Spectroscopic, structural characterizations and antioxidant capacity of the chromium (III) niacinamide compound as a diabetes mellitus drug model

Is chromium(III) pharmacologically relevant? An update focused on studies with diabetic rodent models

A decade ago, the author assessed the status of chromium as the trivalent ion as an essential element and as a therapeutic agent based on rodent studies for this journal. The current review was undertaken to update considerations regarding the status of chromium, focusing on studies of Cr supplementation of diabetic rodent models over the last decade. Cr can no longer be considered an essential trace element for humans. Observed effects of Cr on rodent models of insulin resistance and diabetes are best interpreted in terms of a pharmacological role for Cr. The review of studies on the effects of Cr on rat models of diabetes is updated, and the results continue to suggest Cr increases insulin sensitivity in peripheral tissues of the rodent models. The lack of effects in human studies may stem from humans receiving a comparably smaller dose than the rodent models. However, given the different responses to Cr in the rodent models, humans could potentially have different responses to Cr. Recent studies primary utilizing rodents suggest two potential complementary but also contradictory modes of action for Cr(III) at a molecular level.

A review on the hypoglycemic effect, mechanism and application development of natural dietary polysaccharides

Diabetes mellitus (DM) as one chronic metabolic disease was greatly increased over recent decades. The major agents treating diabetes have noticeable side effects as well as the tolerability problems. The bioactive dietary polysaccharides from abundant natural resources exhibit good hypoglycemic effect with rare adverse effects, which might serve as a candidate to prevent and treat diabetes. However, the correlations between the hypoglycemic mechanism of polysaccharides and their structure were not mentioned in several studies, what's more, most of the current hypoglycemic studies on polysaccharides were based on in vitro and in vivo experiments, and there was a lack of knowledge about the effects in human clinical trials. The aim of this review is to discuss recent literature about the variety of dietary polysaccharides with hypoglycemic activity, as well the mechanism of action and the structure-function relationship are highlighted. Meanwhile, the application of dietary polysaccharides in functional foods and clinical medicine are realized with an in-depth understanding. So as to promote the exploration of dietary polysaccharides in low glycemic healthy foods or clinical medicine to prevent and treat diabetes.

Collagen-Based Dissolving Microneedles with Flexible Pedestals: A Transdermal Delivery System for Both Anti-Aging and Skin Diseases

Biocompatible polymer microneedles (MNs) are emerging as a promising platform for transdermal drug delivery, especially for facial treatments. Therefore, an MN patch in this study uses hydrolyzed collagen (HC) contained in skin cells as the main raw material and adopts a two-step cast method to develop a rapidly dissolving microneedle (DMN) to deliver collagen in a simple and minimally invasive way, allowing the release of the encapsulated drug in the skin. By optimizing the formulation and proportion of HC and auxiliary support materials, the mechanical strength required to pierce the skin is obtained, while the soft pedestal allows for flexibility in application. The DMNs can dissolve completely in the skin within 15 min and release within ≈ 8 h, and do not cause toxicity or irritation when being applied. In contrast to the ineffectiveness of oral and external application, and the high risk of dermal injection, drug-loaded DMNs overcome the drawbacks of traditional methods with direct penetration and minimally invasive manner, enabling efficient and safe treatment. The successful preparation and research of HC DMNs have innovative and practical significance in this field, and it is expected to become a simple, effective, and popular transdermal drug delivery platform for cosmetics.

Dual Antimelanogenic Effect of Nicotinamide-Stabilized Phloretin Nanocrystals in Larval Zebrafish

Melanin is a kind of dark insoluble pigment that can cause pigmentation and free-radical clearance, inducing melasma, freckles, and chloasma, affecting the quality of life of patients. Due to poor water solubility and low safety, the absorption of poorly water-soluble drugs is limited by the hinderance of a skin barrier. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new, safe, and highly efficient drugs to improve their transdermal absorption efficiency and thus to inhibit the production of melanin. To address these issues, we developed a new nicotinamide (NIC)-stabilized phloretin nanocrystals (PHL-NCs). First, NC technology significantly increased the solubility of PHL. The in vitro release results indicated that at 6 h, the dissolution of the PHL-NIC-NCs was 101.39% ± 2.40% and of the PHL-NCs was 84.92% ± 4.30%, while that of the physical mixture of the two drugs was only 64.43% ± 0.02%. Second, NIC acted not only as a stabilizer to enlarge the storage time of PHL-NIC-NCs (improved to 10-day in vitro stability) but also as a melanin transfer inhibitor to inhibit melanin production. Finally, we verified the melanin inhibition effect of PHL-NIC-NCs evaluated by the zebrafish model. It showed that 0.38 mM/L PHL-NIC-NCs have a lower tyrosinase activity at 62.97% ± 0.52% and have less melanin at 36.57% ± 0.44%. The inhibition effect of PHL-NCs and PHL-NIC-NCs was stronger compared to the positive control arbutin. In conclusion, the combination of NIC and PHL achieves better inhibition of tyrosinase and inhibition of melanin production through synergism. This will provide a direction to the subsequent development of melanin-inhibiting drugs and the combined use of pharmaceutical agents.

Synthesis and Spectroscopic Characterization of Dapagliflozin/Zn (II), Cr (III) and Se (IV) Novel Complexes That Ameliorate Hepatic Damage, Hyperglycemia and Oxidative Injury Induced by Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Male Rats and Their Antibacterial Activity

Diabetes mellitus (DM) causes an imbalance in the oxidative status of the human body. Three novel Dapagliflozin (Dapg) Zn (II), Cr (III) and Se (IV) complexes were prepared and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, electronic spectra, magnetic susceptibility, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction. The molar conductance values confirmed the non-electrolytic nature of the Dapg complexes. According to spectral data, Dapg acts as a bidentate ligand. The thermal analyses of the complexes were studied using the DSC technique. The surface morphology and particle sizes of the Dapg complexes were investigated using SEM and XRD. XRD confirmed the crystalline structure for the complexity. This study investigated the effect of novel metal complexes of Dapg with the metals Zn (II), Cr (III) and Se (IV) on oxidative injury and tissue damage in the hepatic tissue of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic male rats. DM was experimentally induced in male rats. The diabetic rats received Dapg, Dapg/Zn, Dapg/Cr and Dapg/Se orally for 30 successive days. Male rats exposed to STZ showed multi-histopathological alterations in their hepatic tissue, including inflammatory and structural changes. STZ elevated oxidative stress markers in the hepatic tissue and lowered the antioxidant defense enzymes. Supplementation of Dapg with Zn, Cr or Se novel complexes significantly prevented hepatic injury and suppressed the generation of reactive oxygen species. The Dapg/Zn complex was highly effective against Bacillus subtilis and Streptococcus penumonia, while Dapg/Cr was highly effective against Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Dapg/Se was highly effective against Staphylococcus aureas. In conclusion, Dapg novel metal complexes with Zn, Cr or Se protect against oxidative injury and the pathophysiological and bacterial complications of DM and hepatic tissue injury. The Dapg novel metal complexes improved hepatic functions, reduced blood glucose levels and enhanced the levels of antioxidant defense enzymes in diabetic male rats.

Intestinal microbiomics and liver metabolomics insights into the preventive effects of chromium (III)-enriched yeast on hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia induced by high-fat and high-fructose diet

In recent years, organic chromium (III) supplements have received increasing attentions for their low toxicity, high bioavailability and wide range of health-promoting benefits. This study aimed to investigate the preventive effects of chromium (III)-enriched yeast (YCr) on high-fat and high-fructose diet (HFHFD)-induced hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia in mice, and further clarify its mechanism of action from the perspective of intestinal microbiomics and liver metabolomics. The results indicated that oral administration of YCr remarkably inhibited the aberrant elevations of body weight, blood glucose and lipid levels, hepatic cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) levels caused by HFHFD. Liver histological examination showed that oral YCr intervention inhibited HFHFD induced liver lipid accumulation. Besides, 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing showed that YCr intervention was beneficial to ameliorating intestinal microbiota dysbiosis by altering the proportion of some intestinal microbial phylotypes. Correlation-based network analysis indicated that the key intestinal microbial phylotypes intervened by YCr were closely related to some biochemical parameters associated with glucose and lipid metabolism. Liver metabolomics analysis revealed that dietary YCr intervention significantly regulated the levels of some biomarkers involved in purine metabolism, glycerophospholipid metabolism, citrate cycle, pyrimidine metabolism, glycerophospholipid metabolism, phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis, and so on. Moreover, dietary YCr intervention regulated the mRNA levels of key genes associated with glucose, cholesterol, fatty acids and bile acids metabolism in liver. These findings suggest that dietary YCr intervention has beneficial effects on glucose and lipid metabolism by regulating intestinal microbiota and liver metabolic pathway, and thus can be served as a functional component to prevent hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia.

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Chromium-enriched yeast enhances glucose tolerance and liver glycogen synthesis.

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Chromium-enriched yeast ameliorates the disturbance of intestinal microbiota.

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Explore the hepatoprotective effect of chromium-enriched yeast based on metabolomics.

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Chromium-enriched yeast alleviates lipid metabolism through “gut-liver” axis.

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Chromium-enriched yeast intervention affects hepatic gene transcription levels.

In Situ Neutral System Synthesis, Spectroscopic, and Biological Interpretations of Magnesium(II), Calcium(II), Chromium(III), Zinc(II), Copper(II) and Selenium(IV) Sitagliptin Complexes

Magnesium(II), calcium(II), chromium(III), zinc(II), copper(II), and selenium(IV) sitagliptin (STG) complexes—with the general formulas [Mg(STG)₂(Cl)₂]·6H₂O, [Ca(STG)₂(Cl)₂], [Cr(STG)₂(Cl)₂]Cl.6H₂O, [Zn(STG)₂(Cl)₂], [Cu(STG)₂(Cl)₂]·2H₂O, and [Se(STG)₂(Cl)₂]Cl₂, respectively—were designed and synthesized by the chemical reactions between metal(II, III, and IV) chloride salts with an STG ligand in situ methanol solvent in a 1:2 stoichiometric ratio (metal:ligand). Tentative structures of the complexes were proposed based on elemental analysis, molar conductance, magnetic moments, thermogravimetric analysis, and spectral (infrared, electronic, and ¹H NMR) data. The particle size and morphological investigation were checked on the bases of scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray powder diffraction analyses. All the Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Cr³⁺, Zn²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Se⁴⁺ complexes were found to be six-coordinated, wherein the STG ligands act as bidentate chelating agents. This study demonstrates that pancreatic tissues are affected by the induction of experimental diabetes mellitus and clarifies the potential of the synthesized STG complexes, which was found to more significantly improve insulin secretion and the pancreatic and glycometabolic complications of diabetic rats than STG alone.

A Comprehensive insight into the effect of chromium supplementation on oxidative stress indices in diabetes mellitus: A systematic review

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder defined as an increase in blood glucose levels (hyperglycaemia) and insufficient production or action of insulin produced by the pancreas. Chronic hyperglycaemia leads to increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and oxidative stress, which consequently results in insulin resistance, beta cell degeneration, dyslipidaemia, and glucose intolerance in diabetic patients. Chromium has an essential role in the metabolism of proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates through increasing insulin efficiency. This systematic review aimed to evaluate chromium supplementation's potential roles in oxidative stress indices in diabetes mellitus. A systematic search was performed in PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, Cochrane, and Science Direct databases until November 2020. All clinical trials and animal studies that assessed chromium's effect on oxidative stress indices in diabetes mellitus and were published in English-language journals were included. Finally, only 33 out of 633 articles met the required criteria for further analysis. Among 33 papers, 25 studies were performed on animals, and eight investigations were conducted on humans. Twenty-eight studies of chromium supplementation lead to reducing oxidative stress indices. Also, 23 studies showed that chromium supplementation markedly increased antioxidant enzymes' activity and improved levels of antioxidant indices. In conclusion, chromium supplementation decreased oxidative stress in diabetes mellitus. However, further clinical trials are suggested in a bid to determine the exact mechanisms.

Influence of Chronic Toxicity, Lipid Metabolism, Learning and Memory Ability, and Related Enzyme in Sprague-Dawley Rats by Long-Term Chromium Malate Supplementation

In our previous study, chromium malate is beneficial for type 2 diabetic rats in control glycometabolism and lipid metabolism. The present study was designed to observe the chronic toxicity, lipid metabolism, learning and memory ability, and related enzymes of chromium malate in rats during the year. The results showed that pathological, toxic, feces, and urine of chromium malate (at daily doses of 10.0, 15.0, and 20.0 μg Cr/kg bm) did not change measurably. Chromium malate (at daily doses of 15.0 and 20.0 μg Cr/kg bm) could significantly reduce the levels of total cholesterol (TC), LDL, and triglyceride (TG), and increase the level of HDL in male rats compared to control group and chromium picolinate group. Significant escalating trends of the escape latency and swimming speed (Morris water maze test), and the original platform quadrant stops, residence time, and swimming speed (Space exploration test) in male rats of chromium malate groups were obtained. The SOD, GSH-Px, and TChE activities of chromium malate (at daily doses of 15.0 and 20.0 μg Cr/kg bm) were enhanced significantly in male rats compared with those of the normal control group and chromium picolinate group. Glycometabolism and related enzymes had no significant changes compared to normal control group and chromium picolinate group. These results indicated that long-term chromium malate supplementation did not cause measurable toxicity at daily doses of 10.0, 15.0, and 20.0 μg Cr/kg bm and could improve dyslipidemia and learning and memory deficits.

Synthesis and suggestion of a new nanometric gold(III) melatonin drug complex: an interesting model for testicular protection

AIM

Melatonin (MLT) is a major hormone secreted by the pineal gland. In this study, a gold(III) MLT (Au⁺³/MLT) complex has been synthesized and investigating its protective effects against testicular damage.

METHODOLOGY

The structural features of the complex were investigated. For biological assessment, 30 male rats were divided into three groups for 30 days. The first control group, the second received MLT and the third received Au⁺³/MLT complex.

RESULTS

The Au⁺³/MLT complex was found to be nonelectrolytic with formula (Au[MLT]₂[Cl][H₂O]). The ligand is monodentate and adopt square-planar geometry. Its particles range in diameter from 35 to 100 nm. MLT affords slight oxidative stress protection. The Au⁺³/MLT complex significantly decreases TNF-α and IL-1β levels but elevates antioxidant enzyme capacities, reducing lipid peroxidation markers and improving testicular histological structure.

CONCLUSION

The Au⁺³/MLT complex improves the anti-inflammatory actions of MLT, exhibits potent antioxidant activity and enhances reproductive capacity.