand-written communications. Observers report their perception of the trustworthiness of messages, and make predictions about the senders’ behavior. Using observers’ decisions, we are able to classify messages as “promises” or “empty talk.” Drawing from substantial previous research, we hypothesize that certain factors influence whether a sender is likely to honor a message and/or whether an observer perceives the message as likely to behonored: the mention of money; the use of encompassing words; and message length. We find that observers have more trust in longer messages and “promises”; promises that mention money are significantly more likely to be broken; and observers trust equally in promises that do and do not mention money. Overall, observers perform slightly better than chance at predicting whether a message will be honored. We attribute this result to observers’ ability to distinguish promises from empty talk, and to trust promises more than empty talk. However, within each of these two categories, observers are unable to discern between messages that senders will honor from those that they will not

NK-CD11c+ Cell Crosstalk in Diabetes Enhances IL-6-Mediated Inflammation during Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection

In this study, we developed a mouse model of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) using streptozotocin and nicotinamide and identified factors that increase susceptibility of T2DM mice to infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). All Mtb-infected T2DM mice and 40% of uninfected T2DM mice died within 10 months, whereas all control mice survived. In Mtb-infected mice, T2DM increased the bacterial burden and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine and chemokine production in the lungs relative to those in uninfected T2DM mice and infected control mice. Levels of IL-6 also increased. Anti-IL-6 monoclonal antibody treatment of Mtb-infected acute- and chronic-T2DM mice increased survival (to 100%) and reduced pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine expression. CD11c+ cells were the major source of IL-6 in Mtb-infected T2DM mice. Pulmonary natural killer (NK) cells in Mtb-infected T2DM mice further increased IL-6 production by autologous CD11c+ cells through their activating receptors. Anti-NK1.1 antibody treatment of Mtb-infected acute-T2DM mice increased survival and reduced pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine expression. Furthermore, IL-6 increased inflammatory cytokine production by T lymphocytes in pulmonary tuberculosis patients with T2DM. Overall, the results suggest that NK-CD11c+ cell interactions increase IL-6 production, which in turn drives the pathological immune response and mortality associated with Mtb infection in diabetic mice

Prevalence, years lived with disability, and trends in anaemia burden by severity and cause, 1990-2021: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background Anaemia is a major health problem worldwide. Global estimates of anaemia burden are crucial for developing appropriate interventions to meet current international targets for disease mitigation. We describe the prevalence, years lived with disability, and trends of anaemia and its underlying causes in 204 countries and territories. Methods We estimated population-level distributions of haemoglobin concentration by age and sex for each location from 1990 to 2021. We then calculated anaemia burden by severity and associated years lived with disability (YLDs). With data on prevalence of the causes of anaemia and associated cause-specific shifts in haemoglobin concentrations, we modelled the proportion of anaemia attributed to 37 underlying causes for all locations, years, and demographics in the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. Findings In 2021, the global prevalence of anaemia across all ages was 24·3% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 23·9–24·7), corresponding to 1·92 billion (1·89–1·95) prevalent cases, compared with a prevalence of 28·2% (27·8–28·5) and 1·50 billion (1·48–1·52) prevalent cases in 1990. Large variations were observed in anaemia burden by age, sex, and geography, with children younger than 5 years, women, and countries in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia being particularly affected. Anaemia caused 52·0 million (35·1–75·1) YLDs in 2021, and the YLD rate due to anaemia declined with increasing Socio-demographic Index. The most common causes of anaemia YLDs in 2021 were dietary iron deficiency (cause-specific anaemia YLD rate per 100 000 population: 422·4 [95% UI 286·1–612·9]), haemoglobinopathies and haemolytic anaemias (89·0 [58·2–123·7]), and other neglected tropical diseases (36·3 [24·4–52·8]), collectively accounting for 84·7% (84·1–85·2) of anaemia YLDs. Interpretation Anaemia remains a substantial global health challenge, with persistent disparities according to age, sex, and geography. Estimates of cause-specific anaemia burden can be used to design locally relevant health interventions aimed at improving anaemia management and prevention. Funding Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Cardioprotective effect of Elepahnopus scaber Linn. on the Isolated rat heart in Ischemia-Reperfusion induced myocardial damage

ABSTRACT The current study was carried out to determine the protective role of hydro-alcoholic extract of Elephantopus scaber Linn. (HAEES) on ischemia-reperfusion induced myocardial injury in rats. HAEES was screened for in-vitro antioxidant activity using standard methods, to investigate the free radicals scavenging activity which are produced by ischemia-reperfusion induced oxidative stress. Ischemia-reperfusion induced injury in isolated rat hearts by global no-flow ischemia (15 min) can be assessed by measuring the changes in Hemodynamic parameters of heart, level of cardiac marker enzymes in heart perfusate and HTH, antioxidant system and histological changes when compared to post-ischemic condition of ischemia-reperfusion control group. HAEES have shown good antioxidant activity in DPPH, nitric oxide, hydroxyl and superoxide radical methods. Pretreatment with HAEES and ischemia-reperfusion induced injury have shown good cardioprotective effect in terms of significant recovery in DT, changes in biochemical parameters in perfusate and HTH, antioxidants level and histological changes in isolated rat hearts

Nephroprotective Activity of Psidium Guajava Linn. Leaves Extract against Cisplatin Induced Nephrotoxicity In Rats

ABSTRACT Cisplatin is an effective chemotherapeutic agent successfully used in the treatment of a wide range of tumors; however, nephrotoxicity has restricted its clinical use. Several studies have shown that reactive oxygen species are involved in cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity. The aim of this study was to investigate nephroprotective activity of hydroalcoholic extract of Psidium guajava Linn. (HAPG) leaves in cisplatin induced nephrotoxicity in rats. Rats received a single injection of cisplatin (7.5 mg/kg, i.p.) on 5 th day. HAPG was given to two groups (200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg body weight p.o.) for 9 days. The HAPG treatment was able to ameliorate the reduced body weight, urinary creatinine, blood total protein and increased kidney weight, urine volume, urinary sodium, urinary potassium, urinary glucose, blood urea, blood creatinine levels due to cisplatin induced nephrotoxicity. HAPG significantly increased the tissue GSH levels and reduced lipid peroxide levels. Further it was confirmed by the histopathological observation that the degenerative changes caused by cisplatin were also restored by treatment with HAPG. These results suggested that HAPG possess nephroprotective activity against cisplatin induced kidney damage

Nephroprotective Activity of Benincasa hispida (Thunb.) Cogn. Fruit Extract against Cisplatin Induced Nephrotoxicity in Rats

ABSTRACT Cisplatin is one of the most effective chemotherapeutics against a wide range of cancers including head, neck, ovarian and lung cancers. But its usefulness is limited by its toxicity to normal tissues, including cells of the kidney and proximal tubule. The purpose of the present study is to investigate whether the hydro alcoholic whole fruit extract of Benincasa hispida (Thunb.) Cong.(HABH) could decrease the intensity of toxicity in cisplatin induced albino wistar rats. A single dose of cisplatin (7.5 mg/kg i.p.) induced nephrotoxicity, manifested biochemically by a significant increase of urine volume, kidney weight, urinary sodium, urinary potassium, urinary glucose, blood urea, blood creatinine and decreased in body weight, urinary creatinine and blood total protein level with multiple histological damages. Nephrotoxicity was further confirmed by a significant decrease in glutathione (GSH) and increase in lipid peroxides in kidney homogenates. Administration of HABH (200, 400 mg/kg per day p.o.) 5 days before and 5 days after cisplatin injection produced a significant protection against nephrotoxicity induced by cisplatin. The amelioration of nephrotoxicity was evidenced by significant reductions in blood urea, blood creatinine, urinary glucose, urinary sodium, urinary potassium , urine volume with a significant weight gain. In addition HABH tended to normalize decreased level of blood total protein and urinary creatinine. Moreover, HABH prevented the rise of lipid peroxidation and the reduction of GSH activities in the kidney. These results suggest that HABH has a protective effect on nephrotoxicity induced by cisplatin