Stevia rebaudiana loaded titanium oxide nanomaterials as an antidiabetic agent in rats

Abstract Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) Bertoni, Asteraceae, is a plant with hypoglycemic and antihyperlipidemic properties. S. rebaudiana (SrB) has become a lead candidate for the treatment of the diabetes mellitus. However, chronic administrations of S. rebaudiana are required to cause the normoglycemic effect. Importantly, nanomaterials in general and titanium dioxide (TiO2) in particular have become effective tools for drug delivery. In this work, we obtained TiO2 nanomaterials with SrB at different concentrations (10, 20 and 30 µM) by sol–gel method. After this nanomaterials were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Where it was demonstrated, the presence of the S. rebaudiana in TiO2 nanomaterials, which were observed as hemispherical agglomerated particles of different sizes. The nanomaterials were evaluated in male rats whose diabetes mellitus-phenotype was induced by alloxan (200 mg/kg, i.p.). The co-administration of TiO2-SrB (20 and 30 µM) induced a significant and permanent decrease in the glucose concentration since 4 h, until 30 days post-administration. Likewise, the concentrations of insulin, glycosylated hemoglobin, cholesterol, and triacylglycerides showed a significant recovery to basal levels. The major finding of the study was that the TiO2-SrB (20 and 30 µM) has a potent and prolonged activity antidiabetic. TiO2 can be considered like an appropriated vehicle in the continuous freeing of active substances to treat of diabetes mellitus.

Determinación de niveles séricos de 25 hidroxicolecalciferol en recién nacidos con y sin hipocalcemia: informe preliminar / Determination of 25 hydroxydrohuitamin D levels in newborn infants with and without hypocalcemia: preliminary report

Se hacen consideraciones sobre el metabolismo de la vitamina D con especial referencia a la 25 hidroxicolecalciferol, así como sobre las causas de hipocalcemia neonatal. Se analizan los valores de 25 hidroxicolecalciferol en 41 recién nacidos mediante la técnica de radioimunoensayo; 23 fueron pretérmino, 12 de término eutróficos y seis recién nacidos con hipocalcemia. Se establecen los valores de referencia para el recién nacido pretérmino (18.79 + 6.58 microng/mL) y de término eutróficos (19.4 + 8.6 microng/mL). Se compararon ambos grupos no encontrandose diferencia significativa. El grupo de recién nacidos con hipocalcemia mostró valores promedio de 25 hidroxicolecalciferol menores a los grupo sin hipocalcemia encontrándose diferencia significativa al compararse con ellos. Se considera necessario ampliar la muestra de recién nacidos con hipocalcemia para obtener mayor valor estadístico