Health benefits and phenolic compounds of Moringa oleifera leaves: A comprehensive review

BACKGROUND

Moringa oleifera Lam (MO) is native to India and is a cash crop widely cultivated in tropical and sub-tropical areas. The health improving properties of MO has been studied from a long time ago for the numerous phenolic compounds, including vitamins, flavonoids, phenolic acids, isothiocyanates, tannins and saponins, which are present in considerable amounts in the plant. A growing spectrum of therapeutic characteristics of MO leaves has been found and used in the remission or treatment of oxidative stress, liver disease, neurological disease, hyperglycemia and cancer.

HYPOTHESIS

This review focused on researches applying MO or MO leaf extract as a functional food or cure against various disease and cellular injuries. We believed it would help the discovery of therapeutic application of MO and understanding of MO phytochemistry.

METHODS

The data collected in this review were extracted from researches indexed in Web of Science, google scholar, PubMed, Science Direct and Scopus to find out health benefits and biological activities of MO leaves polyphenols. The studies reporting mechanistic route of phenolic compounds of MO leaves were also considered in the present study.

RESULTS

It has been reported that polyphenols of MO leaf have protective characteristics against neurodegenerative disorders through reducing DNA damage, activation of AchE activity and inhibition of caspase-3 activity. It has been reported that, they protected the kidney from damage caused by melamine through suppressed the pro-inflammatory cytokine, metallopeptidase inhibitor 1 (TIMP-1), and kidney injury molecule 1 (KIM-1). Similarly, methanol extract of MO leaves has low hypoglycemic attributes and attenuate the risk of diabetes caused by alloxan by enhancing lipid metabolism and stimulating insulin release, glucose uptake, and glycogen synthesis. In addition, MO leaves are becoming the best phytomedicine to reduce hypertension, which are naturally known as angiotensin-1converting enzyme (ACE), acetylcholinesterase, arginase and phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5) inhibitors.

CONCLUSION

MO leaves extract as a health promoting food additives for human and animals due to its great protective effect against many diseases and the widely persistent environmental toxins which disrupted cellular metabolic function. More studies are required to use the phenolic compounds of MO leaves to develop and produce drugs for controlling and treatment of various diseases.

A digital image analysis study on the disintegration kinetics of reticular fibers in the ethylene glycol-induced rat liver tissue

Ethylene glycol (EG), the raw material of polyethylenterephthalate, which is the most consumed plastic in the world, has low toxicity, but its metabolites are toxic. EG metabolites can cause acidosis, fibrosis, and eventually cirrhosis in the liver. This study aimed to investigate the effect of EG on rat liver and to determine the quantitative values of the disintegration of reticular fibers (RF) in the liver with the dose duration and to investigate the changes by digital image analysis (DIA). For this purpose, Wistar albino rats were divided into control, and five different daily experimental groups. The control group received saline, and the experimental groups received EG. At the end of experiments, liver tissues of all euthanized rats were removed, and sections were taken, and RF was shown by silver staining. It was observed that the RF fragments in the experimental groups were less than the control group. DIA of RF fragments was then performed with Olympus cellSensDimension 1.15 software and number, area, and ROI% values of the fragments were determined. Statistical analysis revealed that there was a significant difference between control and all experimental groups. RF fragments showed first-order disintegration kinetics, mean disintegration rate constant, and half-time values were 0.1 day^-1 and 7 days, respectively. Consequently, the digital image analysis approach can be a useful tool for the biologist, pathologist, fibrosis-cirrhosis specialist, and computer scientist to understand the effects of toxic chemicals in the liver and analyze reticular fiber disintegration.

Hepatoprotective effect of seabuckthorn leaf-extract in lead acetate-intoxicated Wistar rats

The present study investigated the hepatoprotective effects of seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) leaf-extract (SLE) supplementation in lead acetate-intoxicated Wistar rats. Adult male Wistar rats (n = 35) were divided into five equal groups as per completely randomized design. Group I was kept as a control, group II received 250 ppm lead acetate in drinking water, and group III received SLE at 100 mg/kg body weight per os. Animals in group IV and group V received lead acetate at 250 ppm in drinking water for the first 45 days. Additionally, group IV received SLE at 100 mg/kg body weight per os throughout the experiment, whereas group V received SLE at 100 mg/kg body weight per os during the last 15 days of the trial. Blood samples were collected on day zero and at the 45th and 60th day to study the liver function enzymes. Lead exposure caused increase in aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), acid phosphatase (ACP), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, and liver weight, and hepatic oxidative stress in lead acetate-intoxicated groups (groups II, IV, and V) as compared to group I. SLE on simultaneous supplementation with lead acetate (group IV) exerted a protective effect against lead toxicity. SLE supplemented after the establishment of lead acetate-toxicity (group V) also reduced the AST, ALT, and ALP activity and hepatic oxidative stress, indicating its ameliorative effect. SLE supplementation at 100 mg/kg body weight per os protects against hepatic damage caused by 250 ppm lead acetate in the drinking water of Wistar rats.