With an objective to develop Complementary and Alternative Medicine for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy, the present study investigated the protective effects of methanolic extract of Punica granatum leaves (MPGL) in streptozotocin-induced diabetic nephropathy. Diabetic nephropathy has become a leading cause of end stage renal failure worldwide. P. granatum, due to its anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities may retard the progression of diabetic nephropathy. In this study, diabetes was induced by a single injection of streptozotocin (STZ, 45 mg/kg, i.p.) in rats. STZ-diabetic rats were treated with oral doses of MPGL (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg) for 8 weeks. At the end of the experimental period, body and kidney weight and blood glucose levels were determined. Serum and urine parameters were investigated. Antioxidant enzymes and lipid peroxide levels were determined in the kidney along with histopathological examination of the same. MPGL significantly increased body weight, lowered blood glucose levels and ameliorated kidney hypertrophy index in the STZ-diabetic rats. The extract also decreased the levels of creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, total cholesterol, triglycerides, advanced glycation end products and albumin in serum and urine, respectively. MPGL significantly increased the antioxidant parameters in the kidney. Histological evaluation revealed that MPGL treated STZ-diabetic rats demonstrated reduced vacuolar degeneration of tubules; periodic acid Schiff base (PAS) positivity staining intensity in glomeruli and basement membrane thickening. Present findings provide experimental evidence that MPGL has potential antioxidant, antihyperglycemic and anti-glycation activities which might be helpful in slowing the progression of diabetic nephropathy.

Data suggests that MPGL attenuated oxidative stress associated renal injury by preserving antioxidant enzymes, reducing lipid peroxidation and inhibiting inflammatory mediators such as TNF-α.

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Background and aim Chrysin is a flavonoid found in plant extracts from Passiflora species, honey and propolis. It has demonstrated anti-adipogenic activity in vitro but there are no studies substantiating the anti-obesity activity of chrysin in vivo . Experimental procedure The pancreatic lipase (PL) inhibitory potential of chrysin was determined by preliminary in silico screening and further confirmed by in vitro PL inhibitory assay and oral fat tolerance test (OFTT). The effect of chrysin on acute feed intake and sucrose preference test was determined in normal rats. Obesity was induced by feeding of high fructose diet (HFD) to the rats. The rats were divided into six groups: normal control, HFD control, orlistat and three doses of chrysin (25, 50 and 100 mg/kg body weight). Body weight, body mass index (BMI), abdominal circumference/thoracic circumference (AC/TC) ratio, calorie intake, adiposity index, fecal cholesterol, locomotor activity and histopathology of the adipose tissue of the rats were evaluated. Results Chrysin showed good affinity to PL with competitive type of inhibition. It significantly reduced serum triglycerides in OFTT. Chrysin also significantly reduced acute feed intake and sucrose preference in rats. Chrysin significantly decreased the body weight, BMI, AC/TC ratio, adiposity index, calorie intake while it significantly increased the fecal cholesterol and locomotor activity of the rats. Chrysin was found to reduce the size of the adipocytes when compared to the HFD control group. Conclusion Thus, chrysin exerted anti-obesity effect by inhibiting PL, reducing sucrose preference, reducing calorie intake and increasing the locomotor activity of rats.

Present study highlights the neuroprotective role of TRG against d-gal induced amnesia due to the antioxidant, antiglycative and anticholinesterase properties.

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