An insight into recent updates on analytical techniques for bioactive alkaloids.

INTRODUCTION: Alkaloids represent a wide class of naturally existing nitrogen-containing organic compounds having diverse biological activities. They are primary bioactive substances extracted from diverse plant parts. Due to their diverse biological activities, they are frequently used as medicines. The alkaloids have diverse pharmacological impacts on the human body; alkaloids are used for prevention, treatment, and reduction of discomfort associated with chronic illnesses. As most alkaloids exist in plants in complex form, combined with numerous other natural plant components, it is essential to recognize and characterize these molecules using different analytical techniques. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to review the literature on the methods and protocols for the analysis of naturally occurring alkaloids. METHODS: We carried out a literature survey using the PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases and other relevant published materials. The keywords used in the searches were "alkaloids," "analytical methods," "HPLC method," "GC method," "electrochemical methods," and "bioanalytical methods," in various combinations. RESULTS: In this article, several classes of alkaloids are presented, along with their biological activities. Moreover, it includes a thorough explanation of chromatographic techniques, hyphenated techniques, electrochemical techniques, and current trending analytical methods utilized for the isolation, identification, and comprehensive characterization of alkaloids. CONCLUSIONS: The various analytical techniques play an important role in the identification as well as the characterization of various alkaloids from plants, plasma samples, and urine samples. The hyphenation of various chromatographic techniques with mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy plays a crucial role in the characterization of unknown compounds.

Oxymatrine and insulin resistance: Focusing on mechanistic intricacies involve in diabetes associated cardiomyopathy via SIRT1/AMPK and TGF-ß signaling pathway.

Cardiomyopathy (CDM) and related morbidity and mortality are increasing at an alarming rate, in large part because of the increase in the number of diabetes mellitus cases. The clinical consequence associated with CDM is heart failure (HF) and is considerably worse for patients with diabetes mellitus, as compared to nondiabetics. Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is characterized by structural and functional malfunctioning of the heart, which includes diastolic dysfunction followed by systolic dysfunction, myocyte hypertrophy, cardiac dysfunctional remodeling, and myocardial fibrosis. Indeed, many reports in the literature indicate that various signaling pathways, such as the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1), PI3K/Akt, and TGF-ß/smad pathways, are involved in diabetes-related cardiomyopathy, which increases the risk of functional and structural abnormalities of the heart. Therefore, targeting these pathways augments the prevention as well as treatment of patients with DCM. Alternative pharmacotherapy, such as that using natural compounds, has been shown to have promising therapeutic effects. Thus, this article reviews the potential role of the quinazoline alkaloid, oxymatrine obtained from the Sophora flavescensin CDM associated with diabetes mellitus. Numerous studies have given a therapeutic glimpse of the role of oxymatrine in the multiple secondary complications related to diabetes, such as retinopathy, nephropathy, stroke, and cardiovascular complications via reductions in oxidative stress, inflammation, and metabolic dysregulation, which might be due to targeting signaling pathways, such as AMPK, SIRT1, PI3K/Akt, and TGF-ß pathways. Thus, these pathways are considered central regulators of diabetes and its secondary complications, and targeting these pathways with oxymatrine might provide a therapeutic tool for the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes-associated cardiomyopathy.

Recent advances in pharmacotherapy for diabetic nephropathy: current perspectives and future directions.

Chronic diabetes mellitus is associated with various complications such as retinopathy, neuropathy, nephropathy, cardiomyopathy, vasculopathy, dermatopathy and encephalopathy. Nephropathy is one of the major complications of diabetes mellitus, and the morbidity and mortality due to diabetic nephropathy is constantly progressing in industrialized nations. No satisfactory therapeutic option is currently available to treat patients with nephropathy except for fewer agents like angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin AT(1) receptor blockers and few antioxidants, which have been shown to improve the function of diabetic kidney to some extent. Thus, tremendous efforts are being made to explore promising therapeutic interventions to treat diabetic nephropathy. This review discussed various presently employed and recently developed pharmacological interventions to treat diabetic nephropathy and to improve the function of diabetic kidney. In addition, the recently identified potential target sites involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy have been delineated.

Resident cardiac mast cells: are they the major culprit in the pathogenesis of cardiac hypertrophy?

Mast cells originate from pluripotent progenitor cells in bone marrow and are major players in the inflammation process. The involvements of mast cells in various cardiovascular complications such as arrhythmias, ischaemia reperfusion injury and graft rejection are well documented. Moreover, recent studies suggest the involvement of mast cells in cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. The present review focuses on the role of mast cells in the development of cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure.

PPAR dual agonists: are they opening Pandora's Box?

Cardiovascular disorders are the major cause of mortality in patients of diabetes mellitus. Peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPARs) are ligand-activated transcription factors of nuclear hormone receptor superfamily comprising of three subtypes such as PPARalpha, PPARgamma and PPARdelta/beta. Activation of PPARalpha reduces triglycerides and involves in regulation of energy homeostasis. Activation of PPARgamma causes insulin sensitization and enhances glucose metabolism, whereas activation of PPARdelta enhances fatty acid metabolism. Current therapeutic strategies available for the treatment of diabetes do not inhibit the associated secondary cardiovascular complications. Hence, the development of multimodal drugs which can reduce hyperglycemia and concomitantly inhibit the progression of secondary cardiovascular complications may offer valuable therapeutic option. Several basic and clinical studies have exemplified the beneficial effects of PPARalpha and PPARgamma ligands in preventing the cardiovascular risks. The PPARalpha/gamma dual agonists are developed to increase insulin sensitivity and simultaneously prevent diabetic cardiovascular complications. Such compounds are under clinical trials and proposed for treatment of Type II diabetes with secondary cardiovascular complications. However, PPARalpha/gamma dual agonists such as muraglitazar, tesaglitazar and ragaglitazar have been noted to produce several cardiovascular risks and carcinogenicity, which raised number of questions about the clinical applications of dual agonists in diabetes and its associated complications. The ongoing basic studies have elucidated the cardio protective role of PPARdelta. Therefore, further studies are on the track to develop PPARalpha/delta and PPAR gamma/delta dual agonists and PPARalpha/gamma/delta pan agonists for the treatment of diabetic cardiovascular complications. The present review critically analyzes the protective and detrimental effect of PPAR agonists in diabetic cardiovascular complications. Moreover, the newly developed PPARalpha/delta and PPAR gamma/delta dual agonists and PPARalpha/gamma/delta pan agonists have also been discussed which may open a new vista in the management of diabetic cardiovascular complications in near future.