Wild bitter gourd improves metabolic syndrome: A preliminary dietary supplementation trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Bitter gourd (<it>Momordica charantia </it>L.) is a common tropical vegetable that has been used in traditional or folk medicine to treat diabetes. Wild bitter gourd (WBG) ameliorated metabolic syndrome (MetS) in animal models. We aimed to preliminarily evaluate the effect of WBG supplementation on MetS in Taiwanese adults.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A preliminary open-label uncontrolled supplementation trial was conducted in eligible fulfilled the diagnosis of MetS from May 2008 to April 2009. A total of 42 eligible (21 men and 21 women) with a mean age of 45.7 ± 11.4 years (23 to 63 years) were supplemented with 4.8 gram lyophilized WBG powder in capsules daily for three months and were checked for MetS at enrollment and follow-up monthly. After supplementation was ceased, the participants were continually checked for MetS monthly over an additional three-month period. MetS incidence rate were analyzed using repeated-measures generalized linear mixed models according to the intention-to-treat principle.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After adjusting for sex and age, the MetS incidence rate (standard error, <it>p </it>value) decreased by 7.1% (3.7%, 0.920), 9.5% (4.3%, 0.451), 19.0% (5.7%, 0.021), 16.7% (5.4%, 0.047), 11.9% (4.7%, 0.229) and 11.9% (4.7%, 0.229) at visit 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 compared to that at baseline (visit 1), respectively. The decrease in incidence rate was highest at the end of the three-month supplementation period and it was significantly different from that at baseline (<it>p </it>= 0.021). The difference remained significant at end of the 4th month (one month after the cessation of supplementation) (<it>p </it>= 0.047) but the effect diminished at the 5th and 6th months after baseline. The waist circumference also significantly decreased after the supplementation (<it>p </it>< 0.05). The WBG supplementation was generally well-tolerated.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This is the first report to show that WBG improved MetS in human which provides a firm base for further randomized controlled trials to evaluate the efficacy of WBG supplementation.</p

Cultivo orgânico sequencial de hortaliças com dois sistemas de irrigação e duas coberturas de solo

Com o aumento da demanda por produtos ecologicamente corretos tornaram-se necessários estudos de novas tecnologias para inseri-las no método de cultivo orgânico para que se tenha um crescimento sustentável da atividade. Neste trabalho avaliou-se o desempenho de cultivares e híbridos de hortaliças cultivados seqüencialmente no método orgânico, em diferentes ambientes. O delineamento experimental foi de parcelas sub-subdivididas com 3 repetições, resultando em 24 unidades experimentais. Foram estudados dois métodos de irrigação (aspersão convencional e localizada por gotejamento); duas coberturas do solo (plástico e palha) e dois híbridos ou cultivares de espécies de hortaliças, sendo que para o cultivo do feijão-vagem utilizou-se apenas uma cultivar. Conduziram-se concomitantemente dois cultivos seqüenciais de hortaliças: (1) alface americana - tomate - brócolis e; (2) alface crespa - feijão-vagem - repolho. Avaliaram-se as características produtivas de cada espécie. Na seqüência (1) o cultivo da alface americana teve melhor desempenho quando irrigada por gotejamento, não havendo diferença entre as coberturas do solo, sendo a cv 'Rubette' a mais produtiva. O tomateiro foi mais produtivo no "mulching"plástico, independentemente do método de irrigação e o brócolis teve desempenho semelhante entre os tratamentos. Na seqüência (2) a alface crespa e o feijão-vagem foram mais produtivos quando irrigados por gotejamento e cultivados em cobertura plástica. O repolho teve melhor desempenho na cobertura do solo com filme plástico.With the growing demand for ecological products new technologies are required for organic cultivation systems in order to provide a sustainable growth of this activity. This experiment evaluated the performance of vegetable cultivars and hybrids growing successively in the organic system, in different growth environments. The experimental design was randomized blocks with split split-plots with 3 replications, resulting in 24 experimental units. The following treatments were assessed: a) two irrigation systems, sprinkle and drip, b) two soil covers, plastic and straw of sugar cane and c) two hybrids or cultivars. Two different cropping sequences were carried out: (1) iceberg lettuce - tomato - broccoli and; (2) crisp lettuce - snap beans - cabbage. The agronomic characteristics of each species were evaluated. In sequence 1, iceberg lettuce growth performed better when irrigated by the drip system, but there was no difference between the soil covers and 'Rubette' presented higher yield. Higher tomato yields were observed in "mulching"plastic regardless the irrigation system and broccoli was unaffected by treatments. In sequence 2, crisp lettuce and snap beans were more productive when irrigated by drip and grown on plastic covering. Cabbage performed better with plastic film covering soil surface

Simultaneous determination of dipyrone and papaverine in pharmaceutical formulation using PLS regression and UV spectrophotometry

Downloaded By: [Institute for Scientific Information] At: 17: 09 5 April 2007 A combination of sodium dipyrone and papaverine hydrochloride is used as an analgesic and antispasmodic drug. A simple and rapid procedure is proposed for simultaneous determination of these drugs in commercial formulations (Melpaz (R)) based on partial least squares (PLS) regression and UV spectrophotometric measurements in the range of 218-300 nm. The calibration set was built with 25 solutions in concentrations ranging from 15.0-35.0 mg ml(-1) for dipyrone and from 0.5-1.5 mg ml(-1) for papaverine in methanol. The relative standard deviation (RSD) was 1.05% for dipyrone and 1.55% for papaverine in pharmaceutical formulations. The percent of relative recovery was 95.9% for dipyrone and 95.2% for papaverine. Figures of merit, such as accuracy, precision, sensitivity and adjust were also determined. The methodology was validated by using an independent method, based on high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).40597598