The role of purslane in modulating diverse effects of high fat diet on biochemical, histological, and molecular parameters of rats’ liver

Consuming a high-fat diet causes a harmful accumulation of fat in the liver, which may not reverse even after switching to a healthier diet. Different reports dealt with the role of purslane as an extract against high-fat diet; meanwhile, it was necessary to study the potential role of fresh purslane as a hypolipidemic agent. This study is supposed to investigate further the potential mechanism in the hypolipidemic effect of fresh purslane, by measuring cholesterol 7a-hydroxylase (CYP7A1) and low-density lipoprotein receptor (Ldlr). Rats were divided into two main groups: the first one is the normal control group (n=7 rats) and the second group (n=28 rats) received a high fat diet for 28 weeks to induce obesity. Then the high fat diet group was divided into equal four subgroups. As, the positive control group still fed on a high fat diet only. Meanwhile, the other three groups were received high-fat diet supplemented with a different percent of fresh purslane (25, 50 and 75%) respectively. At the end of the experiment, rats were sacrificed and samples were collected for molecular, biochemical, and histological studies. Current study reported that, supplementation of fresh purslane especially at a concentration of 75% play an important role against harmful effects of high-fat diet at both cellular and organ level, by increasing CYP7A1 as well as Ldlr mRNA expression. Also, there were an improvement on the tested liver functions, thyroid hormones, and lipid profile. Fresh purslane plays the potential role as a hypolipidemic agent via modulation of both Ldlr and Cyp7A, which will point to use fresh purslane against harmful effects of obesity.

A Critical Review on the Unexplored Therapeutic Treasure of Himalayan Ayurvedic Drug Daruharidra (Berberis aristata)

: Ayurveda captured almost all herbs in its indications for therapeutics from the period of Vedas. More than 700 plants are discussed elaborately in various classics of Ayurveda of different periods. Berberis aristata DC (Berberidaceae) an Indian medicinal plant, is an Ayurvedic herb used since ancient times. It is commonly known as Daruharidra and Daruhaldi. The plant is useful as an antipyretic, antibacterial, antimicrobial, antihepatotoxic, antidiabetic, anticancer, antioxidant and hypolipidemic agent. Our main objective was to collect information about the active constituents and major pharmacological actions of B. aristata. Review of literature included PubMed, Science Direct searches with ‘Berberis aristata’ and ‘Daruharidra’ as initial keywords. This review aims to highlight the ethnomedicinal and pharmacological uses of B. aristata which will give insights in to developing potentially new bioactives from the plant scaffolds. This review also highlights the phytochemicals isolated from different parts of B. aristata. Daruharidra is a rich source of chemically novel compounds such as berberine and needs elaborate screening strategies to dwell into the pharmacological effects at the molecular level.

Penambatan molekul senyawa turunan orizanol terhadap enzim 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reduktase

Oryzanol has been reported to reduce serum total cholesterol (hypolipidemic agent) by inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase, an enzyme responsible for the metabolic pathway that produces cholesterol and isoprenoid. The purpose of this experiment is to determine the inhibition activity of oryzanol derivatives on HMG-CoA reductase by molecular docking. Four structure of oryzanol derivatives, Lanosteryl-ferulate, Brassicasteryl-ferulate, Lupeol-ferulate, and Cholesteryl-ferulate were used as ligands for molecular docking. The HMG-CoA reductase structure was obtained from protein data bank and the study was performed using AutoDock Tools as a molecular docking software. All oryzanol derivatives show binding affinity against HMG-CoA reductase. Lupeol-ferulate was predicted to be the best inhibitory activity against HMG-CoA reductase because of molecular docking.

Pre-clinical pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modelling study of 4-hydroxyisoleucine using validated ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

A reliable and sensitive UPLC-MS/MS based method has been developed for the estimation of 4-hydroxyisoleucine, a potent insulinotropic and hypolipidemic agent.

Molecular mechanisms of the cytoprotector cramizol effect in the experimental dyslipidemia model

The tested drug cramizol exhibits lipid-lowering and anti-atherogenic effects. Cramizol reduces blood cholesterol and triglycerides. It also increases HDL and reduces the atherogenic index in rats with the chronic dyslipidemia model induced by a hypercholesterol diet. Cramizol is effective as a hypolipidemic agent and its efficiency is comparable with the reference drug, phenofibrate. Cramizol increases expression of the ApoA1 and ApoC2 genes, and also reduces expression of the Scarb1 gene in rats with experimentally induced hyperlipidemia. These mechanisms could be the basis of its hypolipidemic and anti-atherogenic actions.

Isolation and partial characterization of alkylferulate from Entada africana (Guill. & Perr.) stem bark extract

Investigation of the bioactive constituents of Entada africana crude extract afforded the isolation of alkylferulate. The hexane soluble portion of acetone/methanol (1:1v/v) crude stem bark extract of Entada africana was subjected to column chromatography on silica gel 60 (60-200) mesh size. Gradient column elution yielded an isolate coded AC4 with Rf value of 0.65 in hexane/diethyl ether (3:2). The isolate was characterized using IR, NMR and in comparison with literature data. The analysis of spectroscopic data and literature comparison strongly suggests that AC4 is an alkylferulate; a known hypolipidemic agent in addition to other biological uses. The isolation of alkylferulate partly lays credence to the use of Entada africana in traditional medicine practice.