LONG-TERM FOOD RESTRICTION AND DIABECON ADMINISTRATION AMELIORATES ALLOXAN-INDUCED HYPERGLYCEMIA, THYROID DYSFUNCTION, AND OXIDATIVE STRESS IN RAT.

Objective: The comparative effects of food restriction (FR), Diabecon treatment (DT) and their combined therapy (FR+DT) were studied in the regulation of alloxan-induced diabetes mellitus, alterations in thyroid hormones (TH) and oxidative stress. Methods: Young diabetic rats were either kept on 50% FR and/or DT (2 gm/Kg body weight) for two months and then alterations in serum glucose, insulin, TH concentrations, hepatic glycogen and pancreatic antioxidants along with oxidative stress markers were evaluated. Results: Significantly increased serum glucose, tissue stress markers with decreased TH, hepatic glycogen (P<0.0001 for all) and pancreatic antioxidants (P<0.05-0.001) were observed in diabetic rats. Rats kept on different therapies exhibited significant (P<0.05) improvements than diabetic rats in all studied parameters. FR+DT group showed a significantly more decrease in serum glucose (P<0.05) that FR or DT group, while in other parameters improvement was found to be more or less equally improved in all treated groups. Conclusion: FR appeared to mimic the effects of Diabecon in most of the indices. However, FR+DT appears to be more effective. Possibly both therapies ameliorate diabetes and oxidative stress following some common metabolic pathways

Protective effect of L-ornithine-L-aspartate and silymarin on chemically induced kidney toxicity and thyroid dysfunction in mice

The present study was designed to reveal the hitherto unknown efficacy of two commonly used hepatoprotective drugs, L-ornithine-L-aspartate (lornit) and silymarin in the regulation of kidney toxicity and thyroid dysfunction in mice. Renal and hepatic lipid peroxidation (LPO) was induced by the administration of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) for 2 weeks (2.0 gm/kg twice a week). In two separate groups, along with CCl4 animals were also treated with either lornit (200 mg/kg) or silymarin (100 mg/kg) every day for the same duration. Other than hepatic and renal LPO, alterations in the concentrations of serum triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), glucose and insulin and in hepatic type-1 iodothyronine 5’monodeiodinase (5’DI) activity were considered as major parameters. Simultaneously activities of serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphahatase (ALP) and hepatic and renal superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and reduced glutathione content (GSH) were also studied. Lornit or silymarin administration reversed almost all the toxic effects exhibited by CCl4 including enhanced tissue LPO, serum ALT, AST and ALP activities and the concentrations of insulin and glucose. Both test drugs also significantly increased hepatic 5’DI activity, cellular antioxidants such as SOD, CAT and GSH and serum levels of both the thyroid hormones

INCIDENCE OF METABOLIC SYNDROME IN THE URBAN POPULATION OF INDORE, M. P., INDIA

ABSTRACTBackground- The present study determines the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS), with special reference to hyperglycaemia and hyperlipidemia within urban population of a tertiary health care hospital in Indore (Madhya Pradesh), India.Material and method- This cross-sectional study involved 726 subjects (467 men & 259 women). MS was defined using revised National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) criteria.Results- When compared with the modified NCEP criteria, the prevalence of MS was found to be 7.51% (5.99% in men and 8.11% in women). Descriptive analysis exemplified a significantly increased mean values of FBS (P<0.01), PPBS (P<0.01) and lipid values (P<0.05) in the population. However, as compared to man, women showed significant elevated TCHO (P<0.05) and HDL (P<0.01). On the other hand, man exhibited increased TGL (P<0.05), cardiac risk ratio [C/H (P<0.01) and L/H (P<0.01)] than women. The highest prevalence of MS was seen in men of age group of 55-75 yrs and in women of age group of 20-34 yrs.Conclusion- Our test population showed an increased rate of hyperglycaemia and hyperlipidemia, with increase in age, indicating a need to implement policies to control this abnormal MS. Key words- Cardiac risk ratio, diabetes mellitus, fasting blood sugar, metabolic syndrome, serum cholesterolÂ

Gallic acid analogues with antibreast cancer and antioxidant action: synthesis and pharmacological assessment

Breast cancer is one of the important public health problems today and recent treatments have not been found to be very effective for advanced-stage metastatic disease of the breast. In the present study ten 3,4,5- trihydroxybenzohy- drazone derivatives (AR 01- AR 10) were synthesized by two different methods viz. reflux and stirring. It was observed that compounds synthesized by stirring method acquire good yield and require less time in comparison to reflux method. Further cytotoxicity activity performed on two breast cancer cell lines viz. MDA-MB-468 and MCF-7 revealed moderate activity in all compounds at 40 μg/mL and 80 μg/mL which has the highest in samples AR 01 and AR 10 for both cell lines. Considerably all compounds have shown potent antioxidant activity at 50 μg/mL and above concentrations. Tumor in mice treated with compound AR 01 was found to be smaller in comparison to control and AR 10. Findings revealed that compound having electron donating group showed more potent activity against breast cancer cell lines both in vitro and in vivo. Cytotoxicity activity also corelates with QSAR study and showed that compounds having donating group showed positive contribution towards the toxicity. These findings suggest that gallic acid derivatives were potent cytotoxic against breast cancer cell lines and may provide potent therapeutic effects against breast cancer

Attenuation of Mycobacterium species through direct and macrophage mediated pathway by unsymmetrical diaryl urea

Tuberculosis is a major threat for mankind and the emergence of resistance strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) against first line antibiotics makes it lethal for human civilization. In this study, we have synthesized different diaryl urea derivatives targeting the inhibition of mycolic acid biosynthesis. Among the 39 synthesized molecules, compounds 46, 57, 58 and 86 showed MIC values ≤ 10 μg/ml against H37Rv and mc26030 strains. The best molecule with a methyl at ortho position of the first aromatic ring and prenyl group at the meta position of the second aromatic ring showed the MIC value of 5.2 μg/ml and 1 μg/ml against H37Rv and mc26030 respectively, with mammalian cytotoxicity of 163.4 μg/ml. The effective compounds showed selective inhibitory effect on mycolic acid (epoxy mycolate) biosynthesis in14C-radiolabelled assay. At the same time these molecules also executed their potent immunomodulatory activity by up-regulation of IFN-γ and IL-12 and down-regulation of IL-10.Fil: Velappan, Anand Babu. Sastra University; IndiaFil: Charan Raja, Mamilla R.. Sastra University; IndiaFil: Datta, Dhrubajyoti. Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune; IndiaFil: Tsai, Yi Ting. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas. Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Halloum, Iman. Université de Montpellier; Francia. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; FranciaFil: Wan, Baojie. University of Illinois; Estados UnidosFil: Kremer, Laurent. Université de Montpellier; Francia. Inserm; Francia. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; FranciaFil: Gramajo, Hugo Cesar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas. Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Franzblau, Scott G.. University of Illinois; Estados UnidosFil: Kar Mahapatra, Santanu. Sastra University; IndiaFil: Debnath, Joy. Sastra University; Indi