Inhibitory Effects of 41 Common Chinese Herbal Medicines on α-glucosidase and α-amylase in Meizhou Hakka / 医药导报

Objective Taking 41 kinds of Chinese herbal medicines commonly used in Meizhou Hakka as the research object,their inhibitory activities against α-glucosidase and α-amylase were screened and the enzyme inhibition types of the species with the strongest activities were explored.Methods The inhibitory activities of 41 commonly used Hakka herbs in Meizhou against α-glucosidase and α-amylase were evaluated by the p-Nitrophenyl a-D-mannopyranoside(pNPG)method and the 3,5-Dinitrosalicylic acid(DNS)method,using the inhibitory rate of half(IC50)as an index.The inhibitory activity of 95%ethanol extracts of 41 Chinese herbal medicines commonly used in Meizhou Hakka on α-glucosidase and α-amylase were analysed.The enzymatic kinetics method and Lineweaver-Burk curve were used to analyze the inhibitory type of the most active species.Results The results showed that 40 Chinese herbal medicines commonly used in Meizhou Hakka had α-glucosidase inhibitory activity,and 23 medicines had α-amylase inhibitory activity,among which Psychotria asiatica Wall.showed the strongest inhibitory activity with the IC50 values aganist α-glucosidase and α-amylase of 0.17±0.001 mg·mL-1 and 0.09±0.001 mg·mL-1,respectively.The inhibition types were reversible competitive inhibition and reversible non-competitive inhibition,respectively.Conclusion The Psychotria asiatica Wall.Chinese herbal medicines commonly used in Meizhou Hakka has significant inhibitory effect on the activity of glucose metabolism enzymes,which has potential value for further research and development on the prevention and treatment of diabetes mellitus.

The effects of yoga and mindful meditation on elderly care worker’s burnout: a CONSORT-compliant randomized controlled trial / Journal of Rural Medicine

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the effects of mindful meditation and yoga on reducing burnout and stress in care workers who assist elderly individuals. Knowing how to reduce burnout is important because that of care workers is associated with the quality of client care, worker productivity, and job turnover.Patients and Methods: The participants included 44 care workers who worked for elderly care facilities in rural Fukuoka. They were randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups: control, yoga, or mindfulness. In the yoga intervention group, a certified yoga instructor taught a 60-minute yoga session each week for six weeks. In the mindfulness group, an experienced medical doctor instructed a mindful meditation program for the same length. Participants were asked to complete the Japanese Burnout Scale (JBS), and the research team collected the level of α-amylase in saliva using NIPRO: T-110-N pre- and post-interventions.Results: MANOVA was performed with each intervention (control, yoga, mindfulness) as the independent variable on the three subscales of the JBS (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal achievement) and a biomarker of stress level (α-amylase). The results indicated a significant main effect of interventions, and a follow-up ANOVA showed a significant effect of interventions on emotional exhaustion and personal achievement.Conclusion: The results indicate that practicing mindful meditation or yoga for 60 minutes once a week for six weeks can reduce care workers’ burnout. This study was notable because the biomarker of stress also improved. It is strongly recommended and encouraged that institutions caring for the elderly population provide mindful meditation or yoga intervention to reduce burnout, which benefits not only care workers but also their clients.

Inhibitory potentials of phenolic-rich extracts from Bridelia ferruginea on two key carbohydrate-metabolizing enzymes and Fe-induced pancreatic oxidative stress / 中西医结合学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>The current study was designed to evaluate the various antioxidant potentials and inhibitory effects of phenolic-rich leaf extracts of Bridelia ferruginea (BF) on the in vitro activities of some key enzymes involved in the metabolism of carbohydrates.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>In this study, BF leaf free and bound phenolic-rich extracts were used. We quantified total phenolic and flavonoid contents, and evaluated several antioxidant activities using assays for ferric reducing antioxidant power, total antioxidant activity (phosphomolybdenum reducing ability), 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and thiobarbituric acid reactive species. Also, extracts were tested for their ability to inhibit α-amylase and α-glucosidase activity.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The total phenolic and total flavonoid contents in the free phenolic extract of BF were significantly greater than in the bound phenolic extract. Also, all the antioxidant activities considered were significantly greater in the free phenolic extract than in the bound phenolic extract. In the same vein, the free phenolic-rich extract had a significantly higher percentage inhibition against α-glucosidase activity (IC = 28.5 µg/mL) than the bound phenolic extract (IC = 340.0 µg/mL). On the contrary, the free phenolic extract (IC = 210.0 µg/mL) had significantly lower inhibition against α-amylase than the bound phenolic-rich extract (IC = 190.0 µg/mL).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The phenolic-rich extracts of BF leaves showed antioxidant potentials and inhibited two key carbohydrate-metabolizing enzymes in vitro.</p>

Polyphenols isolated from Acacia mearnsii bark with anti-inflammatory and carbolytic enzyme inhibitory activities / 中国天然药物

The present study was designed to characterize the polyphenols isolated from Acacia mearnsii bark crude extract (B) and fractions (B1-B7) obtained by high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) and evaluate their anti-inflammatory and carbolytic enzymes (α-glucosidase and α-amylase) inhibitory activities. Fractions B4, B5, B6, B7 (total phenolics 850.3, 983.0, 843.9, and 572.5 mg·g, respectively; proanthocyanidins 75.7, 90.5, 95.0, and 44.8 mg·g, respectively) showed significant activities against reactive oxygen species (ROS), nitric oxide (NO) production, and expression of pro-inflammatory genes interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated mouse macrophage cell line RAW 264.7. All the extracts suppressed α-glucosidase and α-amylase activities, two primary enzymes responsible for carbohydrate digestion. A. mearnsii bark samples possessed significantly stronger inhibitory effects against α-glucosidase enzyme (IC of 0.4-1.4 μg·mL) than the pharmaceutical acarbose (IC 141.8 μg·mL). B6 and B7 (IC 17.6 and 11.7 μg·mL, respectively) exhibited α-amylase inhibitory activity as efficacious as acarbose (IC 15.4 μg·mL). Moreover, B extract, at 25 µg·mL, significantly decreased the non-mitochondrial oxidative burst that is often associated with inflammatory response in human monocytic macrophages.