Andrographolide, a novel inducer of apelin gene expression.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Andrographis paniculata (A. paniculata) has been used as a traditional medicine in Asia and Scandinavia for centuries to remedy several illnesses. It has since been shown to possess antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anti-neoplasm, hepatoprotective, hypoglycemic, hypocholesterolemic, and energetic effects. AIMS OF THE STUDY: This study sought to investigate the effect of Andrographolide on apelin gene expression and serum levels of glucose. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, 18 male rats were used. They were divided into three groups of six, including i) negative control group, ii) 3.5 mg/kg Andrographolide group, and iii) 7 mg/kg Andrographolide group. Apelin gene expression was investigated by real-time PCR method. Serum levels of glucose were measured by the photometric method. RESULTS: The results of this study revealed that 3.5 and 7 mg doses per kg of body weight of andrographolide, for six days, significantly increased hepatic expression of apelin gene in male Wistar rats, as compared with the control group (p < 0.05). Serum levels of glucose at doses of 3.5 and 7 mg/kg of andrographolide, and in the control group, were 71.5 ± 8.96, 51.5 ± 2.64, and 93.87 ± 14.27 mg/dl, respectively. Andrographolide induced a decrease in serum levels of HDL-c and an increase in LDL-c/HDL-c ratio. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that Andrographolide can elicit an increase of hepatic apelin gene expression and a decrease in serum levels of blood glucose.

Medullary thyroid cancer is associated with high serum vitamin D level and polymorphism of vitamin D receptors.

BACKGROUND: Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy. Studies have observed an anti-cancer effect for vitamin D and found that polymorphisms of vitamin D receptors can influence the prevalence of various cancers. The present study investigated the serum level of vitamin D and FokI, BsmI and Tru9I polymorphisms of vitamin D receptors. METHODS: Forty patients with medullary thyroid cancer and 40 healthy controls were investigated. The genomic DNA of the subjects was extracted using saturated salt/proteinase K and investigated by PCR sequencing. Serum levels of vitamin D were evaluated by ELISA. The results were analyzed in SPSS and GraphPad Prism 5 software. RESULTS: The genotypic and allelic frequencies of FokI and BsmI polymorphisms showed no significant differences between test and control groups. For Tru9I polymorphism, Tt genotype and t allelic frequency in the test group were significantly different from those of the control group. Also, we found Tt genotype and t allelic frequency to be significantly associated with medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) type and the agressiveness of the disease. The average serum vitamin D level was 23.32 ng/mL and 18.95 ng/mL for patients and controls, respectively, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant. Moreover, we found high serum vitamin D level to be associated with t allelic frequency. CONCLUSIONS: Unexpectedly, the mean serum vitamin D level of the test group was significantly higher than that of the control group. Tru9I polymorphism was found to be significantly correlated with the prevalence of medullary thyroid carcinoma.