N-Formyl-Methionyl-Leucyl-Phenylalanine Plays a Neuroprotective and Anticonvulsant Role in Status Epilepticus Model.

Status epilepticus (SE) is described as continuous and self-sustaining seizures, which triggers hippocampal neurodegeneration, inflammation, and gliosis. N-formyl peptide receptor (FPR) has been associated with inflammatory process. N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP) peptide plays an anti-inflammatory role, mediated by the activation of G-protein-coupled FPR. Here, we evaluated the influence of fMLP peptides on the behavior of limbic seizures, memory consolidation, and hippocampal neurodegeneration process. Male Wistar rats (Rattus norvegicus) received microinjections of pilocarpine in hippocampus (H-PILO, 1.2 mg/µL, 1 µL) followed by fMLP (1 mg/mL, 1 µL) or vehicle (VEH, saline 0.9%, 1 µL). During the 90 min of SE, epileptic seizures were analyzed according to the Racine's Scale. After 24 h of SE, memory impairment was assessed by the inhibitory avoidance test and the neurodegeneration process was evaluated in hippocampal areas. There was no change in latency and number of wet dog shake (WDS) after administration of fMLP. However, our results showed that the intrahippocampal infusion of fMLP reduced the severity of seizures, as well as the number of limbic seizures. In addition, fMLP infusion protected memory dysfunction followed by SE. Finally, the intrahippocampal administration of fMLP attenuated the process of neurodegeneration in both hippocampi. Taken together, our data suggest a new insight into the functional role of fMLP peptides, with important implications for their potential use as a therapeutic agent for the treatment of brain disorders, such as epilepsy. Schematic drawing on the neuroprotective and anticonvulsant role of fMLP during status epilepticus. Initially, a cannula was implanted in hippocampus and pilocarpine/saline was administered into the hippocampus followed by fMLP/saline (A-C). fMLP reduced seizure severity and neuronal death in the hippocampus, as well as protecting against memory deficit (D).

Effects of an L-Leucine-Rich Diet on Liver and Kidneys in a Doxorubicin Toxicity Model.

Supplements and diets containing L-leucine, a branched-chain amino acid, have been considered beneficial for controlling oxidative stress and maintaining cardiac tissue in toxicity models using doxorubicin, a drug widely used in cancer treatment. However, there is a lack of studies in the literature that assess the effects of this diet on other organs and tissues, such as the liver and kidneys. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of a leucine-rich diet on the liver and kidneys of healthy rats submitted to the doxorubicin toxicity model by analyzing biomarkers of oxidative stress and histological parameters. The animals were divided into four groups: naive, doxorubicin, L-leucine, and doxorubicin + L-leucine, and the diet was standardized with 5% L-leucine and a dose of 7.5 mg/kg of doxorubicin. We evaluated tissue injury parameters and biomarkers of oxidative stress, including enzymes, antioxidant profile, and oxidized molecules, in the liver and kidneys. Although some studies have indicated benefits of a diet rich in L-leucine for the muscle tissue of animals that received doxorubicin, our results showed that the liver was the most affected organ by the L-leucine-rich diet since the diet reduced its antioxidant defenses and increased the deposit of collagen and fat in the hepatic tissue. In the kidneys, the main alteration was the reduction in the number of glomeruli. These results contribute to the scientific literature and encourage further studies to evaluate the effects of an L-leucine-rich diet or its supplementation, alone or combined with doxorubicin using an animal model of cancer. Therefore, our study concludes that the leucine-rich diet itself was harmful and, when co-administered with doxorubicin, was not able to maintain the antioxidant defenses and tissue structure of the evaluated organs.

Annona crassiflora Mart. Fruit Peel Polyphenols Preserve Cardiac Antioxidant Defense and Reduce Oxidative Damage in Hyperlipidemic Mice.

Dyslipidemia and oxidative stress are directly related to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. Annona crassiflora Mart. (ACM) has been traditionally used in folk medicine to alleviate inflammation and pain. This plant is rich in polyphenols, which exhibit high antioxidant capacity. The present study aimed to elucidate the antioxidant properties of ACM in the heart of hyperlipidemic mice. The animals were orally administered either a crude ethanol extract (CEAc) or a polyphenols-rich fraction (PFAc) obtained from ACM fruit peel. There were correlations between blood and fecal biochemical data with cardiac oxidative stress biomarkers. Here, the pre-treatment with CEAc for 12 d led to an increase in glutathione content (GSH) and a reduction in the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase. Moreover, PFAc was found to enhance the total antioxidant capacity as well as GSH, SOD and CAT activities, which were reduced by Triton WR-1339-induced hyperlipidemia. Moreover, the administration of PFAc before the treatment resulted in a decrease in protein carbonylation and lipid peroxidation levels, as well as a reduction in the activities of glutathione reductase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. ACM fruit peel showed improvement in the glutathione system, mainly its polyphenols-rich fraction, indicating a potential cardioprotective antioxidant usage of this plant extract.

Salivary SARS-CoV-2 RNA for diagnosis of COVID-19 patients: a systematic revisew and meta-analysis of diagnostic accuracy.

Accurate, self-collected, and non-invasive diagnostics are critical to perform mass-screening diagnostic tests for COVID-19. This systematic review with meta-analysis evaluated the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of salivary diagnostics for COVID-19 based on SARS-CoV-2 RNA compared with the current reference tests using a nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) and/or oropharyngeal swab (OPS). An electronic search was performed in seven databases to find COVID-19 diagnostic studies simultaneously using saliva and NPS/OPS tests to detect SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR. The search resulted in 10,902 records, of which 44 studies were considered eligible. The total sample consisted of 14,043 participants from 21 countries. The accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity for saliva compared with the NPS/OPS was 94.3% (95%CI= 92.1;95.9), 96.4% (95%CI= 96.1;96.7), and 89.2% (95%CI= 85.5;92.0), respectively. Besides, the sensitivity of NPS/OPS was 90.3% (95%CI= 86.4;93.2) and saliva was 86.4% (95%CI= 82.1;89.8) compared to the combination of saliva and NPS/OPS as the gold standard. These findings suggest a similarity in SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection between NPS/OPS swabs and saliva, and the association of both testing approaches as a reference standard can increase by 3.6% the SARS-CoV-2 detection compared with NPS/OPS alone. This study supports saliva as an attractive alternative for diagnostic platforms to provide a non-invasive detection of SARS-CoV-2.

Salivary ATR-FTIR Spectroscopy Coupled with Support Vector Machine Classification for Screening of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

The blood diagnosis of diabetes mellitus (DM) is highly accurate; however, it is an invasive, high-cost, and painful procedure. In this context, the combination of ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and machine learning techniques in other biological samples has been used as an alternative tool to develop a non-invasive, fast, inexpensive, and label-free diagnostic or screening platform for several diseases, including DM. In this study, we used the ATR-FTIR tool associated with linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and a support vector machine (SVM) classifier in order to identify changes in salivary components to be used as alternative biomarkers for the diagnosis of type 2 DM. The band area values of 2962 cm-1, 1641 cm-1, and 1073 cm-1 were higher in type 2 diabetic patients than in non-diabetic subjects. The best classification of salivary infrared spectra was by SVM, showing a sensitivity of 93.3% (42/45), specificity of 74% (17/23), and accuracy of 87% between non-diabetic subjects and uncontrolled type 2 DM patients. The SHAP features of infrared spectra indicate the main salivary vibrational modes of lipids and proteins that are responsible for discriminating DM patients. In summary, these data highlight the potential of ATR-FTIR platforms coupled with machine learning as a reagent-free, non-invasive, and highly sensitive tool for screening and monitoring diabetic patients.

Salivary Detection of Zika Virus Infection Using ATR-FTIR Spectroscopy Coupled with Machine Learning Algorithms and Univariate Analysis: A Proof-of-Concept Animal Study.

Zika virus (ZIKV) diagnosis is currently performed through an invasive, painful, and costly procedure using molecular biology. Consequently, the search for a non-invasive, more cost-effective, reagent-free, and sustainable method for ZIKV diagnosis is of great relevance. It is critical to prepare a global strategy for the next ZIKV outbreak given its devastating consequences, particularly in pregnant women. Attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy has been used to discriminate systemic diseases using saliva; however, the salivary diagnostic application in viral diseases is unknown. To test this hypothesis, we intradermally challenged interferon-gamma gene knockout C57/BL6 mice with ZIKV (50 µL,105 FFU, n = 7) or vehicle (50 µL, n = 8). Saliva samples were collected on day three (due to the peak of viremia) and the spleen was also harvested. Changes in the salivary spectral profile were analyzed by Student's t test (p < 0.05), multivariate analysis, and the diagnostic capacity by ROC curve. ZIKV infection was confirmed by real-time PCR of the spleen sample. The infrared spectroscopy coupled with univariate analysis suggested the vibrational mode at 1547 cm-1 as a potential candidate to discriminate ZIKV and control salivary samples. Three PCs explained 93.2% of the cumulative variance in PCA analysis and the spectrochemical analysis with LDA achieved an accuracy of 93.3%, with a specificity of 87.5% and sensitivity of 100%. The LDA-SVM analysis showed 100% discrimination between both classes. Our results suggest that ATR-FTIR applied to saliva might have high accuracy in ZIKV diagnosis with potential as a non-invasive and cost-effective diagnostic tool.

Monitoring glucose levels in urine using FTIR spectroscopy combined with univariate and multivariate statistical methods.

The development of novel platforms for non-invasive continuous glucose monitoring applied in the screening and monitoring of diabetes is crucial to improve diabetes surveillance systems. Attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy of urine can be an alternative as a sustainable, label-free, fast, non-invasive, and highly sensitive analysis to detect changes in urine promoted by diabetes and insulin treatment. In this study, we used ATR-FTIR to evaluate the urinary components of non-diabetic (ND), diabetic (D), and diabetic insulin-treated (D + I) rats. As expected, insulin treatment was capable to revert changes in glycemia, 24-h urine collection volume, urine creatinine, urea, and glucose excretion promoted by diabetes. Several differences in the urine spectra of ND, D, and D + I were observed, with urea, creatinine, and glucose analytes being related to these changes. Principal components analysis (PCA) scores plots allowed for the discrimination of ND and D + I from D with an accuracy of âˆ¼ 99 %. The PCA loadings associated with PC1 confirmed the importance of urea and glucose vibrational modes for this discrimination. Univariate analysis of second derivative spectra showed a high correlation (r: 0.865, p < 0.0001) between the height of 1074 cm-1 vibrational mode with urinary glucose concentration. In order to estimate the amount of glucose present in the infrared spectra from urine, multivariate curve resolution-alternating least square (MCR-ALS) was applied and a higher predicted concentration of glucose in the urine was observed with a correlation of 78.9 % compared to urinary glucose concentration assessed using enzyme assays. In summary, ATR-FTIR combined with univariate and multivariate chemometric analyses provides an innovative, non-invasive, and sustainable approach to diabetes surveillance.

Association of salivary alpha-2-macroglobulin with glycemia and glycated hemoglobin in type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis study

Abstract BACKGROUND: Chronically elevated alpha-2-macroglobulin (A2MG) in the blood has been correlated with diabetes and the HbA1c profile; however, no systematic review has been conducted to evaluate the association of A2MG salivary levels and glycemia or HbA1c levels in diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2) patients. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether A2MG salivary levels are related to the glycemia or HbA1c levels in DM2 patients. DESIGN AND SETTING: Systematic review developed at Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU), Brazil. METHODS: Eight databases were used as research sources. The eligibility criteria included studies that reported data regarding mean salivary A2MG and the correlation between glycemia and/or HbA1c levels of DM2 subjects (uncontrolled and well-controlled) and non-diabetic subjects. The risk of bias of the studies selected was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal tools for use in JBI systematic reviews. Pooled correlation coefficients were estimated using the Hunter-Schmidt method. Study estimates were weighted according to their sample size, and heterogeneity was calculated using the chi-square statistic. RESULTS: Four studies on DM2 patients were included in this systematic review after careful analysis of 1482 studies. Three studies compared A2MG with HbA1c and glycemia. Overall, the correlation between A2MG and HbA1c was strong (r = 0.838). In contrast, the correlation between A2MG and glycemia was low (r = 0.354). CONCLUSION: The strong association between HbA1C and salivary A2MG suggests that this salivary protein has the potential to be a surrogate for HbA1C, if corroboratory further evidence is obtained through large-scale studies.

Association of salivary alpha-2-macroglobulin with glycemia and glycated hemoglobin in type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis study.

BACKGROUND: Chronically elevated alpha-2-macroglobulin (A2MG) in the blood has been correlated with diabetes and the HbA1c profile; however, no systematic review has been conducted to evaluate the association of A2MG salivary levels and glycemia or HbA1c levels in diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2) patients. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether A2MG salivary levels are related to the glycemia or HbA1c levels in DM2 patients. DESIGN AND SETTING: Systematic review developed at Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU), Brazil. METHODS: Eight databases were used as research sources. The eligibility criteria included studies that reported data regarding mean salivary A2MG and the correlation between glycemia and/or HbA1c levels of DM2 subjects (uncontrolled and well-controlled) and non-diabetic subjects. The risk of bias of the studies selected was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal tools for use in JBI systematic reviews. Pooled correlation coefficients were estimated using the Hunter-Schmidt method. Study estimates were weighted according to their sample size, and heterogeneity was calculated using the chi-square statistic. RESULTS: Four studies on DM2 patients were included in this systematic review after careful analysis of 1482 studies. Three studies compared A2MG with HbA1c and glycemia. Overall, the correlation between A2MG and HbA1c was strong (r = 0.838). In contrast, the correlation between A2MG and glycemia was low (r = 0.354). CONCLUSION: The strong association between HbA1C and salivary A2MG suggests that this salivary protein has the potential to be a surrogate for HbA1C, if corroboratory further evidence is obtained through large-scale studies.

Fructose and methylglyoxal-induced glycation alters structural and functional properties of salivary proteins, albumin and lysozyme.

Glycation process refers to reactions between reduction sugars and amino acids that can lead to formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) which are related to changes in chemical and functional properties of biological structures that accumulate during aging and diseases. The aim of this study was to perform and analyze in vitro glycation by fructose and methylglyoxal (MGO) using salivary fluid, albumin, lysozyme, and salivary α-amylase (sAA). Glycation effect was analyzed by biochemical and spectroscopic methods. The results were obtained by fluorescence analysis, infrared spectroscopy (total attenuated reflection-Fourier transform, ATR-FTIR) followed by multivariate analysis of principal components (PCA), protein profile, immunodetection, enzymatic activity and oxidative damage to proteins. Fluorescence increased in all glycated samples, except in saliva with fructose. The ATR-FTIR spectra and PCA analysis showed structural changes related to the vibrational mode of glycation of albumin, lysozyme, and salivary proteins. Glycation increased the relative molecular mass (Mr) in protein profile of albumin and lysozyme. Saliva showed a decrease in band intensity when glycated. The analysis of sAA immunoblotting indicated a relative reduction in intensity of its correspondent Mr after sAA glycation; and a decrease in its enzymatic activity was observed. Carbonylation levels increased in all glycated samples, except for saliva with fructose. Thiol content decreased only for glycated lysozyme and saliva with MGO. Therefore, glycation of salivary fluid and sAA may have the potential to identify products derived by glycation process. This opens perspectives for further studies on the use of saliva, an easy and non-invasive collection fluid, to monitor glycated proteins in the aging process and evolution of diseases.

Increased selenium concentration in the synthesis of CdSe magic-sized quantum dots affects how the brain responds to oxidative stress.

CdSe magic-sized quantum dots (MSQDs) have been widely used as fluorescent probes in biological systems due to their excellent optical properties with a broader fluorescence spectrum and stable luminescence in biological media. However, they can be cytotoxic and alter the redox balance depending on the amounts of Cd2+ adsorbed on their surface. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate whether increases in selenium concentration in the synthesis of CdSe-MSQDs decrease the oxidative stress caused by Cd2+ -based quantum dots. CdSe-MSQDs synthesized with different concentrations of selenium were investigated against oxidative stress in the brain of chicken embryos by examining total antioxidant capacity, lipid peroxidation, thiol, and glutathione contents, as well as the activities of glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione reductase. In addition, the vascularization of the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) analysis was performed. Higher selenium concentrations alter the surface defect levels (decrease free Cd2+ ) and controlled the oxidative effects of CdSe-MSQDs by reducing the lipid peroxidation, restoring the glutathione defense system and the antioxidant enzymes SOD and CAT, and maintaining the vascular density of the CAM. The current findings reinforce the study of the effects of the presence of Cd2+ ions on the surface of quantum dots, changing toxicity, and aiming interesting strategies of nanomaterials in biological systems.

One-Year Update on Salivary Diagnostic of COVID-19.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global health problem, which is challenging healthcare worldwide. In this critical review, we discussed the advantages and limitations in the implementation of salivary diagnostic platforms of COVID-19. The diagnostic test of COVID-19 by invasive nasopharyngeal collection is uncomfortable for patients and requires specialized training of healthcare professionals in order to obtain an appropriate collection of samples. Additionally, these professionals are in close contact with infected patients or suspected cases of COVID-19, leading to an increased contamination risk for frontline healthcare workers. Although there is a colossal demand for novel diagnostic platforms with non-invasive and self-collection samples of COVID-19, the implementation of the salivary platforms has not been implemented for extensive scale testing. Up to date, several cross-section and clinical trial studies published in the last 12 months support the potential of detecting SARS-CoV-2 RNA in saliva as a biomarker for COVID-19, providing a self-collection, non-invasive, safe, and comfortable procedure. Therefore, the salivary diagnosis is suitable to protect healthcare professionals and other frontline workers and may encourage patients to get tested due to its advantages over the current invasive methods. The detection of SARS-CoV-2 in saliva was substantial also in patients with a negative nasopharyngeal swab, indicating the presence of false negative results. Furthermore, we expect that salivary diagnostic devices for COVID-19 will continue to be used with austerity without excluding traditional gold standard specimens to detect SARS-CoV-2.

Monitoring of Peripheral Blood Leukocytes and Plasma Samples: A Pilot Study to Examine Treatment Response to Leflunomide in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a painful inflammatory disease of the joints which affects a considerable proportion of the world population, mostly women. If not adequately treated, RA patients can become permanently disabled. Importantly, not all the patients respond to the available anti-rheumatic therapies, which also present diverse side effects. In this context, monitoring of treatment response is pivotal to avoid unnecessary side effects and costs towards an ineffective therapy. Herein, we performed a pilot study to investigate the potential use of flow cytometry and attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy as measures to identify responders and non-responders to leflunomide, a disease-modifying drug used in the treatment of RA patients. The evaluation of peripheral blood CD62L+ polymorphonuclear cell numbers and ATR-FTIR vibrational modes in plasma were able to discriminate responders to leflunomide (LFN) three-months after therapy has started. Overall, the results indicate that both flow cytometry and ATR-FTIR can potentially be employed as additional measures to monitor early treatment response to LFN in RA patients.

Effects of salbutamol and phlorizin on acute pulmonary inflammation and disease severity in experimental sepsis.

Respiratory infection can be exacerbated by the high glucose concentration in the airway surface liquid (ASL). We investigated the effects of salbutamol and phlorizin on the pulmonary function, oxidative stress levels and SGLT1 activity in lung, pulmonary histopathological damages and survival rates of rats with sepsis. Sepsis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture surgery (CLP). Twenty-four hours after surgery, CLP rats were intranasally treated with saline, salbutamol or phlorizin. After 2 hours, animals were anesthetized and sacrificed. Sepsis promoted atelectasis and bronchial inflammation, and led to increased expression of SGLT1 on cytoplasm of pneumocytes. Salbutamol treatment reduced bronchial inflammation and promoted hyperinsuflation in CLP rats. The interferon-ɤ and Interleucin-1ß concentrations in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) were closely related to the bronchial inflammation regulation. Salbutamol stimulated SGLT1 in plasma membrane; whereas, phlorizin promoted the increase of SGLT1 in cytoplasm. Phlorizin reduced catalase activity and induced a significant decrease in the survival rate of CLP rats. Taken together, sepsis promoted atelectasis and lung inflammation, which can be associated with SGLT1 inhibition. The loss of function of SGLT1 by phlorizin are related to the augmented disease severity, increased atelectasis, bronchial inflammation and a significant reduction of survival rate of CLP rats. Alternatively salbutamol reduced BAL inflammatory cytokines, bronchial inflammation, atelectasis, and airway damage in sepsis. These data suggest that this selective ß2-adrenergic agonist may protect lung of septic acute effects.

The Deleterious Impact of Interleukin 9 to Hepatorenal Physiology.

IL-9 is a pleiotropic cytokine, recently recognized as belonging to Th9 cells that are involved in various pathologies. We aimed to evaluate the role of IL-9 in the course of hepatic and renal fibrosis. Female C57BL/6 mice were treated subcutaneously with IL-9 10 ng/mouse and 20 ng/mouse for 40 days, alternating every 5 days each application, the negative control of which was treated with PBS and positive control with CCL4. IL-9 demonstrated fibrogenic activity, leading to increased collagen I and III deposition in both liver and kidney, as well as triggering lobular hepatitis. In addition, IL-9 induced an inflammatory response with recruitment of lymphocytes, neutrophils, and macrophages to both organs. The inflammation was present in the region of the portal and parenchymal zone in the liver and in the cortical and medullary zone in the kidney. IL-9 deregulated liver and kidney antioxidant activities. Our results showed that IL-9 was able to promote hepatorenal dysfunction. Moreover, IL-9 poses as a promising target for therapeutic interventions.

Adaptogenic potential of royal jelly in liver of rats exposed to chronic stress.

Restraint and cold stress increase both corticosterone and glycemia, which lead to oxidative damages in hepatic tissue. This study assessed the effect of royal jelly (RJ) supplementation on the corticosterone level, glycemia, plasma enzymes and hepatic antioxidant system in restraint and cold stressed rats. Wistar rats were allocated into no-stress, stress, no-stress supplemented with RJ and stress supplemented with RJ groups. Initially, RJ (200mg/Kg) was administered for fourteen days and stressed groups were submitted to chronic stress from the seventh day. The results showed that RJ supplementation decreases corticosterone levels and improves glycemia control after stress induction. RJ supplementation also decreased the body weight, AST, ALP and GGT. Moreover, RJ improved total antioxidant capacity, SOD activity and reduced GSH, GR and lipoperoxidation in the liver. Thus, RJ supplementation reestablished the corticosterone levels and the hepatic antioxidant system in stressed rats, indicating an adaptogenic and hepatoprotective potential of RJ.

Metformin attenuates the TLR4 inflammatory pathway in skeletal muscle of diabetic rats.

AIMS: Inflammation induced by hyperglycemia triggers the toll-like receptor (TLR) pathway into cells. Our hypothesis was that metformin treatment attenuates the TLR signaling pathways triggered by inflammation in skeletal muscle of hypoinsulinemic/hyperglycemic STZ-induced rats. Thus, we examined TLR signaling under hypoinsulinemia and hyperglycemia conditions and its correlation with insulin resistance in muscle of diabetic rats treated with metformin. METHODS: Ten-day diabetic rats were submitted to 7 days of saline (D group) or metformin (500 mg/kg once per day) (D + M group). The skeletal muscle was collected before the insulin tolerance test. Then, Western blotting analysis of skeletal muscle supernatant was probed with TLR4, TLR2, NF-κB, IκB, p-AMPK and p-JNK. TNF-α and CXCL1/KC content was analyzed by ELISA. RESULTS: Metformin treatment increased whole-body insulin sensitivity. This regulation was accompanied by a parallel change of p-AMPK and by an inverse regulation of TLR4 and NF-κB contents in the soleus muscle (r = 0.7229, r = -0.8344 and r = -0.7289, respectively, Pearson correlation; p < 0.05). Metformin treatment increased IκB content when compared to D rats. In addition, metformin treatment decreased p-JNK independently of TLR2 signal in diabetic rats. CONCLUSION: In summary, the results indicate a relationship between muscular TLR4, p-AMPK and NF-κB content and insulin sensitivity. The study also highlights that in situations of insulin resistance, such as in diabetic subjects, metformin treatment may prevent attenuation of activation of the inflammatory pathway.

Royal jelly decreases corticosterone levels and improves the brain antioxidant system in restraint and cold stressed rats.

Restraint and cold stress induces the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis to release corticosterone from the adrenal gland, which can worsen the antioxidant defense system in the central nervous system. Here, we investigated the corticosterone levels and the antioxidant defense system in the cerebellum and brain, as well as in its isolated regions, such as cerebral cortex, striatum and hippocampus of stressed rats supplemented with royal jelly (RJ). Wistar rats were supplemented with RJ for 14days and the stress induction started on the 7th day. Stressed rats increased corticosterone levels, glycemia and lipid peroxidation in the brain and cerebellum, cerebral cortex and hippocampus besides reduced glutathione defense system in the brain and striatum. Rats supplemented with RJ decreased corticosterone, maintained glycemia and decreased lipid peroxidation in the brain, cerebellum, as well as striatum and hippocampus, besides improved glutathione defense system in cerebral cortex and striatum. This study suggests an anti-stress and neuroprotective effect of RJ under stress conditions.

Hepatoprotective Properties of a Polyphenol-Enriched Fraction from Annona crassiflora Mart. Fruit Peel against Diabetes-Induced Oxidative and Nitrosative Stress.

A polyphenol-enriched fraction from Annona crassiflora fruit peel (Ac-Pef) containing chlorogenic acid, (epi)catechin, procyanidin B2, and caffeoyl-glucoside was investigated against hepatic oxidative and nitrosative stress in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Serum biochemical parameters, hepatic oxidative and nitrosative status, glutathione defense system analysis, and in silico assessment of absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) of the main compounds of Ac-Pef were carried out. Ac-Pef treatment during 30 days decreased serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase activities, as well as hepatic lipid peroxidation, protein carbonylation and nitration, inducible nitric oxide synthase level, and activities and expressions of glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase. There were increases in antioxidant capacity, glutathione reductase activity, and reduced glutathione level. ADMET predictions of Ac-Pef compounds showed favorable absorption and distribution, with no hepatotoxicity. A. crassiflora fruit peel showed hepatoprotective properties, indicating a promising natural source of bioactive molecules for prevention and therapy of diabetes complications.