Protective effects of Ligustrum lucidum fruit extract on acute butylated hydroxytoluene-induced oxidative stress in rats

Acute toxicity study of the standardized methanolic extract of Mitragyna speciosa Korth in rodent

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Mitragyna speciosa Korth (ketum) is widely used in Malaysia as a medicinal agent for treating diarrhea, worm infestations and also acts as an analgesic and antipyretic.

AIM

The aim of the study is to determine the acute toxicity of Mitragyna speciosa Korth standardized methanol extract in vivo in 4-weeks-old Sprague-Dawley rats.

METHODOLOGY

Rats were orally administrated single dose of 100, 500 and 1000 mg/kg Mitragyna speciosa Korth standardized methanol extract and the control group received 430 mg/kg of morphine orally. There were 10 rats in each group. All animals were sacrificed after 14 days of treatment. Eight parameters were tested: cage side observation, body weight measurement, food and water consumption, blood pressure, absolute and relative organ weight, hematology, biochemical analysis and histopathology, to look for evidence of toxicity.

RESULT

No mortality was noted after 14 days of treatment. In general, behavior, food and water consumption, hematological studies and organ weights showed no significant changes. The standardized methanol extraction of Mitragyna speciosa Korth increased rat blood pressure (systolic: 147.4+/-1.01, 131.64+/-4.94 and 137.8+/-4.46) after an hour of 100, 500 and 1000 mg/kg doses, respectively. Biochemical studies showed significant elevation of ALT, AST, albumin, triglycerides, cholesterol and albumin (p>0.05), at all levels of doses. But, nephrotoxicity evidenced by elevated creatinine was seen only at a dose of 1000 mg/kg. Histological examination showed congestion of sinusoids, hemorrhage hepatocytes, fatty change, centrilobular necrosis and increased number of Kuppfer cells in the liver of all Mitragyna speciosa Korth standardized methanol extract treated groups.

CONCLUSION

Oral administration of standardized methanolic extraction of Mitragyna speciosa Korth resulted in increasing rat blood pressure after an hour of drug administration. The highest dose of extract also induced acute severe hepatotoxicity and mild nephrotoxicity. However, Mitragyna speciosa Korth shows no effects on body weight, food and water consumption, absolute and relative organ weight and also hematology parameters.

Fructus ligustri lucidi extracts induce human glioma cell death through regulation of Akt/mTOR pathway in vitro and reduce glioma tumor growth in U87MG xenograft mouse model

The present study was undertaken to examine the effect of Fructus ligustri lucidi (FLL) extracts on glioma cell growth and to determine the underlying mechanism by which FLL extracts exert anticancer properties in human U87MG glioma cells. The FLL extracts resulted in cell death in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Western blot analysis showed that treatment with FLL extracts caused down-regulation of the phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway. Overexpression of Akt prevented the cell death induced by the FLL extracts. The FLL extracts caused a decrease in the expression of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and the FLL extract-induced cell death was increased by the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin. The FLL extracts decreased the expression of survivin. Oral administration of FLL extracts in subcutaneous U87MG xenograft models reduced the glioma tumor volume. These findings indicate that the FLL extracts resulted in glioma cell death through regulation of the Akt/mTOR/survivin pathway in vitro and inhibited glioma tumor growth in vivo. These data suggest that the FLL extracts may serve as a potential therapeutic agent for malignant human gliomas.

Anti-hyperlipidemic activity of spider brake (Pteris multifida) with rats fed a high cholesterol diet

This study evaluates the possible potency of the anti-hyperlipidemic effect of spider brake [(Pteris multifida Poiret (Pteridaceae)]. We investigated this by feeding the hyperlipidemic Sprague-Dawley rats, caused by a high cholesterol diet, with lyophilized powder of spider brake (LSB) and compared the result with the rats fed with beta-sitosterol. The results indicated that the administration of lyophilized powder of spider brake (LSB) lowered the hyperlipidemic level on rats. The relative weights of the liver, adipose tissue, and relative adipose tissue of 10% substitutions of LSB group (LSB-10) showed a significant decrease (P < 0.05) by 6%, 15.9%, and 14.3% in contrast to the untreated counterparts (control), respectively. A significantly lower (P < 0.05) plasma TG, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol/high density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio, liver CH, and TG contents were also observed in LSB-10 compared to the untreated counterparts (by 36.8%, 21%, 18.7%, 10.2% and 14.3% reduction, respectively). Simultaneously, the wet fecal weight, dry fecal weight, nitrogen compounds, excretion of neutral steroids, and bile acids significantly (P < 0.05) increased by 9.6%, 10.6%, 23.7%, 9.7%, and 3.4% respectively. The results showed that LSB could cause not only a reduction in CH and TG, but also could increase the excretion of lipids and metabolic by-products via the intestinal tract.

Nrf3-deficient mice are not protected against acute lung and adipose tissue damages induced by butylated hydroxytoluene

We found that both wild type and Nrf3 (NF-E2-related factor 3) deficient mice are sensitive to BHT single administration exhibiting respiratory distress and considerably lose body weight following treatment. At time of sacrifice, the BHT-treated Nrf3-/- mice had lost significantly more body weight than their WT counterparts. In the lung, transcript levels of the transcription factors Nrf1, Nrf2 and Nrf3 were differentially regulated by BHT treatment. In addition, genes implicated in adipogenesis were repressed following BHT exposure in the white adipose tissue. Together, our data provide the first evidence that BHT exposure not only affects lung function but also leads to impaired adipogenesis in adipocytes.

Effects of Ligustrum delavayanum Hariot. on cholesterol levels and arrhythmogenesis induced by myocardial ischaemia-reperfusion injury in diabetic-hypercholesterolaemic rats

The present study was conducted to determine the effects of Ligustrum delavayanum Hariot. (Oleaceae) on cholesterol levels and the outcome of myocardial reperfusion injury in diabetic-hypercholesterolaemic rats. Per orally daily administration of a Ligustrum infusion (1000mg/kg, calculated on the dry plant material) to the rats with induced diabetes and hypercholesterolaemia significantly reduced the liver total cholesterol content. Similarly, increased severity of reperfusion arrhythmias in the double-diseased rats was diminished upon Ligustrum-treatment. These results suggest a potential use of Ligustrum in the prevention/therapy of risk factors and coronary heart disease itself.

Botanicals as epigenetic modulators for mechanisms contributing to development of metabolic syndrome

Epigenetics refers to heritable changes in gene expression that are not attributable to changes in DNA sequence and impacts many areas of applied and basic biology including developmental biology, gene therapy, somatic cell nuclear transfer, somatic cell reprogramming, and stem cell biology. Epigenetic changes are known to contribute to aging in addition to multiple disease states. Epigenetic changes can be influenced by environmental factors that in turn can be inherited by daughter cells during cell division and can also be inherited through the germ line. Thus, it is intriguing to consider that epigenetics, in general, may play a role in human conditions that are strongly influenced by changes in the environment and lifestyle. In particular, metabolic syndrome, a condition increasing in prevalence around the world, is one such condition for which epigenetics is postulated to contribute. Epigenetic defects (epimutations) are thought to be more easily reversible (when compared with genetic defects) and, as such, have inspired efforts to identify novel compounds that correct epimutations or prevent progression to the disease state. These efforts have resulted in the development of a rapidly growing new field being referred to as epigenetic therapy. To date, 2 classes of drugs have received the most attention, that is, DNA methyltransferase inhibitors and histone deacetylase inhibitors; but recent data suggest that botanical sources may be a rich source of agents that can potentially modulate the epigenome and related pathways and potentially be useful in attenuating the progression of many factors related to development of metabolic syndrome. This review will provide an overview of the field of epigenetics, epigenetic therapy, and the molecules currently receiving the most interest with respect to treatment, and review data on botanical compounds that show promise in this regard.