Association of circulating omega 3, 6 and 9 fatty acids with gestational diabetes mellitus: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is associated with increased risks of disease for mother and child during pregnancy and after that. Early diagnosis of GDM would promote both maternal and fetal health. Metabolomics can simplify and develop our understanding of the etiology, manifestation, or pathophysiology of the disease. This systematic review investigates the association of circulating omega 3, 6, and 9 fatty acids with GDM. METHODS: We conducted a systematic search of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and EMBASE databases up to May 8, 2020, using the key term combinations of all types of omega fatty acids with gestational diabetes mellitus. Additional articles were identified through searching the reference lists of included studies. RESULTS: This systematic review included 15 articles. Five were cohort studies, four included nested case-control studies and four were case-control studies. The results of this study demonstrate an increasing trend in the amount of oleic acid and palmitoleic acid in the second trimester and an increase in decosahexanoic acid in the third trimester of GDM mothers. The changes in other fatty acids of interest are either not significant or if significant, their results are inconsistent with the other existing articles. CONCLUSIONS: Omega fatty acids, as potential biomarkers, are considered to be associated with GDM risk and thus provide useful information regarding the prevention and early diagnosis of GDM. Moreover, existing metabolomic studies on GDM are shown to provide conflicting results about metabolite profile characteristics. This systematic review was registered at PROSPERO ( www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO ) as CRD42020196122.

A preliminary investigation of anticholinesterase activity of some Iranian medicinal plants commonly used in traditional medicine.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity of some commonly used herbal medicine in Iran to introduce a new source for management of Alzheimer's disease. A total of 18 aqueous-methanolic extract (1:1; v/v) from the following plants: Brassica alba, Brassica nigra, Camellia sinensis, Cinchona officinalis, Citrus aurantifolia, Citrus x aurantium, Ferula assafoetida, Humulus lupulus, Juglans regia, Juniperus sabina, Myristica fragrans, Pelargonium graveolens, Pistacia vera, Punica granatum, Rheum officinale, Rosa damascena, Salix alba, and Zizyphus vulgaris were prepared and screened for their acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity using in vitro Ellman spectrophotometric method. RESULTS: According to the obtained results, the order of inhibitory activity (IC50 values, µg /ml) of extracts from highest to the lowest was: C. sinensis (5.96), C. aurantifolia (19.57), Z. vulgaris (24.37), B. nigra (84.30) and R. damascena (93.1). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated and confirmed the traditional use of these herbs for management of central nervous system disorders. C. sinensis showed the highest activity in inhibition of acetylcholinesterase. However, further investigations on identification of active components in the extracts are needed.

Effect of aqueous extract of Elaeagnus angustifolia fruit on experimental cutaneous wound healing in rats.

The present study was conducted to investigate the histological changes and wound healing effect of aqueous extract of Elaeagnus angustifolia. After creating full-thickness skin wounds on the back of 45 male Sprague-Dawley rats they were randomly divided into three groups. Treated group received the extract, positive control group were treated with mupirocin ointment 2% and control group did not receive any treatment. Wound healing rates were calculated on days 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 and 15 post-wounding and the wound tissues were harvested at 5, 10, and 15 days for histological analysis and hydroxyproline content measurement. The results indicated a significant increase in the percentage of wound contraction and hydroxyproline content in the treated group comparing to the control and positive control groups. A significant increase in the assigned histological scores was observed at 10 and 15 days in the treated and positive control groups compared to the control group. The results demonstrate that aqueous extract of Elaeagnus angustifolia accelerates cutaneous wound healing, and its effect may be due to the increased re-epithelialization and collagen deposition in wound and so it can be considered as a therapeutic agent for wound healing.

Methanolic extract of African mistletoe (Viscum album) improves carbohydrate metabolism and hyperlipidemia in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

OBJECTIVE: To justify the use of African mistletoe (AM) Viscum album (V. album) in folkoric medicine to treat diabetes. METHODS: In one experiment, the fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels of diabetic rats were monitored for 4 h. Diabetic rats were treated with AM at doses of 50 mg/kg (AM1) and 100 mg/kg (AM2), glibenclamide (GB) (positive control) and saline solution (SS). In another experiment, diabetic rats were treated with AM2, GB and SS daily for 3 weeks. RESULTS: AM1 and AM2 elicited significant (P<0.05) hypoglycaemic effects within 4 h of extract administration. AM1 and AM2 decreased the FBG by 41% and 49%, respectively, at 2 h. AM2 was found to lower FBG by 51%, relative to baseline, which was comparable to GB at 3 h. In the second experiment, AM2 and GB significantly (P<0.05) decreased the FBG by 34% and 51%, respectively. This was followed by marked decrease in levels of HbA1C in AM2- and GB- treated diabetic rats. AM2 significantly (P<0.05) decreased the STZ-induced increase in levels of serum triglyceride, urea, lactate dehydrogenase, α-amylase and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol. Furthermore, diabetic rats treated with AM2 had significantly (P<0.05) elevated high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol. In contrast, STZ administration produced insignificant (P<0.05) effect on the levels of serum creatinine and total bilirubin. CONCLUSIONS: Extract of African mistletoe has anti-diabetic and anti-hyperlipidemic effects in STZ-diabetic rats. AM may find clinical application in the amelioration of diabetes-induced lipid disorders.

Zinc deficiency aggravates abnormal glucose metabolism in thalassemia major patients.

BACKGROUND: The aim was to determine whether reduced serum zinc level has a contributory effect on impairment of insulin secretion in beta-thalassemic patients with transfusion-induced iron overload. MATERIAL/METHODS: Seventy thalassemia patients who received deferoxamine chelation therapy and 69 healthy individuals as the control group were evaluated. A standard oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed and blood samples for measurement of serum ferritin, zinc, and insulin concentrations were obtained. RESULTS: Although the fasting serum insulin concentrations were quite similar between the patient and the control groups, serum insulin levels were significantly lower in the thalassemia patients one hour and two hours after oral glucose load ingestion compared with the healthy controls. Among the thalassemic adults, zinc deficiency (present in 37% of patients) resulted in significantly lower fasting and 1-hour post-OGTT serum insulin concentrations. The serum zinc level in patients with impaired OGTT was also considerably lower than in patients with normal OGTT. CONCLUSIONS: These data support the assumption that zinc deficiency might lead to an exacerbation of the inability of the pancreas to secrete sufficient amounts of insulin in response to glucose stimulation in beta-thalassemia patients. We suggest that serum zinc levels be routinely monitored in these patients as it might provide useful complementaly information regarding glucose metabolism.