Daily consumption of banana marginally improves blood glucose and lipid profile in hypercholesterolemic subjects and increases serum adiponectin in type 2 diabetic patients.

In this study, we explored the effects of consumption of banana in thirty hypercholesterolemic and fifteen type 2 diabetic subjects. They were given a daily dose of 250 or 500 grams of banana for breakfast for 12 weeks. Fasting serum lipid, glucose and insulin levels were measured initially as well as every 4 weeks. Daily consumption of banana significantly lowered fasting blood glucose (from 99±7.7 to 92±6.9 and 102±7.3 to 92±5.7 mg∙dL-1 (p<0.05) after consuming banana 250 or 500 g/day for 4 wk, respectively) and LDL-cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol ratio (from 2.7±0.98 to 2.4±0.85 and 2.8±0.95 to 2.5±0.79, p<0.005) in hypercholesterolemic volunteers. Analysis of blood glycemic response after eating banana showed significantly lower 2 h-postprandial glucose level compared to baseline in hypercholesterolemic volunteers given a dose of 250 g/day. The changes of blood glucose and lipid profile in diabetic patients were not statistically significant, but for plasma levels of adiponectin, there were significantly increased (from 37.5±9.36 to 48.8±7.38 ng∙ml-1, p<0.05) compared to baseline. Although it remains to be confirmed with larger group of volunteers, this pilot study has demonstrated that daily consumption of banana (@ 250 g/day) is harmless both in diabetic and hypercholesterolemic volunteers and marginally beneficial to the later.

Expression of cyclooxygenase-1 and -2 and clinicopathologic features of colorectal cancer in northern Thailand.

Two isoforms of cyclooxygenase, COX-1 and COX-2, have been identified and shown to be involved in tumorigenesis. Although, overexpression of COX-2 in human cancers has been repeatedly reported, no data have hitherto been available for Thai patients. To cast light on the role(s) of COX enzymes in the development and progression of colorectal cancers and to determine the incidence of COX-2 overexpression, the expression levels of COX-1 and COX-2 proteins using Western blot analysis in tumor tissues and adjacent normal tissues obtained from 44 Thai patients with colorectal cancer. Compared with paired normal tissues, COX-2 was overexpressed in 13 of 44 colorectal tumor tissues (29.5%). Overall, COX-2 levels in colorectal tumor specimens were significantly correlated with histological differentiation, in particular in the tumors with poor differentiation (p<0.05). In addition, overexpression of COX-2 was found more frequently in colorectal tumors with lymphatic invasion, regional lymph node metastasis and larger size, although without statistical significance. In contrast to the relatively consistent alteration in COX-2 expression, the level of COX-1 expression was quite varied in tumor tissues. Forty-eight percent of colorectal tumors exhibited a decreased level of COX-1 in comparison to normal tissues and overexpressed in 23%. Thus both isoforms may both play roles in promoting tumorigenesis. However, there was no significant relationship between the alteration of COX-1 protein levels and any pathological features of tumors.