Molineria recurvata Ameliorates Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Nephropathy through Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Pathways.

Molineria recurvata (MR) has been traditionally used to manage diabetes mellitus in India. However, the molecular mechanism of MR on the diabetic-induced nephropathy has not been clearly investigated. Thus, this study investigates the protective effects of the MR extract on nephropathy in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Diabetes was instigated by a single intraperitoneal injection of STZ (45 mg/kg) in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Once the diabetes was successfully induced, the MR extract (200 mg/kg/day) or metformin (200 mg/kg/day) was orally administered for 14 days. Renal function, morphology changes and levels of inflammatory cytokines were measured. Blood glucose concentrations were considerably reduced in STZ-induced diabetic rats following treatment with the MR extract. The administration of the MR extract substantially restored the abnormal quantity of the oxidative DNA damage marker 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxy-guanosine (8-OHdG), malondialdehyde, glutathione, oxidized glutathione, superoxide dismutase, catalase, interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-6, IL-10, and transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß). The urinary excretion of kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1), neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), selenium binding protein 1 (SBP1), and pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) was significantly reduced in diabetes rats after administration of the MR extracts. In the kidneys of STZ-induced diabetic rats, the MR extracts markedly downregulated the expression of fibronectin, collagen-1, and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA). In particular, the MR extracts markedly increased the level of SIRT1 and SIRT3 and reduced claudin-1 in the kidney. These results suggest that the MR extracts exhibits therapeutic activity in contrast to renal injury in STZ-induced diabetic rats through repressing inflammation and oxidative stress.

Therapeutic value of steroidal alkaloids in cancer: Current trends and future perspectives.

Discovery and development of new potentially selective anticancer agents are necessary to prevent a global cancer health crisis. Currently, alternative medicinal agents derived from plants have been extensively investigated to develop anticancer drugs with fewer adverse effects. Among them, steroidal alkaloids are conventional secondary metabolites that comprise an important class of natural products found in plants, marine organisms and invertebrates, and constitute a judicious choice as potential anti-cancer leads. Traditional medicine and modern science have shown that representatives from this compound group possess potential antimicrobial, analgesic, anticancer and anti-inflammatory effects. Therefore, systematic and recapitulated information about the bioactivity of these compounds, with special emphasis on the molecular or cellular mechanisms, is of high interest. In this review, we methodically discuss the in vitro and in vivo potential of the anticancer activity of natural steroidal alkaloids and their synthetic and semi-synthetic derivatives. This review focuses on cumulative and comprehensive molecular mechanisms, which will help researchers understand the molecular pathways involving steroid alkaloids to generate a selective and safe new lead compound with improved therapeutic applications for cancer prevention and therapy. In vitro and in vivo studies provide evidence about the promising therapeutic potential of steroidal alkaloids in various cancer cell lines, but advanced pharmacokinetic and clinical experiments are required to develop more selective and safe drugs for cancer treatment.