Compare the effects of different visfatin concentration on cardiovascular risk factors, adiponectin and insulin resistance in patients with T2DM

Assessment of serum and salivary visfatin levels in newly diagnosed patients of type-II DM

Background

Type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a metabolic disorder. It is thought to be an autoinflammatory disease, as inflammatory mediators are associated with the progression of the disease. Visfatin, an adipokine, is linked to insulin resistance.

Aims

We aimed to study serum and salivary visfatin levels, at the time of diagnosis of T2DM, in middle-aged individuals, in the context of other diagnostic parameters like fasting blood sugar (FBS), postprandial blood sugar (PPBS), and glycated haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c).

Materials and Methods

Thirty newly diagnosed T2DM (Group-I, T2DM) patients and 30 healthy nondiabetic individuals (Group-II, health controls [HC]) matched for age and sex were studied. In both the groups, we assessed serum and salivary visfatin levels, and serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels. We also compared serum and salivary visfatin levels and serum hs-CRP levels between Group-I and Group-II individuals.

Statistical Analysis

The correlation between the groups was tested using Pearson's correlation. A P- value < 0.001 was considered to be statistically significant. The data was tabulated using software MS Excel and analysed using IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 22.0.

Results

A positive correlation with a value of 0.8836 and a P value of 0.001 was noted between serum and salivary visfatin of Group-I.

Conclusion

This is the first study in the Indian scenario to study the serum and salivary visfatin in newly diagnosed T2DM individuals. Serum visfatin and hs-CRP levels increased in T2DM, thus defining the link between visfatin, inflammation and T2DM, but we failed to notice a positive correlation.

Health Benefits of Endurance Training: Implications of the Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor-A Systematic Review

This article presents a concept that wide expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its receptors (TrkB) in the nervous tissue, evoked by regular endurance training (ET), can cause numerous motor and metabolic adaptations, which are beneficial for human health. The relationships between the training-evoked increase of endogenous BDNF and molecular and/or physiological adaptations in the nervous structures controlling both motor performance and homeostasis of the whole organism have been presented. Due to a very wide range of plastic changes that ET has exerted on various systems of the body, the improvement of motor skills and counteraction of the development of civilization diseases resulting from the posttraining increase of BDNF/TrkB levels have been discussed, as important for people, who undertake ET. Thus, this report presents the influence of endurance exercises on the (1) transformation of motoneuron properties, which are a final element of the motor pathways, (2) reduction of motor deficits evoked by Parkinson disease, and (3) prevention of the metabolic syndrome (MetS). This review suggests that the increase of posttraining levels of BDNF and its TrkB receptors causes simultaneous changes in the activity of the spinal cord, the substantia nigra, and the hypothalamic nuclei neurons, which are responsible for the alteration of the functional properties of motoneurons innervating the skeletal muscles, for the enhancement of dopamine release in the brain, and for the modulation of hormone levels involved in regulating the metabolic processes, responsively. Finally, training-evoked increase of the BDNF/TrkB leads to a change in a manner of regulation of skeletal muscles, causes a reduction of motor deficits observed in the Parkinson disease, and lowers weight, glucose level, and blood pressure, which accompany the MetS. Therefore, BDNF seems to be the molecular factor of pleiotropic activity, important in the modulation processes, underlying adaptations, which result from ET.

Loureirin B promotes insulin secretion through inhibition of KATP channel and influx of intracellular calcium

The development of new diabetes drugs continues to be explored. Loureirin B, a flavonoid, extracted from Dracaena cochinchinensis, has been confirmed to increase insulin secretion and decrease blood glucose levels. For searching the promotion of insulin secretion with the treatment of loureirin B, experiments were employed based on cell experiments and computational methods. First, promotion of insulin secretion was dependent on extracellular glucose concentration. At the genetic level, loureirin B enhanced the relative mRNA level of Pdx-1 and MafA. Meanwhile the intracellular level of ATP increased due to the continuous absorption of glucose. Further experiments showed that the currents of K_ATP channel on Ins-1 cells were inhibited and the voltage-dependent calcium channels were subsequently activated. The increase of Cx43 protein expression might mediate the Ca²⁺ to the intracellular. Through computational simulation, we hypothesized that loureirin B might interact with K_ATP channels to promote insulin secretion. In conclusion, it could be concluded that loureirin B promoted insulin secretion mainly through increasing mRNA level of Pdx-1, MafA, intracellular ATP level, inhibiting the K_ATP current, influx of Ca²⁺ to the intracellular.

The development of bioactive peptides from dietary proteins as a dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitor for the management of type 2 diabetes

One of the new approaches to the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) consists of orally administered dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV) inhibitors. These synthetic drug inhibitors are reported to have some side effects and that subsequently limits their applications. There is a growing interest to develop natural DPP-IV inhibitors that will be potent without undesirable side effects. Many in vitro and some in vivo studies have highlighted the potential of food-derived peptides functioning as effective DPPIV inhibitors. Bioactive peptides within original food-derived proteins are inactive but can be activated by being released during food processing (by enzymatic hydrolysis or fermentation) or during gastrointestinal digestion. Hence, the utilization of computer-aided techniques as screening tools may be helpful in predicting the potential of food proteins as precursors of DPP-IV inhibitory peptides. This paper reviews the current literature on DPP-IV inhibitory peptides, focusing on their in vitro activity and in vivo antidiabetic effects. In addition, the feasibility of various in silico approaches is also summarized in this review.

Visfatin concentrations in patients with endometrial cancer

OBJECTIVE

Visfatin is one of the most recent proteins shown to be highly expressed in adipose tissue. The purpose of this study was to determine visfatin levels in patients with endometrial cancer (EC).

METHODS

A total of 90 patients (46 EC patients and 44 healthy controls) were included in the study. Fasting venous blood samples were collected from all patients. Serum visfatin levels were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The correlation between serum visfatin levels and clinicopathologic variables were determined.

RESULTS

Serum visfatin levels were found to be higher in patients with EC (p < 0.001). Visfatin concentrations were positively correlated with age (p = 0.002, r = 0.323), body mass index (BMI) (p = 0.001, r = 0.354), fasting insulin (p = 0.002, r = 0.326), total cholesterol (TC) (p = 0.006, r = 0.285), triglyceride (TG) (p < 0.001, r = 0.364) levels and homeostasis model-resistance index (HOMA-IR) (p = 0.007, r = 0.281) of patients. By using classification and regression trees (C&RT) method, we found that visfatin predicted patients with EC 100% and controls 81.8%.

CONCLUSION

Visfatin was the most important risk factor for occurrence of EC other than, age, BMI, Diabetes Mellitus and other biochemical factors like HDL, LDL, TG, TC. Clearly, there are largely unknown aspects of visfatin pathophysiology in EC and require further study.

Adiponectin as a potential biomarker of vascular disease

The increasing prevalence of diabetes and its complications heralds an alarming situation worldwide. Obesity-associated changes in circulating adiponectin concentrations have the capacity to predict insulin sensitivity and are a link between obesity and a number of vascular diseases. One obvious consequence of obesity is a decrease in circulating levels of adiponectin, which are associated with cardiovascular disorders and associated vascular comorbidities. Human and animal studies have demonstrated decreased adiponectin to be an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. However, in animal studies, increased circulating adiponectin alleviates obesity-induced endothelial dysfunction and hypertension, and also prevents atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, and diabetic cardiac tissue disorders. Further, metabolism of a number of foods and medications are affected by induction of adiponectin. Adiponectin has beneficial effects on cardiovascular cells via its antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiapoptotic, antiatherogenic, vasodilatory, and antithrombotic activity, and consequently has a favorable effect on cardiac and vascular health. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of adiponectin secretion and signaling is critical for designing new therapeutic strategies. This review summarizes the recent evidence for the physiological role and clinical significance of adiponectin in vascular health, identification of the receptor and post-receptor signaling events related to the protective effects of the adiponectin system on vascular compartments, and its potential use as a target for therapeutic intervention in vascular disease.

Antidiabetic effect of total flavonoids from Sanguis draxonis in type 2 diabetic rats

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Sanguis draxonis (SD) is a kind of red resin obtained from the wood of Dracaena cochinchinensis (Lour.) S. C. Chen (Dracaena cochinchinensis). It is a Chinese traditional herb that is prescribed for the handling of diabetic disorders, which is also supported by an array of scientific studies published in recent years. Although chemical constituents of this plant material have also been previously evaluated (Tang et al., 1995; Wei et al., 1998), it still remains poorly understood which constituent is the major contributor to its antidiabetic activities. Moreover, very little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying antidiabetic activities of SD. Flavonoids exist at a high level in SD. The aim of this study is to evaluate the antidiabetic effects of total flavonoids from SD (SDF) in type 2 Diabetes mellitus (T2DM) rats.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

T2DM rats were induced by 4 weeks high-fat diet and a singular injection of streptozotocin (STZ) (35mg/kg). Then T2DM rats were treated with SDF for 21 days, using normal saline as the negative control. For comparison, a standard antidiabetic drug, metformin (200mg/kg), was used as a positive control. Three weeks later, relative biochemical indexes were determined and histopathological examinations were performed to assess the antidiabetic activities of SDF.

RESULTS

SDF not only exhibited a significant hypoglycemic activity, but also alleviated dyslipidemia, tissue steatosis, and oxidative stress associated with T2DM. Moreover, considerable pancreatic islet protecting effects could be observed after SDF treatment. Further investigations revealed a potential anti-inflammation activity of SDF by determining serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and C-reactive protein (CRP).

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates both hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects of SDF in T2DM rats, suggesting that flavonoids are the major active ingredients accounting for the antidiabetic activity of SD. Alleviating chronic inflammation responses and protecting pancreatic islets are possible mechanisms involved in the antidiabetic activity of SDF.