Silica induced early fibrogenic reaction in lung of mice ameliorated by Nyctanthes arbortristis extract.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the pharmacological effect of Nyctanthes arbortristis (NAT) leaf extract in the prevention of lung injury induced by silica particles. METHOD: Lung injury was induced in Swiss mice through inhalation exposure to silica particles (< 5 mu) using a Flow Past Nose Only Inhalation Chamber at the rate of -10 mg/m3 respirable mass for 5 h. Lung bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid collected between 48 and 72 h was subjected to protein profiling by electrophoresis and cytokine evaluation by solid phase sandwich ELISA. Lung histopathology was performed to evaluate lung injury. RESULTS: Inhalation of silica increased the level of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and of the 66 and 63 kDa peptides in the BAL fluid in comparison to sham-treated control. Pre-treatment of silica exposed mice with NAT leaf extract significantly prevented the accumulation of TNF-alpha in the BAL fluid, but the 66 and 63 kDa peptides remained unchanged. The extract was also effective in the prevention of silica-induced early fibrogenic reactions like congestion, edema and infiltration of nucleated cells in the interstitial alveolar spaces, and thickening of alveolar septa in mouse lung. CONCLUSION: NAT leaf extract helps in bypassing silica induced initial lung injury in mice.

Hypocholesterolemic effect of spirulina in patients with hyperlipidemic nephrotic syndrome.

In nephrotic syndrome, large amounts of plasma proteins are lost in urine, causing a decrease in the plasma oncotic pressure. This leads to enhanced hepatic synthesis of albumin and other proteins, including lipoproteins, causing a secondary hyperlipidemia. Essential fatty acids such as gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) can prevent accumulation of cholesterol in the body, and spirulina has an appreciable amount of GLA. In this study 23 patients (age 2 to 13 years) with nephrotic syndrome received either medication (group I) or medication plus 1 g/day Spirulina (group II). Height, weight, and serum levels of fasting blood sugar, triglycerides, total cholesterol (TC), and low- and high-density cholesterol fractions (LDL-C and HDL-C, respectively) were measured before and after the 2-month study period. Mean height and weight were normal compared with healthy, age-matched Indian children. Lipoprotein cholesterol levels were significantly increased at baseline. TC significantly decreased by 116.33 mg/dl, LDL-C by 94.14 mg/dl, and triglycerides by 67.72 mg/dl in group II; in control group I, these values fell by 69.87, 61.13, and 22.62 mg/dl, respectively. The LDL-C:HDL-C ratio also decreased significantly, by 1.66 in group II and 1.13 in group I. TC:HDL-C decreased by 1.96 in group II and 1.19 in group I. HDL-C:LDL-C also improved significantly in both the groups. It can be concluded that spray-dried Spirulina capsules, rich in antioxidants, GLA, amino acids, and fatty acids, helped reduce the increased levels of lipids in patients with hyperlipidemic nephrotic syndrome.

Effect of Tulasi (Ocimum sanctum) leaf powder supplementation on blood sugar levels, serum lipids and tissue lipids in diabetic rats.

Tulasi leaf powder was fed at the 1% level in normal and diabetic rats for a period of one month to explore the effect on fasting blood sugar, uronic acid, total amino acids, and the lipid profile in serum and tissue lipids. The results indicated a significant reduction in fasting blood sugar, uronic acid, total amino acids, total cholesterol, triglyceride, phospholipids and total lipids. In liver, total cholesterol, triglyceride and total lipids were significantly lowered. Total lipids were significantly reduced in kidney. In heart, a significant fall in total cholesterol and phospholipids was observed. All these observations indicate the hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effect of Tulasi in diabetic rats.

Glycaemic index of conventional carbohydrate meals.

The glycaemic index (GI) and the triacylglycerol response were measured in thirty non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients given 50 g portions of five different conventional Indian meals containing semolina (Triticum aestivum) cooked by two different methods, or combinations of semolina and pulse (black gram dhal (Phaseolus mungo), green gram dhal (Phaseolus aureus) or Bengal gram dhal (Cicer arietum)). There were no significant differences among meals in mean GI except for meals based on roasted semolina or semolina-black gram dhal. Compared with the blood glucose response for a 50 g glucose load, only meals based on steam-cooked semolina and semolina-Bengal gram dhal elicited a significantly lower response at 1 h postprandially, and only meals based on semolina-black gram dhal at 2 h postprandially. No significant differences were found among the meals in the triacylglycerol-response.

Studies on the effect of dry Sundakai (Solanum torvum) powder supplementation on lipid profile, glycated proteins and amino acids in non-insulin dependent diabetic patients.

The effect of dry Sundakai powder supplementation (7 g providing 1.23 g of crude fibre) on glycemic control, lipidemic control, total amino acids and uronic acid was studied on 30 non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus patients. All the patients were on hypoglycemic drugs. The above parameters were monitored at day 1, 15 and 30 days. After one month of fibre supplementation, no significant changes were observed with respect to glucose, lipid profile, glycated proteins, total amino acids and uronic acid levels in these subjects.

Glycemic index of traditional Indian carbohydrate foods.

The glycemic index (GI) was determined in 36 non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients who were fed 50 g carbohydrate portions of six Indian conventional foods, including rice, a combination of rice-legume (Bengalgram, peas, and greengram), and a combination of rice-dal (greengram dal and redgram dal -- dal is dehusked and split legume). In addition to the GI, triglyceride (TG) responses of these foods were also determined. A higher GI was obtained for rice and for rice with peas; all other combinations yielded lower glycemic indices. However, all the foods produced significantly lower blood glucose response 2 hours postprandially as compared with blood glucose responses to a 50 g glucose load for the same group. No significant difference was observed for TG responses to the different foods.

Studies on the effect of curry leaves supplementation (Murraya Koenigi) on lipid profile, glycated proteins and amino acids in non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients.

Curry leaves powder supplementation (12g providing 2.5 g fibre) was carried out for a period of 1 month in 30 non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus patients. The parameters monitored at 1, 15 and 30 days were fasting and 2 h post-prandial blood sugar levels, serum total cholesterol and its lipoprotein fractions, triglycerides, total amino acids, uronic acid, glycosylated serum proteins and glycosylated low density lipoprotein cholesterol fraction. The results indicated a transient reduction in fasting and post-prandial blood sugar levels at 15-day period with no appreciable changes in serum glycosylated protein levels, glycosylated low density lipoprotein cholesterol fraction, serum lipids, lipoprotein cholesterol levels, uronic acid and total amino acids were observed during the supplementation period, i.e, either at 15 days or 30 days.

Isolation and characterization of a hydroxyproline-containing protein from soluble extracts of the leaves of sandal (Santalum album L.).

1. A hydroxyproline-containing protein was isolated from the soluble fraction of sandal leaves (Santalum album L.) and the purified protein was homogeneous by disc electrophoresis. 2. It is a glycoprotein containing 16% carbohydrate, the components of which were mainly arabinose, with only small amounts (about 5%) of galactose. The principal amino acids were glutamic acid, aspartic acid, glycine, alanine, arginine, lysine, proline and hydroxyproline, which together comprised 60% of the total. The number of acidic amino acids exceeds the number of basic amino acids. By Sephadex gel filtration, the approximate molecular weight was found to be about 63000. The ratio of residues of hydroxyproline to those of arabinose was 1:2. 3. The native protein is resistant to the action of several proteolytic enzymes. After partial hydrolysis with 0.1m-HCl, the protein became susceptible to attack by Pronase but remained resistant to collagenase.