Mahonia Aquifolium Flowers Extract Effects in Acute Experimental Inflammation

Natural products were proved to have inhibitory effect on the nitro-oxidative stress. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of Mahonia aquifolium (MA) flowers extract upon nitro-oxidative stress in acute experimental inflammation. The extract was prepared by repercolation method. Acute experimental inflammation was induced with turpentine oil (0,6ml/kg b.w. i.m.). MA extract was given for 7 days. Were used 6 groups (n=5) of male Wistar rats: Groups 1-3 were with acute inflammation and treated with MA dilutions (100%, 50%, 25%); Group 4 was acute inflammation control; Group 5 was negative control; Group 6 was acute inflammation treated with diclofenac (10mg/kg b.w. p.o). In day 8 nitro-oxidative stress was evaluated by measuring serum nitrites and nitrates (NOx), Total oxidative stress (TOS), Total antioxidant capacity (TAC), Oxidative stress index (OSI), Malondialdehyde (MDA) and Thiols (SH). MA reduced OSI and TOS, increased SH, and had no important effect on TAC, NO and MDA. Compared to MA, Diclofenac was a stronger inhibitor of TOS and OSI, and had a smaller effect on SH. Mahonia aquifolium flowers extract had inhibitory effect on the oxidative stress, without influencing NO and lypoperoxides production, the effect being smaller than that of Diclofenac

Obesity-Related Metabolic Dysfunction in Dairy Cows and Horses: Comparison to Human Metabolic Syndrome

Obesity has become a serious health problem with frequent occurrence both in human and animal populations. It is estimated that it may affect over 85% of the human population and 70–80% of horses and cows by 2030. Fat cow syndrome (FCS) is a combination of metabolic, digestive, infectious, and reproductive disorders that affects obese periparturient dairy cows, and occurs most frequently in loose-housing systems, where periparturient and dry cows are fed and managed in one group disregarding the lactation stages. Equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) was named after human metabolic syndrome (MetS) and has insulin dysregulation as a central and consistent feature. It is often associated with obesity, although EMS may occur in a lean phenotype as well. Other inconsistent features of EMS are cardiovascular changes and adipose dysregulation. Laminitis is the main clinical consequence of EMS. MetS holds a 30-years old lead in research and represents a clustering of risk factors that comprise abdominal obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and hyperglycemia (impaired fasting glucose or type 2 diabetes mellitus—T2DM), which are associated with doubled atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk, and a 5-fold increased risk for T2DM. The main aim of this review is to provide critical information for better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of obesity-related metabolic dysfunction in animals, especially in cows and horses, in comparison with MetS. Human medicine studies can offer suitable candidate mechanisms to fill the existing gap in the literature, which might be indispensable for owners to tackle FCS, EMS, and their consequences

Relationship between 25 Hydroxyvitamin D, Overweight/Obesity Status, Pro-Inflammatory and Oxidative Stress Markers in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Simplified Empirical Path Model

Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in patients with overweight/obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Herein, we investigated the relationship between vitamin D status and overweight/obesity status, insulin resistance (IR), systemic inflammation as well as oxidative stress (OS). Anthropometric and laboratory assessments of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and glycemic, pro-inflammatory and OS biomarkers were performed in a sample of 47 patients with T2DM who were divided into categories based on overweight and degree of obesity. The main findings were: the overweight/obesity status correlated negatively with the degree of serum 25(OH)D deficiency (ρ = −0.27) with a trend towards statistical significance (p = 0.069); the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was significantly different (p = 0.024) in patients with 25(OH)D deficiency, as was total oxidant status (TOS) and oxidative stress index (OSI) in patients with severe serum 25(OH)D deficiency as compared to those with 25(OH)D over 20 ng/mL (TOS: p = 0.007, OSI: p = 0.008); and 25(OH)D had a negative indirect effect on TOS by body mass index (BMI), but BMI was not a significant mediator of the studied relationship. In a setting of overweight and increasing degree of obesity, patients with T2DM did not display decreasing values of 25(OH)D. Subjects with the lowest values of 25(OH)D presented the highest values of BMI. Patients with 25(OH)D deficiency were more insulin resistant and showed increased OS but no elevated systemic inflammation. The negative effect of 25(OH)D on TOS did not seem to involve BMI as a mediator