An evaluation of the blood glucose lowering effects of Eryngium foetidium

a single oral dose of the aqueous leaf extract of Eryngium foetidum L. was screened for its blood-sugar lowering action in three animal models: normoglycaemic rats, streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats and normal rats subjected to the oral glucose-tolerance test. High and low doses (351 mg/kg and 176 mg/kg respectively) of the Eryngium foetidum leaf extract were used. The effects were composed with those produced by 200 mg/kg of the extract of commercial Gymnema sylvestre leaf (positive control 1), 3mg/kg glibenclamide (positive control 2) and 15mg/kg distilled water (negative control). Single (acute) oral dose of E. foetidium leaf extract caused no significant reduction in the blood glucose levels of the three animal models. The effect was similiar to that produced by the glibenclamide (positive control 2). The intraperitoneal acute toxicity test result in mice indicated that the E. foetidium leaf extract up to a dose of 702 mg/kg was not toxic. Phytochemical screening showed that essential oils and saponins were present in this extract. The present study suggests that a single oral dose of the aqueous leaf extract of E. foetidum has no significant blood-sugar lowering activity in healthy and experimental diabetic rats

A preliminary study of the indices of obesity among a select group of apparently healthy Caribbean subjects

The purpose of this study was to assess the anthropometric indices of obesity among apparently healthy Caribbean subjects who have the potentials of living an affluent lifestyle. One hundred and eleven (38 males, 73 females) young adults aged between 17 and 38 years participated in the study. Subjects provided information on age, ethnic group, educational attainment, occupation, and previous record of body mass index (BMI) and family history of diabetes mellitus in a self-administered research questionnaire. Waist and hip circumferences (cm), weight (kg) and height (m) were measured. Subsequently, BMI and waist-to-hip ratio (W/H) were calculated. The majority of the subjects (83) had never measured their BMI. Although the male subjects were significantly taller and heavier than the females (p < 0.01), there was no significant difference in the prevalence rates of obesity between the male and female subjects (p > 0.05). In this preliminary study there was a trend for more females than males to be underweight (BMI < 20 kg/m2). The male subjects had significantly higher waist circumference than the females (p < 0.01), but both genders had a similar percentage of male and female subjects with increased waist circumference (p > 0.05). The limitations of this study are its small size and self selection bias and hence the results obtained must be interpreted with caution. We suggest that assessment of body mass index should be incorporated in the routine clinical measurements of all patients to facilitate early identification, evaluation and treatment of overweight and obesity.

Classical cardiovascular risk factors in Trinidadian patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus are not influenced by the level of plasma glycaemia

The aim of this study is to assess the plasma glycaemia of patients attending the diabetes mellitus outpatients' clinics in Trinidad and to determine how different plasma glycaemia would affect cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. One hundred and ninety-one patients (64 males, 127 females, mean age 56.6 +/- 0.8 yr) with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (mean duration 9.2 +/- 0.6 yr) attending diabetes mellitus clinics from January to April 2000 participated in the study. Anthropometric indices (weight, height, waist and hip circumferences) and blood pressure were measured and overnight fasting blood samples were collected for glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), glucose, lipids (triglyceride, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol) and creatinine determinations. The patients were categorized into Group 1 ('well controlled'; HbA1c < 7.0) and Group 2 ('poorly controlled'; HbA1c > 7.0). Although the majority (85) of patients were poorly controlled', there were no significant differences in the age, duration of diabetes mellitus, body mass index and waist/hip ratios between the two groups of patients (p > 0.05). Similarly, the blood pressure and lipid (total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol) levels did not differ between the two groups (p > 0.05) although triglyceride (1.4 +/- 0.1 vs. 2.2 +/- 0.1 mmol/L) levels were higher in patients in Group 2 compared with Group 1 (p < 0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis indicates that the levels of blood pressure, lipid and anthropometric parameters were not significantly dependent on the plasma glycaemia of the patients (p > 0.05). Analysis of the data has shown that the majority of patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus attending primary care clinics in Trinidad had poor glycaemic control. The poorly controlled patients had similar levels of CVD risk factors to 'well controlled' patients although the former were potentially at greater risk of progressing to cardiovascular disorder than 'well controlled' patients.

Early metabolic defects for developing diabetes mellitus among offspring of patients with type 2 diabetes are independent of gender

The aim of the study was to investigate if the female offspring of patients with Type 2 diabetes have more metabolic defects for developing diabetes mellitus than their male counterparts. Thirty-four offspring (10 males, 24 females) of patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus aged 28.9 +/- 1.5 years (mean +/- SEM) underwent a standard oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT; 75 g glucose in 300 ml water). Anthropometric indices, plasma lipids and blood pressure were measured while insulin resistance (IR) and sensitivity (S) were assessed using the Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA) method. All the offspring had normal glucose tolerance but high HOMA-derived IR values (27.2 +/- 4.2 vs. 22.5 +/- 2.7 pmol/mmol/l, p > 0.05) and low S (48.1 +/- 5.1 vs. 50.6 +/- 3.9, p > 0.05), all of which did not differ on gender comparisons. Multiple linear regression analyses suggest that gender had no influence on the outcome of the result (p = 0.37). Again, body mass index (BMI), fasting serum insulin, plasma glucose, triglyceride, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol were all similar in both genders (p > 0.05). The results suggest that though the offspring manifested metabolic defects for developing diabetes in later life, this susceptibility is independent of gender in the population studied. Further studies with a larger sample size are warranted to confirm these findings in this population.