Vitamin A knowledge and household consumption frequency of vitamin A – rich foods in Tangail, Bangladesh

@#Introduction: Vitamin A deficiency is one of the most serious health problems in developing countries. This study aims to explore the comparative figure of vitamin A knowledge, household consumption frequency of vitamin A-rich foods, and association of socio-demographic factors with knowledge and consumption in four residential areas in Tangail district, Bangladesh. Methods: This study used a population-based cross-sectional design with 400 study participants selected using purposive sampling technique. Knowledge and consumption frequency were assessed by a structured questionnaire along with food frequency table. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Results: Only 33.5% participants had primary vitamin A knowledge, where most from urban (48.5%) and semi-urban (30.6%) areas had comparatively higher knowledge than those from rural (11.2%) and slum (9.7%) areas. Specific knowledge level was also poorer in rural and slum areas than urban and semi-urban areas. Most of the participants received knowledge through commercial advertisements (65.7%). Household consumption frequency of vitamin A-rich foods (plant and animal) was comparatively lower in rural and slum areas than in urban and semi-urban areas. Different socio-demographic factors (place of residence, education and household income) significantly influenced participant’s vitamin A knowledge and household consumption of vitamin A-rich foods (p<0.05). Conclusion: In general, the study population lacked knowledge regarding the importance of vitamin A. Consumption frequency of vitamin A-rich foods was still poorer in slum and rural areas than in urban and semi-urban areas.

Study of the Hypoglycemic Effect of Tamarindus indica Linn. Seeds on Non-Diabetic and Diabetic Model Rats.

Aim: The present study was undertaken to evaluate the antidiabetic effects of the Tamarindus indica Linn seed in normal (non-diabetic), type-I and type-II model rats and to investigate their effect on gastrointestinal motility and intestinal glucose absorption. Methodology: T. indica seed powder was used at a dose of 1.25g/kg bw/10 ml water. Male Long-Evans rats (160-210g body weight) were used for the experiment. Experiments were done in non-diabetic and streptozotocin-induced diabetic model rats with a single feeding in different prandial states and blood was collected. An intestinal perfusion technique was used to study the effects of T. indica seed powder on intestinal glucose absorption in normal and type-II model rats. Gut motility was evaluated using barium sulfate milk. Glucose was measured by Glucose oxidase-peroxidase (GOD-POD) method. Result: The screening results showed that T. indica seed powder had no effect on fasting or postprandial serum glucose level of normal and type-I diabetic rat. The seed powder also showed no hypoglycemic effect in the fasting state and no antihyperglycemic effect in type-II model rats when fed simultaneously with oral glucose load, but it exhibited significant antihyperglycemic effect when the seed powder was fed 30 minutes prior to the glucose load at 105 minutes (p<0.03). Glibenclamide significantly lowered postprandial serum glucose levels of non-diabetic and type-II diabetic model rats (p<0.02-0.001). T. indica exerted inhibition on glucose absorption in type-II rats during the whole perfusion period when compared with control. On the other hand, T. indica seed powder significantly inhibited the gastrointestinal motility in type-II rats. Conclusion: The present data suggest that T. indica possesses antihyperglycemic properties in type-II rats which are at least partly due to its inhibitory effect on intestinal glucose absorption. This effect cannot be attributed to the acceleration of intestinal transit.

Sub-chronic oral administration of the ethanolic extracts of dried Terminalia chebula mature fruits in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) model of Long-Evans (L-E) rats improve glycemic, lipidemic and anti-oxidative status.

Mechanisms of the long known anti-diabetic effects exerted by the fruits of Terminalia chebula are not yet clearly understood. Here, we sought to get a biochemical view of the mechanisms. First, a single injection of streptozotocin (STZ) was given (50 mg/Kg of body weight, bw) to 48 hours old pups of Long-Evans (L-E) rats intraperitoneally (ip) to induce type 2 diabetes (T2DM). At the age of 3 months, a total of twenty male L-E rats, having T2DM were included in this study and divided into 4 groups (n = 5, for each group). T2DM was confirmed by a standard oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Next, T2DM rats were orally administered with a single dose of 80% ethanolic extracts of either the fresh or dried fruits for consecutive 28 days. Water and glibenclamide were used as negative and positive control, respectively. Administration of dried (p = 0.001) and fresh (p = 0.02) fruit extracts significantly reduced the fasting serum glucose level as compared to that of water control. Fasting serum lipid profile show that administration of both fresh and dried fruit extracts caused a significant reduction of triglycerides (p = 0.016), total cholesterol (p = 0.001) and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (p = 0.001). Examinations of antioxidant potential profile demonstrate that dried fruit extracts only decreased the levels of plasma MDA in T2DM rats to a notable extent (62%). Although the fruit extracts could not improve the levels of serum insulin, but increased the liver glycogen content to a remarkable extent (240%). This study indicates that sub-chronic administration of the ethanolic extracts of dried Terminaria chebula mature fruits improve glycemic, lipidemic and anti-oxidative status in T2DM male L-E rats and that the hypoglycemic action may be mediated by an extra-pancreatic mechanism. Abbreviations: STZ= Streptozotocin, T2DM=Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, OGTT=Oral glucose tolerance test, TG =Triglyceride, HDL-C=High density lipoprotein cholesterol, LDL-C=Low density lipoprotein cholesterol, FSG = Fasting serum glucose, Gliben=Glibenclamide, WC = Water control, TCFF=Ethanolic extract of T. chebula fresh fruit type 2 group, TCDF=Ethanolic extract of T. chebula dry fruit type 2 group, SPSS= Statistical Package for Social Science, ANOVA= Analysis of variance.

The role of Rho GTPases in the regulation of the rearrangement of actin cytoskeleton and cell movement

The rearrangement of the actin cytoskeleton has been shown to play a critical role in the development of transformation and malignant phenotype of cancer cells. Rho family GTPases regulate the arrangement of the actin cytoskeleton. By wound-healing assay, we have found that NIH 3T3 fibroblast cells move towards the wound- gaps by extending filopodial and lamellipdial structures at the leading edge of the moving cells. We have inactivated the function of Rho GTPases of v-Ras transformed NIH 3T3 cells by overexpressing Rho GTPase-activating (RhoGAP) domain of RhoGAP of p190. We have observed that inactivation of Rho, Rac and Cdc42 GTPases by overexpressing RHG causes inhibition of: (i) polymerization of actin to form filaments, (ii) formation of lamellipodia, filopodia and stress fibres, (iii) cell motility, (iv) cell spreading and (v) cell-to-cell adhesions. These results further strengthen the current knowledge on the role of Rho, Rac and Cdc42 GTPases in the regulation of the rearrangement of actin cytoskeleton. Our results, for the first time, demonstrate that RhoGAP domain of RhoGAP could be used to study the molecular mechanism of Ras-mediated signalling in growth, differentiation and carcinogenesis.