Therapeutic potency of saponin rich aqueous extract of Scoparia dulcis L. in alloxan induced diabetes in rats

Effect of Scoparia dulcis Extract on Lipid Oxidation in Fish Feed, Growth Performance, and Hypoxia Tolerance in Juvenile Jian Carp (Cyprinus carpio var. Jian)

Lipid oxidation and hypoxia can lead to oxidative damage in aquatic animals. This study explored the effects of Scoparia dulcis extracts (SDE) on lipid oxidation, fish growth performance, digestive ability, antioxidant capacity, and hypoxia tolerance ability. The results showed that SDE decreased malonaldehyde (MDA), conjugated diene (CD), and peroxide value (PO) in the linoleic acid and linolenic acid as well as in fish feed. Broken-line analysis revealed that the optimal acetone extract of S. dulcis (AE) supplements was 4.02, 4.01, and 4.01 g kg-1 determined from PO, CD, and MDA, respectively. Dietary AE supplementation increased feed intake and specific growth rate and activities of amylase, trypsin, and lipase as well as alkaline phosphatase in fish hepatopancreas and gut. Polynomial regression analysis showed that optimal dietary AE supplement was 3.61 g kg-1 diet determined from weight gain. Furthermore, dietary AE supplementation decreased MDA content and increased glutathione content and the activities of glutathione peroxidase, catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione reductase in fish digestive organs, gills, erythrocytes, and muscle. Dietary AE supplementation increased durative time (DT) and oxygen consumption rate (OCR) under hypoxia condition. Based on polynomial regression analysis, optimal dietary AE supplements were 4.73 and 4.60 g kg-1 diet determined from DT and OCR for hypoxia tolerance in fish, respectively. According to our current research, SDE's antioxidant capacity may be attribute to their phenolic chemicals.

Scoparia dulcis L. Extract Relieved High Stocking Density-Induced Stress in Crucian Carp (Carassius auratus)

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of Scoparia dulcis extract (SDE) on stress induced by high stocking density and Cu and trichlorfon exposure in crucian carp (Carassius auratus). The results showed that these stressors exerted detrimental effects in fish, such as inhibition of growth performance, reduced feed intake, and interruption of fish locomotion. Under high stocking density, dietary SDE supplementation increased the content of reduced glutathione (GSH) and the activities of amylase, catalase (CAT), and glutathione reductase (GR) and decreased the content of malonaldehyde (MDA) in the intestine of crucian carp. A similar trend was presented in the hepatopancreas under Cu exposure. Dietary SDE supplementation enhanced the activities of CAT, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), lactate dehydrogenase, glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase, and glutamate-pyruvate transaminase in the muscle of crucian carp under trichlorfon exposure. The optimum dietary SDE supplementation levels were 4.07, 4.33, and 3.95 g kg-1 diet based on the recovery rate of weight gain (RWG), feed intake (FI), and inhibitory rate of rollover (IR) for crucian carp under high stocking density and Cu and trichlorfon exposure, respectively. Overall, dietary supplementation with SDE may be a useful nutritional strategy for relieving these stresses in aquatic animals.

Elucidating the inhibitory mechanism of yeast α-glucosidase by phytocompounds from Scoparia dulcis through in vitro and in silico approach

Antidiabetic activity of herb Scoparia dulcis Linn (SD) used in traditional medicine is well established, yet, the molecular mechanism is not understood. In this study, in vitro α-glucosidase inhibitory effects of SD aqueous extract and its kinetics were investigated and in silico analysis was carried out. SD showed potent inhibition of α-glucosidase with low IC₅₀value (30 μg/mL). Enzyme kinetics analysis revealed the inhibition to be a mixed type of inhibition. From literature screening, we found that six compounds of SD to exhibit potent anti-diabetic activity, namely apigenin, betulinic acid, hispidulin, luteolin, scopadulcic-acid-B and scutellarein. These compounds were subjected to molecular docking. Docking studies revealed scopadulcic acid B and betulunic acid to show optimum binding constant and low free energy. Molecular dynamics simulation was carried out to further understand the interaction and stability between glucosidase and ligands of SD. Taken together, the study reveals that the potency of SD is due to synergistic effect of active phytochemicals in it and suggest that their properties can be utilized for anti-diabetic treatment strategies.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Medicinal plants utilized in Thai Traditional Medicine for diabetes treatment: Ethnobotanical surveys, scientific evidence and phytochemicals

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Diabetes mellitus remains the most lethal metabolic disease of contemporaneous times and despite the therapeutic arsenal currently available, research on new antidiabetic agents remains a priority. In recent years, the revitalization of Thai Traditional Medicine (TTM) became a clear priority for the Thai government, and many efforts have been undertaken to accelerate research on herbal medicines and their use in medical services in various hospitals. Additionally, and particularly in rural areas, treatment of diabetes and associated symptomatology frequently relies on herbal preparations recommended by practitioners of TTM. In the current work, medicinal plants used in Thailand for treating diabetes, as well as their hypoglycaemic pharmacological evidences and potential therapeutic use for diabetes-related complications were reviewed.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Ethnopharmacological information on the plant materials used in TTM for diabetes treatment was collected through literature search in a range of scientific databases using the search terms: diabetes, folk medicine, Thailand medicinal plants, traditional medicine. Information regarding scientific evidence on the antidiabetic effects of surveyed species was obtained considering not only the most common taxonomic designation, but also taxonomic synonyms, and including the keywords 'diabetes' and 'hypoglycaemic effect'.

RESULTS

A total of 183 species known to be used for diabetes management in TTM were reviewed, with 30% of them still lacking experimental evidences to support claims regarding the mechanisms and phytochemicals underlying their antidiabetic properties. Moreover, a total of 46 bioactives displaying effective antidiabetic effects have been isolated from 24 species, their underlying mechanism(s) of action being fully or partially disclosed.

CONCLUSIONS

We deliver the most extensive survey dealing with the ethnomedicinal knowledge of Thai medicinal plants utilized on diabetes management. We are certain that the current review will spark further research on Thai plants for the development of new standardized phytomedicines through drug discovery programmes.

Sensitive quantification of coixol, a potent insulin secretagogue, in Scoparia dulcis extract using high-performance liquid chromatography combined with tandem mass spectrometry and UV detection

Diabetes is a major global health problem which requires new studies for its prevention and control. Scoparia dulcis, a herbal product, is widely used for treatment of diabetes. Recent studies demonstrate coixol as a potent and nontoxic insulin secretagog from S. dulcis. This study focuses on developing two quantitative methods of coixol in S. dulcis methanol-based extracts. Quantification of coixol was performed using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (method 1) and high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection (method 2) with limits of detection of 0.26 and 11.6 pg/μL, respectively, and limits of quantification of 0.78 and 35.5 pg/μL, respectively. S. dulcis is rich in coixol content with values of 255.5 ± 2.1 mg/kg (method 1) and 220.4 ± 2.9 mg/kg (method 2). Excellent linearity with determination coefficients >0.999 was achieved for calibration curves from 10 to 7500 ng/mL (method 1) and from 175 to 7500 ng/mL (method 2). Good accuracy (bias < -8.6%) and precision (RSD < 8.5%) were obtained for both methods. Thus, they can be employed to analyze coixol in plant extracts and herbal formulations.

Experimental diabetes induced by alloxan and streptozotocin: The current state of the art

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder with a high prevalence worldwide. Animal models of diabetes represent an important tool in diabetes investigation that helps us to avoid unnecessary and ethically challenging studies in human subjects, as well as to obtain a comprehensive scientific viewpoint of this disease. Although there are several methods through which diabetes can be induced, chemical methods of alloxan- and streptozotocin-induced diabetes represent the most important and highly preferable experimental models for this pathological condition. Therefore, the aim of this article was to review the current knowledge related to quoted models of diabetes, including to this point available information about mechanism of action, particular time- and dose-dependent protocols, frequent problems, as well as major limitations linked to laboratory application of alloxan and sterptozotocin in inducing diabetes. Given that diabetes is known to be closely associated with serious health consequences it is of fundamental importance that current animal models for induction of diabetes should be continuously upgraded in order to improve overall prevention, diagnosis and treatment of this pathological condition.