Beneficial Effect of Thymelaea hirsuta on Pancreatic Islet Degeneration, Renal Fibrosis, and Liver Damages as Demonstrated in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rat

A Review of Medicinal Plants with Renoprotective Activity in Diabetic Nephropathy Animal Models

Diabetic nephropathy (DN), also recognized as diabetic kidney disease, is a kidney malfunction caused by diabetes mellitus. A possible contributing factor to the onset of DN is hyperglycemia. Poorly regulated hyperglycemia can damage blood vessel clusters in the kidneys, leading to kidney damage. Its treatment is difficult and expensive because its causes are extremely complex and poorly understood. Extracts from medicinal plants can be an alternative treatment for DN. The bioactive content in medicinal plants inhibits the progression of DN. This work explores the renoprotective activity and possible mechanisms of various medicinal plant extracts administered to diabetic animal models. Research articles published from 2011 to 2022 were gathered from several databases including PubMed, Scopus, ProQuest, and ScienceDirect to ensure up-to-date findings. Results showed that medicinal plant extracts ameliorated the progression of DN via the reduction in oxidative stress and suppression of inflammation, advanced glycation end-product formation, cell apoptosis, and tissue injury-related protein expression.

Crocin treatment exerts anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects in liver tissue damage of pinealectomized diabetic rats

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder with an increasing global prevalence that leads to significant morbidity and mortality. The liver plays a vital role in glycemic regulation in physiological and pathological conditions such as DM. Free radical formation and inhibition of antioxidant defense systems play a role in the liver damage pathogenesis in diabetic patients The antioxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, and radical scavenging properties of crocin are known. This study was designed to determine the possible protective effects of crocin against liver tissue damage in pinealectomized diabetic rats. Sixty rats were divided into six groups: Control, Sham+streptozotocin (STZ), Pinealectomy (PINX), PINX+STZ, PINX+Crocin, and PINX+STZ+Crocin. PNX procedure was carried out on the first day of the experiment. Intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of 50 mg/kg STZ was performed on the 30th day of the experiment to induce DM. Crocin (50 mg/kg; i.p.) was applied for 15 days after the pinealectomy procedure and induction of DM. Crocin decreased the markers (alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and malondialdehyde (MDA)) of liver damage and increased antioxidant enzyme levels and tissue total antioxidant status. Histological results showed that the administration of crocin exhibited a protective effect against liver damage caused by STZ. These results indicate that crocin evidence protection against liver injury caused by STZ.

Development of a Thin-Layer Chromatography-Enzymatic Test Combination Method for the Isolation of α-Glucosidase Inhibitors From Thymelaea hirsuta

A rapid, easy and simple method for the isolation and purification of α-glucosidase inhibitors of the ethyl acetate extract of Thymelaea hirsuta (EaTh) by a combination of thin layer chromatography (TLC) and enzymatic test has been developed. EaTh was demonstrated previously a potent α-glucosidase inhibitory effect. In this study, we developed a simple TLC-enzymatic test (TLC/EZ) combination to isolate α-glucosidase inhibitors present in EaTh.EaTh was extracted by Soxhlet from Thymelaea hirsuta (T. hirsuta). The EaTh was separated on a silica gel column and then on a TLC plate. After TLC separation, the TLC/EZ combination method was applied. α-glucosidase inhibitors were detected directly in the TLC plate using the glucose oxidase peroxidase method (GOD-POD). A good detection of active compounds was obtained in the TLC favoring the TLC/EZ method. Active compounds were then characterized using high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) analysis. The main α-glucosidase inhibitors present in EaTh have a molecular ion [M + H]+ at m/z = 543. This proposed method is suitable for a reliable isolation and purification of α-glucosidase inhibitors present in EaTh. It could be proposed as an interesting alternative of the classical method for the isolation and purification of α-glucosidase inhibitors in plant extracts.