ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Equisetum arvense L., commonly known as field horsetail is a perennial fern of which extracts are rich sources of phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and phenolic acids. Activation of SIRT1 that was shown to be involved in well-known signal pathways of diabetic cardiomyopathy has a protective effect against oxidative stress, inflammatory processes, and apoptosis that are the basis of diseases such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, or cardiovascular diseases. The aim of our study was to evaluate the antidiabetic and cardioprotective effects of horsetail extract in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. METHODS: Diabetes was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of 45 mg/kg streptozotocin. In the control groups (healthy and diabetic), rats were administered with vehicle, whilst in the treated groups, animals were administered with 50, 100, or 200 mg/kg horsetail extract, respectively, for six weeks. Blood glucose levels, glucose tolerance, and insulin sensitivity were determined, and SIRT1 levels were measured from the cardiac muscle. RESULTS: The horsetail extract showed moderate beneficial changes in blood glucose levels and exhibited a tendency to elevate SIRT1 levels in cardiomyocytes, furthermore a 100 mg/kg dose also improved insulin sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS: Altogether our results suggest that horsetail extract might have potential in ameliorating manifested cardiomyopathy acting on SIRT1.
Subject(s)
Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental/drug therapy , Diabetic Cardiomyopathies/drug therapy , Equisetum/chemistry , Insulin/metabolism , Plant Extracts/therapeutic use , Sirtuin 1/metabolism , Adiposity , Alkaloids/chemistry , Animals , Blood Glucose/analysis , Body Weight , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid , Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental/chemically induced , Glucose Tolerance Test , Inflammation , Injections, Intraperitoneal , Insulin Resistance , Male , Myocytes, Cardiac/metabolism , Organ Size , Oxidative Stress , Phenol , Rats , Rats, Wistar , StreptozocinABSTRACT
A method for preparation of thylakoids from plant leaves on a large scale is described. The method involves: 1) disruption of the cells with a blender followed by filtration to remove large cell debris and non disrupted cells. 2) precipitation of the thylakoids by adjusting the pH to the isoelectric point, pH 4.7. 3) a washing step by dilution of the precipitate in water followed by precipitation at the same pH. 4) concentration of the precipitate by freeze- thawing or freeze -drying to get the final product. The product is characterized, with respect to protein composition, by SDS-PAGE and mass-spectroscopy, the content of carotenoids, particularly the xanthophylls violaxanthin, antheraxanthin, and zeaxanthin. The thylakoid preparation has about the same capacity to inhibit pancreatic lipase/colipase activity as thylakoids prepared by standard laboratory methods using sucrose in the medium and centrifugation. In a study with mice, it was found that, when the thylakoids were added to the food over 32 days, they significantly reduced the body weight gain and the percentage body fat. The large scale method described here allows studies on the effect of thylakoids in appetite regulation on experimental animals in a longer lasting time and also on humans.
Subject(s)
Cell Fractionation/methods , Plant Extracts/therapeutic use , Spinacia oleracea/chemistry , Thylakoids/chemistry , Weight Gain/drug effects , Adiposity/drug effects , Animals , Eating/drug effects , Female , Fractional Precipitation , Lipase/metabolism , Lipid Metabolism , Mice , Phytotherapy , Plant Leaves/chemistry , Plant Leaves/metabolism , Spinacia oleracea/metabolism , Thylakoids/metabolism , Thylakoids/ultrastructureABSTRACT
The use of valeriana was underplayed at the beginning of the 20th century because of its addictive and side effects. The 38-year-old woman, mother of a 20-month-old child from Eastern Europe, was treated with liver insufficiency and vascular, parenchymal decompensated cirrhosis needing plasmapheresis for the first time in our hospital. In case history, abusus of aethyl-alcohol and valeriana was found to be as toxic agent which was treated as the etiologic factor of the liver disease and liver failure. After intensive and conservative treatment her status was stabilised, during the follow-up she had no signs and symptoms, the laboratory results tend to be in normal range. Half year after her hospitalization intensive care treatment was necessary abroad due to gastric bleeding. In the background the histology of gastric biopsy taken during gastroscopic examination showed gastric sigillocellular carcinoma in our hospital. Total gastrectomy, omentectomy, lymphadenectomy were performed, the tumor was removed and she received cytostatic treatment. The use of valeriana and aethyl-alcohol is supposed to have a potential effect on tumorgenesis and on the increase of toxicity.