Unidad de Investigación Médica en Bioquímica, Hospital de Especialidades, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, IMSS, México, México.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2012 Oct 31;144(1):101-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2012.08.036. Epub 2012 Sep 1.
Cucurbita ficifolia is used in Mexican traditional medicine as an anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory agent and its actions can be mediated by antioxidant mechanisms. Disturbance in the homeostasis of glutathione has been implicated in the etiology and progression of diabetes mellitus and its complications.
It was evaluated, the effect of an aqueous extract of Cucurbita ficifolia on glycemia, plasma lipid peroxidation; as well as levels of reduced (GSH) and oxidized (GSSG) glutathione and activities of enzymes involved in glutathione redox cycle: glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione reductase (GR) in liver, pancreas, kidney and heart homogenates of streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice.
Increased blood glucose and lipid peroxidation, together with decreased of GSH concentration, GSH/GSSG ratio and its redox potential (E(h)), and enhanced activity of GPx and GR in liver, pancreas and kidney were the salient features observed in diabetic mice. Administration of the aqueous extract of Cucurbita ficifolia to diabetic mice for 30 days, used at a dose of 200 mg/kg, resulted in a significant reduction in glycemia, polydipsia, hyperphagia and plasma lipid peroxidation. Moreover, GSH was increased in liver, pancreas and kidney, and GSSG was reduced in liver, pancreas and heart, therefore GSH/GSSG ratio and its E(h) were restored. Also, the activities involved in the glutathione cycle were decreased, reaching similar values to controls.
An aqueous extract of Cucurbita ficifolia with hypoglycemic action, improve GSH redox state, increasing glutathione pool, GSH, GSH/GSSG ratio and its E(h), mechanism that can explain, at least in part, its antioxidant properties, supporting its use as an alternative treatment for the control of diabetes mellitus, and prevent the induction of complications by oxidative stress.
佛手瓜在墨西哥传统医学中被用作降血糖和抗炎药，其作用可以通过抗氧化机制介导。谷胱甘肽的体内平衡失调与糖尿病及其并发症的病因和进展有关。
评估了佛手瓜水提物对链脲佐菌素诱导的糖尿病小鼠血糖、血浆脂质过氧化；以及肝脏、胰腺、肾脏和心脏匀浆中还原型（GSH）和氧化型（GSSG）谷胱甘肽水平和参与谷胱甘肽氧化还原循环的酶：谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶（GPx）和谷胱甘肽还原酶（GR）的活性的影响。
糖尿病小鼠的特征是血糖升高和脂质过氧化增加，GSH 浓度、GSH/GSSG 比值及其氧化还原电位（E(h)）降低，以及肝脏、胰腺和肾脏中 GPx 和 GR 活性增强。在糖尿病小鼠中，以 200mg/kg 的剂量连续 30 天给予佛手瓜水提物可显著降低血糖、多饮、多食和血浆脂质过氧化。此外，GSH 在肝脏、胰腺和肾脏中增加，GSSG 在肝脏、胰腺和心脏中减少，因此 GSH/GSSG 比值及其 E(h)得到恢复。此外，参与谷胱甘肽循环的活性降低，达到与对照组相似的值。
佛手瓜水提物具有降血糖作用，改善 GSH 氧化还原状态，增加谷胱甘肽池、GSH、GSH/GSSG 比值及其 E(h)，这一机制至少部分解释了其抗氧化特性，支持将其作为控制糖尿病的替代治疗方法，并防止氧化应激引起的并发症的发生。
