Serum Level of Adiponectin and Its Association with Insulin Sensitivity in Overweight Diabetic and Non-Diabetic Iranian Men

Background: Adiponectin is a protein produced exclusively by adipose tissue; the reduced level of which has been shown to be involved in a variety of obesity-related disorders, such as insulin resistance and diabetes, in different ethnic groups. This cross-sectional study was conducted to determine adiponectin level and its association with insulin sensitivity in 20 adult overweight type-2 diabetic and 20 healthy over-weight non-diabetic Iranian men for the first time. Methods: Body fat mass (Bio-electric impedance), serum level of adiponectin (ELISA), fasting blood sugar and fasting insulin were measured. Insulin sensitivity was calculated using QUICKI. Results: As expected, the mean adiponectin concentration was lower in diabetics (7.7 ±3µg/ml) than non-diabetics (8.1 ± 2µg/ml); however, the difference did not achieve statistical significance (P= 0.5). Adiponectin negatively correlated with fat mass. This correlation was stronger in diabetics with a higher fat mass (r= -0.3 in diabetics vs. r= -0.01 in non-diabetics; p: N.S.). Adiponectin positively related with insulin sensitivity in both groups, although this relation was only statistically significant in non-diabetics (r= +0.5; P= 0.04). The relation between insulin sensitivity and mean of adiponectin level was marginally significant even after adjustment for group (diabetic and non-diabetic), age and fat mass. Conclusion: Our findings are consistent with the studies on different ethnic groups which have indicated lower adiponectin levels in diabetics. Also our results confirm the relationship between a low adiponectin level and insulin sensitivity reported in earlier studies

Synthesis and characterization of novel antibacterial PdDA/ honey nanofiber against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria

Nanomaterials are increasingly used to the targeting of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria as an alternative to antibiotics. Bacterial infections are a major cause of chronic infections and mortality. People requirement for new materials for pathogenic bacteria treatment. It seems that nanomaterial-based strategies can be resolving this problem. In this research, improved antibacterial nanofibrous material using the synthesis of novel blend nanofibers by electrospinning method against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. First, Honey as a natural, biocompatible and antimicrobial compound (with different percentages) was added to the PDDA solution and the influence of processing parameters on the morphology of the electrospun blend nanofibers were investigated. The results showed that a bead-free morphology of nanofibers with uniform diameter achieved at the concentration ratio of 40/60 (PDDA/honey), the flow rate of 0.8 mL/h and the high voltage of 17kV. The sample with optimum morphology was cross-linked by glutaraldehyde at different crosslinking times. Evaluation of the water absorption property of nanofibers showed the absorption capacity of 4.9 g/g. Then, the in-vitro antibacterial activity of nanofiber investigated against gram-positive and gram-negative strains, Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli). Afterward, novel nanofiber antibacterial activity studied against pathogenic Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa). The MIC values indicated that the ratio of 40/60 PDDA/honey nanofiber induced about 99.9 bacterial death for both strains. Moreover, the novel PDDA/honey nanofibers showed suitable antibacterial activity (98.89 ) against pathogenic Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Moreover, the results showed a large reduction of bacterial numbers and evidently presented novel nanofibers as new antimicrobial agents. © 2020 Nanomedicine Research Journal. All rights reserved

Identification of lactic acid bacteria strains modulating incretin hormone secretion and gene expression in enteroendocrine cells

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) are incretin hormones released from intestinal enteroendocrine (EE) cells and have well-established glucose-lowering actions. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) colonise the human intestine, but it is unknown whether LAB and EE cells interact. Acute co-culture of LAB with EE cells showed that certain LAB strains elicit GLP-1 and GIP secretion (13-194-fold) and upregulate their gene expression. LAB-induced incretin hormone secretion did not appear to involve nutrient mechanisms, nor was there any evidence of cytolysis. Instead PCR array studies implicated signalling agents of the toll-like receptor system, e.g. adaptor protein MyD88 was decreased 23-fold and cell surface antigen CD14 was increased 17-fold. Mechanistic studies found that blockade of MyD88 triggered significant GLP-1 secretion. Furthermore, blocking of CD14 completely attenuated LAB-induced secretion. A recent clinical trial clearly shows that LAB have potential for alleviating type 2 diabetes, and further characterisation of this bioactivity is warranted