Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria.
J Food Biochem. 2019 Aug;43(8):e12910. doi: 10.1111/jfbc.12910. Epub 2019 May 29.
Type 2 diabetes mellitus is associated with complications such as Alzheimer disease (AD). Tropical eggplant (Solanum gilo, Solanum kumba, and Solanum aethiopicum) fruits have been extensively used for the treatment of different ailments. This study assesses the effect of an eggplant supplemented-diet on purinergic, monoaminergic, and cholinergic enzyme systems in diabetic male rats, besides determining the presence of alkaloids using GC-MS chromatography. Results from this study show that eggplant fruit diet modulates the activities of the enzymes in purinergic, monoaminergic, and cholinergic enzyme systems associated with AD-like symptoms. Solanum kumba-supplemented diet significantly (p < 0.05) reduced enzyme activities better than S. gilo and S. aethiopicum, which could be due to its rich phytochemical constituents. In conclusion, eggplant fruits could serve as a holistic measure in the prevention of diabetes-related complications such as neurodegenerative disease. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The therapeutic management of diabetes fails to holistically address inflammatory response which likely contributes to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) occurrence by causing insulin resistance; this, in turn, is intensified in the presence of hyperglycemia to promote long-term complications such as neurodegenerative disorders. The health benefit of a tropical eggplant fruit diet inform a nutritional and therapeutic approach for the prevention and treatment of T2DM and its associated complications such as neurodegenerative disorders has been proved. The eggplant fruit-supplemented diet, which is cost-effective with little or no side effect, could substantially increase the antioxidant status and also modulate the activities of neuronal enzymes in a diabetic model with dementia, as well as Alzheimer's-like symptoms. This study, therefore, revealed more of the benefits of tropical eggplant fruits vis-à-vis their management in hyperglycemia-mediated neurodegeneration.
2 型糖尿病与阿尔茨海默病（AD）等并发症有关。茄子（龙葵、茄和茄属）果实已被广泛用于治疗各种疾病。本研究评估了茄子补充饮食对糖尿病雄性大鼠嘌呤能、单胺能和胆碱能酶系统的影响，并用 GC-MS 色谱法测定生物碱的存在。本研究结果表明，茄子果饮食可调节与 AD 样症状相关的嘌呤能、单胺能和胆碱能酶系统中酶的活性。与 S. gilo 和 S. aethiopicum 相比，S. kumba 补充饮食可显著（p<0.05）降低酶活性，这可能是由于其丰富的植物化学物质成分。总之，茄子果实可作为预防糖尿病相关并发症（如神经退行性疾病）的整体措施。
糖尿病的治疗管理未能全面解决炎症反应，炎症反应可能通过引起胰岛素抵抗而导致 2 型糖尿病（T2DM）的发生；而高血糖的存在又加剧了这种情况，从而促进了长期并发症的发生，如神经退行性疾病。热带茄子果饮食的健康益处为预防和治疗 T2DM 及其相关并发症（如神经退行性疾病）提供了一种营养和治疗方法。茄子果补充饮食具有成本效益，几乎没有或没有副作用，可显著增加抗氧化状态，并调节痴呆糖尿病模型中神经元酶的活性，以及类似阿尔茨海默病的症状。因此，本研究揭示了更多关于热带茄子果在高血糖介导的神经退行性病变中的管理益处。
