Tripathi Uma Nath, Chandra Deepak
Department of Biochemistry, Lucknow University, Lucknow 226007, India.
Indian J Biochem Biophys. 2010 Aug;47(4):227-33.
Diabetes is an oxidative stress disorder and oxidative damage to tissues such as heart, kidney, liver and other organs may be a contributory factor to several diabetic complications. Momordica charantia (family: Cucurbitaceae) and Trigonella foenum graecum (family: Fabaceae) are used traditionally in Indian folk medicine to manage diabetes mellitus. In the present study, the anti-hyperglycemic and anti-oxidative potential of aqueous extracts of M. charantia pulp and seed powder of T. foenum graecum were assessed in alloxan (150 mg/kg body weight) induced diabetic rats. Alloxan treatment to the rats could induce diabetes as the fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels were > 280 mg/dl. Treatment of diabetic rats for 30 days with M. charantia and T. foenum graecum could significantly (p < 0.001) improve the FBG levels to near normal glucose levels. Antioxidant activities (superoxide dismutase, catalase, reduced glutathione content and glutathione-s-transferase) and lipid peroxidation levels were measured in heart, kidney and liver tissues of normal, diabetic and experimental animals (diabetics + treatment). TBARS levels were significantly (p < 0.001) higher and anti-oxidative activities were found low in diabetic group, as compared to the control group. Significant (p < 0.001) improvement in both the TBARS levels and antioxidant activities were observed when M. charantia and T. foenum graecum were given to diabetic rats. Our results clearly demonstrate that M. charantia and T. foenum graecum are not only useful in controlling the blood glucose levels, but also have antioxidant potential to protect vital organs such as heart and kidney against damage caused due to diabetes induced oxidative stress.
糖尿病是一种氧化应激紊乱疾病，心脏、肾脏、肝脏等组织的氧化损伤可能是多种糖尿病并发症的一个促成因素。苦瓜（葫芦科）和胡芦巴（豆科）在印度民间医学中传统上用于治疗糖尿病。在本研究中，评估了苦瓜果肉水提取物和胡芦巴种子粉对四氧嘧啶（150毫克/千克体重）诱导的糖尿病大鼠的降血糖和抗氧化潜力。给大鼠注射四氧嘧啶可诱发糖尿病，因为空腹血糖（FBG）水平>280毫克/分升。用苦瓜和胡芦巴对糖尿病大鼠进行30天治疗可显著（p<0.001）将FBG水平提高到接近正常血糖水平。在正常、糖尿病和实验动物（糖尿病+治疗）的心脏、肾脏和肝脏组织中测量了抗氧化活性（超氧化物歧化酶、过氧化氢酶、还原型谷胱甘肽含量和谷胱甘肽-S-转移酶）和脂质过氧化水平。与对照组相比，糖尿病组的硫代巴比妥酸反应物（TBARS）水平显著更高（p<0.001），抗氧化活性较低。给糖尿病大鼠服用苦瓜和胡芦巴后，TBARS水平和抗氧化活性均有显著（p<0.001）改善。我们的结果清楚地表明，苦瓜和胡芦巴不仅有助于控制血糖水平，而且具有抗氧化潜力，可保护心脏和肾脏等重要器官免受糖尿病诱导的氧化应激造成的损害。
