The antidiabetic properties of Tiliacora triandra ethanol extract in diabetic rats induced with high‐fat diet (HFD)/streptozotocin (STZ) was investigated. Rats were fed with HFD for 4 weeks to induced insulin resistance, and thereafter administered with 35 mg/kg of STZ to induce diabetes. Diabetic rats received 100 and 400 mg/kg of T. triandra daily for 30 days. The body weight, blood glucose level, food and fluid intake were monitored. Furthermore, biochemical and histological assessment was performed to evaluate the hypoglycemic effect of the extract in the treated rats. T. triandra significantly decreased the blood glucose level, increased the body weight and insulin secretion. Furthermore, T. triandra attenuated hyperlipidemia, improved liver and kidney functions of treated diabetic rats. Thus, T. triandra could effectively attenuate diabetes and it complications. Practical applications Tiliacora triandra is a common vegetable consumed in Thailand and Laos. It is traditionally employed in the treatment of fever, cancer, malaria, and diabetes. The extract from the aerial part was investigated for its antidiabetic properties. The results obtained provides important pharmacological information that supports the use of T. triandra in management of diabetes.

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BackgroundEstrogen has been reported to accelerate cutaneous wound healing. This research studies the effect of young coconut juice (YCJ), presumably containing estrogen-like substances, on cutaneous wound healing in ovairectomized rats.MethodsFour groups of female rats (6 in each group) were included in this study. These included sham-operated, ovariectomized (ovx), ovx receiving estradiol benzoate (EB) injections intraperitoneally, and ovx receiving YCJ orally. Two equidistant 1-cm full-thickness skin incisional wounds were made two weeks after ovariectomy. The rats were sacrificed at the end of the third and the fourth week of the study, and their serum estradiol (E2) level was measured by chemiluminescent immunoassay. The skin was excised and examined in histological sections stained with H&E, and immunostained using anti-estrogen receptor (ER-α an ER-β) antibodies.ResultsWound healing was accelerated in ovx rats receiving YCJ, as compared to controls. This was associated with significantly higher density of immunostaining for ER-α an ER-β in keratinocytes, fibroblasts, white blood cells, fat cells, sebaceous gland, skeletal muscles, and hair shafts and follicles. This was also associated with thicker epidermis and dermis, but with thinner hypodermis. In addition, the number and size of immunoreactive hair follicles for both ER-α and ER-β were the highest in the ovx+YCJ group, as compared to the ovx+EB group.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates that YCJ has estrogen-like characteristics, which in turn seem to have beneficial effects on cutaneous wound healing.

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Young coconut juice (YCJ) from aromatic green dwarf variety fruit of Cocos nucifera L. (Family Arecaceae) is high valuated because of its nutritional and pharmacological properties (wound healing, anti-Alzheimer, anti aging). Due to the storage and handling problems, YCJ has been prepared in dry form by freeze-drying process in this study. The % yield of freeze-dried YCJ powder was 6.62 ± 0.28 %. Both of them (fresh and freeze-dried YCJ) were further studied on phytochemical, physical, chemical and microbiological properties. The results showed that β-sitosterol was isolated and identified by means of spectral data and their physical properties. The HPLC-parameters (linearity, repeatability, accuracy and specificity) were evaluated. The concentrations of β-sitosterol in HPLC analysis of both fresh and freeze-dried YCJ were 89.67 ± 0.01 and 31.84 ± 1.56 μg/ml, respectively. Furthermore, there was no significant (p>0.05) difference in physicochemical analysis in between both products. Therefore, the microbiological analysis of these products was within standard range of Thai community products standard (TCPS). In conclusion, Freeze-dried YCJ was observed to be the suitable technique to obtain the dry extract of young coconut juice.

Brains from ovariectomised (ovx) rats can display features similar to those observed in menopausal women with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and oestrogen seems to play a key role. Preliminary studies on young coconut juice (YCJ) have reported the presence of oestrogen-like components in it. The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of YCJ on the AD pathological changes in the brains of ovx rats. Rat groups included sham-operated, ovx, ovx þ oestradiol benzoate (EB) and ovx þ YCJ. Brain sections (4 mm) were taken and were immunostained with b-amyloid (Ab) 1 -42, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) (an intermediate neurofilament of astrocytes) and Tau-1 antibodies. Ab 1-42, GFAP and Tau-1 are considered as reliable biomarkers of amyloidosis, astrogliosis and tauopathy (neurofibrillary tangles), respectively, which in turn are characteristic features associated with AD. The serum oestradiol (E2) level was measured using a chemiluminescent immunoassay technique. YCJ restored the serum E2 to levels significantly (P,0·001) higher than that of the ovx group, and even that of the sham group. Ab deposition was significantly (P,0·0001) reduced in the cerebral cortex of the YCJ group, as compared with the ovx group and with the sham and ovx þ EB groups (P, 0·01). A similar trend was observed in relation to GFAP expression in the cerebral cortex and to Tau-1 expression in the hippocampus. This is a novel study demonstrating that YCJ could have positive future implications in the prevention and treatment of AD in menopausal women.

The preventive effect of curcumin, a compound isolated from the rhizome of Curcuma longa, on experimental reflux esophagitis in rats was investigated in order to validate its potential therapeutic use for gastroesophageal reflux disease. Curcumin (20 mg/kg, i.d.), the antioxidative agent dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) (1 ml/kg, i.p.) or the proton pump inhibitor lansoprazole (1 mg/kg, i.d.) inhibited the formation of acute acid reflux esophagitis by 52.5, 61.5 and 70.9% respectively. Curcumin alone was not effective in preventing chronic acid reflux esophagitis, but the combination of curcumin and DMSO reduced the mortality rate and the severity of the esophagitis ulcer index to the same extent (56.5%) as did the lansoprazole (53.9%). Intraduodenal administration of curcumin also markedly prevented the formation of acute mixed reflux esophagitis, together with reducing the incidence or the severity of neutrophil infiltration, when compared to a control group. In contrast, lansoprazole tended to increase the severity of all histopathological changes, when compared to either the control or the curcumin-treated group. Aminoguanidine, a specific inducible nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, had no preventive effect against both types of acute reflux esophagitis models, and increased the mortality in the chronic acid reflux esophagitis model. From these results, it is indicated that curcumin can effectively prevent acute reflux esophagitis formation. Although curcumin is less potent than lansoprazole in inhibiting acid reflux esophagitis, it is superior to lansoprazole in inhibiting mixed reflux esophagitis. The antiulcerogenic mechanisms are considered to be closely associated with its antioxidant nature and antiinflammatory property.

There is considerable interest in the status of calbindin immunoreactive neurones in Alzheimer's disease (AD) but previous studies have produced widely differing results. Here we describe calbindin neurones in temporal neocortex from 18 severely demented patients with neuropathologically confirmed AD and 13 age and post-mortem delay matched, neurologically normal controls. Calbindin immunoreactive neurones were small and round in layers II-IV, and pyramidal in layers IIIc and V. There were significantly more calbindin positive neurones in controls than in AD (mean+/- SD, for each comparison P < 0.01): superior temporal lobe, AD = 3.32 +/- 2.24, Control (C) = 24.83 +/- 10.8; middle temporal lobe, AD = 3.6 +/- 4.94, C = 26.09 +/- 15.7; inferior temporal lobe, AD 3.69 +/- 3.6, C = 25.25 +/- 16.9. Furthermore, there was an age-related increase in immunopositive neurones in the superior (r2 = 0.37, P = 0.046) and inferior (r2 = 0.75, P = 0.01) temporal gyri in controls. In AD the number of calbindin positive neurones did not change with age. This is the first report of such an age-related increase in controls, and it suggests that this, rather than a decrease in AD, accounts for the overall difference between AD and controls. It is possible that an increase in intraneuronal calbindin protects these cells from degeneration and that failure of such a neuroprotective mechanism is a significant contributory factor in the pathogenesis of AD.