Fitoterapia
-
Diabetes mellitus is a serious debilitating epidemic affecting all social strata in developing as well as developed countries. Diabetic neuropathy is most common of secondary complications associated with diabetes mellitus and is characterized by slowing of nerve conduction velocity, elevated pain, sensory loss and nerve fiber degeneration. The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate the neuroprotective effect of naringin against streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic neuropathic pain in laboratory rats. ⋯ It also decreased the elevated levels of oxidative-nitrosative stress, inflammatory mediators as well as apoptosis in neural cells significantly and dose dependently. The important finding of the study is that, the naringin-insulin combination not only attenuated the diabetic condition but also reversed the neuropathic pain, whereas insulin or naringin alone only improved hyperglycemia but partially reversed the pain response in diabetic rats. Thus, naringin is a potential flavonone bearing antioxidant, antiapoptotic and disease modifying property acting via modulation of endogenous biomarker to inhibit diabetes induced neuropathic pain.
-
Ginsenoside Rg3 is one of the active ingredients isolated from Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer. ⋯ The results showed that Rg3 significantly inhibited Cy-induced oxidative stress in mice by increasing the indices of the spleen and thymus and total antioxidant capacity, elevating the activities of catalase, superoxidase dismutase and lysozyme as well as decreasing the activity of xanthine oxidase and the levels of malondialdehyde and nitric oxide. Rg3 was stereospecific in antioxidant activities as R form exhibited significantly higher antioxidant effects than S form. Therefore, R form should be used when Rg3 is considered to be used as an antioxidant agent.
-
Lamiophlomis rotata (Benth.) Kudo is a perennial herb (Labiatae) used as the Tibetan traditional medicine with the effects of alleviating pain, detumescence, hemostasis, promoting blood circulation to remove blood stasis and reinforcing marrow. In this study, we investigated the antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of iridoid glycosides extract of L. rotata (IGLR) in mice. Our results showed that the iridoid glycosides extract could decrease acetic-acid-induced writhings times and formalin-induced lickings times, inhibit carrageenan-induced hind paw edema and xylene-induced ear swelling, and suppress peritoneal capillary permeability and leukocyte infiltration also induced by acetic acid in mice. All of these results suggested that the iridoid glycosides extract possesses the significant antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities.
-
Glycation, the nonenzymatic adduct formation between sugar dicarbonyls and proteins, is one key molecular basis of diabetic complications due to hyperglycemia. Given the link between glycation and oxidation, we hypothesized that herbal extracts with a high concentration of antioxidant phenolics might possess significant in vitro antiglycation activities as well. The aim of the present study was to address the hypothesis that polyphenol-rich Ilex paraguariensis (IP) extracts are capable of inhibiting advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) formation and to compare the potency of these extracts with green tea and with the standard antiglycation agent aminoguanidine. ⋯ The effect is therefore due mainly to an inhibition of the second phase of the glycation reactions, namely the free-radical mediated conversion of the Amadori products to AGE. Taken together our results demonstrate a significant, dose-dependent effect of water extracts of I. paraguensis on AGE adducts formation on a protein model in vitro, whereas green tea displays no significant effect. The inhibition of AGE formation was comparable to that obtained by using millimolar concentrations of the standard antiglycation agent aminoguanidine.
-
Under the Italian Presidency of the Council of the European Union (July 2003-December 2003) an agreement has been reached by the European Parliament and the Council on the approval of the proposal of Directive of the European Parliament and the Council amending the Directive 2001/83/EC as regards traditional herbal medicinal products. Once implemented in the E. ⋯ Member States, this new Directive will remove the constraints that have made it difficult granting marketing authorisations of herbal substances and preparations as traditional medicinal products under the pre-existing Community legislation. The main features (i.e. traditional herbal medicine definition, simplified registration procedure, provisions for Community herbal monographs and Community list of herbal substances and preparations and establishment of the Committee for Herbal Medicinal Products) of this new Community legislation are analysed and discussed in the present paper together with some expected positive public health impacts.