We evaluated the cardioprotective effect of Amalaki Rasayana (AR), a rejuvenating Ayurvedic drug prepared from Phyllanthus emblica fruits in the reversal of remodeling changes in pressure overload left ventricular cardiac hypertrophy (LVH) and age-associated cardiac dysfunction in male Wistar rats. Six groups (aging groups) of 3 months old animals were given either AR or ghee and honey (GH) orally; seventh group was untreated. Ascending aorta was constricted using titanium clips in 3 months old rats (N = 24; AC groups) and after 6 months, AR or GH was given for further 12 months to two groups; one group was untreated. Histology, gene and protein expression analysis were done in heart tissues. Chemical composition of AR was analyzed by HPLC, HPTLC and LC-MS. AR intake improved (P < 0.05) cardiac function in aging rats and decreased LVH (P < 0.05) in AC rats as well as increased (P < 0.05) fatigue time in treadmill exercise in both groups. In heart tissues of AR administered rats of both the groups, SERCA2, CaM, Myh11, antioxidant, autophagy, oxidative phosphorylation and TCA cycle proteins were up regulated. ADRB1/2 and pCREB expression were increased; pAMPK, NF-kB were decreased. AR has thus a beneficial effect on myocardial energetics, muscle contractile function and exercise tolerance capacity.

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Diabetes mellitus (DM) has spread across the globe, increasing the risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease, and other comorbidities. Despite substantial research into the development of diabetic treatments that are effective in lowering blood glucose levels, their efficiency is short‐lived due to unpleasant side effects such as weight gain and hypoglycemia. The discovery of secondary metabolites in the prevention and treatment of diabetes and its complications has an incentive to take interest in plant‐based medications, and enzyme inhibitors have the potential to aid in the treatment and management of DM. This study aims to isolate, characterize, and analyse the influence of berberine‐like alkaloids from alcoholic Cardiospermum halicacabum extract in vitro and in silico, as a possible inhibitor of Dipeptidyl peptidase‐IV (DPP‐IV) and α‐amylase, two essential enzymes involved in diabetes. The alkaloid from C. halicacabum was identified as berberine, with an m/z of 336.1263. Purified berberine inhibits DPP‐IV with an IC50 of 16.328 ± 1.344 μM and inhibits α‐amylase by 72% at 10 μg/mL. In‐silico studies demonstrated that berberine was found to bind to the active site of both DPP‐IV and α‐amylase. The precise mechanism underlying the observation has to be researched further in order to investigate C. halicacabum's anti‐diabetic effects and argue for its possible application as alternative medicine.

Obesity is taking over many parts of the world and has been identified as the second leading cause of preventable death, with a dramatic increase in prevalence over the last two decades. Pancreatic lipase is a lipid‐digesting enzyme that plays an important role in fat metabolism. Inhibiting pancreatic lipase is an attractive target for obesity treatment. Phytochemicals or bioactive compounds/extracts isolated from medicinal plants offer a promising platform for the development of pancreatic lipase inhibitors. This study aims to characterize and investigate the effect of aloenin A, glycoside found in Aloe vera, as a possible inhibitor of pancreatic lipase in vitro and in silico. A. vera extract had an IC50 value of 0.5472 μg/ml, whereas aloenin A had an IC50 value of 14.95 μg/mL and was found to inhibit in a competitive manner. These findings were supported by molecular docking studies, which revealed that aloenin A binds to the substrate binding site with a binding energy of − 7.16 kcal/mol, and this binding site is stabilized by three hydrogen bonds contributed by Phe77 and Asp79. Our findings suggest that the anti‐hyperlipidemic effects of A. vera on pancreatic lipase can be attributed in part to the presence of aloenin A.