A Randomised Placebo Controlled Trial of Herbal Medicine (Sugaradik) in the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes.

To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of polyherbal powder (Sugaradik) in achieving glycaemic control in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics. Methods: It was a randomised double blind placebo controlled study. Eighty newly diagnosed patients of type 2 diabetes were selected after meeting inclusion and exclusion criteria. Patients were randomly divided into two groups. One group received drug and other group received placebo bearing a distinctive code number. Anthropometric parameters and HbA1c were performed initially as well as after three months of treatment period. Fasting blood sugar and blood pressure were recorded weekly. Student’s ‘t’ test was applied as statistical tool. Results: After three months of treatment of polyherbal powder (Sugaradik) there was a significant improvement in systolic blood pressure (136.05±3.30 to 126.42±1.51 mmHg) and fasting blood sugar (233.03±8.81 to 136.16±4.96 mg/dl; p less than 0.001). There was a significant reduction in HbA1c (8.39±0.30 to 6.37±0.10 percent; p less than 0.001). No adverse effects were observed in this trial. Conclusion: Polyherbal preparation of ten classic herbs appears to be effective in controlling glycemia. Sugaradik seems to be a safe drug and an effective oral agent in the management of type 2 diabetes.

Hypolipidaemic & hepatoprotective effects of Psidium guajava raw fruit peel in experimental diabetes.

Background & objective: The study evaluated the hypolipidaemic and hepatoprotective effects of unripe Psidium guajava fruit peel aqueous extract in streptozotocin (STZ) induced severely diabetic rats by assaying their triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, alkaline phosphatase (ALKP), asperate amino transeferase (AST), alanine amino transferase (ALT) and creatanine (CRTN) levels. Method: Severely diabetic albino Wister rats of same age group were treated orally once a day upto 3wk with a dose of 400 mg/kg bw of lyophilized extract. TG, TC, HDL, ALKP, AST, ALT and CRTN were estimated. LDL and VLDL cholesterol levels were calculated from the above measurements by using Friedwald formula. Results: A significant decrease in TG (P<0.01), TC (P<0.01), HDL (P<0.001) VLDL (P<0.001) and LDL (P<0.01), ALKP (P<0.01), AST (P<0.05), ALT (P<0.05) and CRTN (P<0.001) levels were observed after 21 days treatment of aquous extract of raw fruit peel compared to pre treatment levels. Interpretation & conclusion: The extract showed significant hypolipidaemic activity in addition to its hypoglycaemic and antidiabetic activity. In view of its relative non-toxic nature P. guajava raw fruit peel may be a potential antidiabetic agent.

Studies on chemical composition and energy transformation in river Ganga at Kanpur and Varanasi due to environmental degradation.

Impact of effluents discharged in Ganga through various sources on chemical composition, energy transformation rate and level of heavy metals was studied at Kanpur and Varanasi. The effluents were found to be nil in oxygen with acidic in oxygen with acidic to neutral pH (6.8-7.0) and having very high values of free CO2 (40-68 mg l-1), alkalinity (300.0-412.0 mg l-1), conductance (1082.0-1824.0 μmhos), total dissolved solids (542.0-912.0 mg l-1), hardness (228.0-330.0 mg l-1), chloride (42.0-60.0 mg l-1), organic matter (8.4-18.2 mg l-1) and BOD load (98.0-248.0 mg l-1). The heavy metals Cu, Cr, Cd, Pb and Zn were also quite high in the effluents (48.6-78.4, 54.0-84.6, 9.8-12.4, 72.4-84.0 and 148.6-284.0 μg l-1 respectively). The discharged effluents induced severe reduction in oxygen (av. 0.82-3.4 mg l-1) and sharp increase in the level of free CO2 (av. 10.8-24.8 mg l-1), alkalinity (182.4-288.4 mg l-1), conductance (480.0- 628.0 mmhos), total dissolved solids (254.0-315.0 mg l-1), hardness (170.0-259.0 mg l-1), chloride (36.0-52.0 mg l-1), organic matter (4.8-6.8 mg l-1) and BOD load (36.4- 58.4 mg l-1) at the discharge point (OF zones) from their comparatively much lower values before discharge (AOF zone). The rate of energy transformation and photosynthetic efficiency also reduced considerably at the discharge point (av. 1060-2101 calm-2day-1 and 0.09-0.18%) from high values before discharged point (av. 4045-4733 calm-2day-1 and 0.34-0.42%). The level of Cu, Cr, Cd, Pb and Zn also showed higher values at the discharged point (20.4-38.0, 22.4-54.8, 5.2-7.8, 30.8-72.0 and 64.8-120.8 μg l-1 respectively). Considerable improvement was observed below the discharge (BOF zone). Comparison with earlier observation revealed that the magnitude of impact has reduced considerably after the regulation in the discharge both in he respect of chemical composition and energy transformation rates.

Anti-hyperglycaemic potential of Psidium guajava raw fruit peel.

Background & objectives: This study was undertaken to evaluate the glycaemic potential of aqueous extract of Psidium guajava unripe fruit peel on blood glucose level (BGL) of normal and streptozotocin induced mild and severely diabetic rats as an extension of our previous work carried out on Psidium guajava ripe fruit peel. Methods: The aqueous extract of P. guajava unripe fruits was prepared. Male 6-8 wk old albino Wistar rats were selected for the experiments. Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin infection. Blood glucose levels were measured by glucose oxidase method. Antihyperglycaemic activity of the extract was assessed in mild and severely diabetic rats. Results: The maximum fall of 21.2 per cent (P<0.01) and 26.9 per cent (P<0.01) after 3 h of glucose administration during glucose tolerance test (GTT) was observed in BGL from a dose of 400 mg/kg, identifi ed as the most effective dose, in normal and mild diabetic rats respectively. In severely diabetic rats the maximum fall of 20.8 and 17.5 per cent in fasting blood glucose (FBG) and post prandial glucose (PPG) levels, and 50 per cent (P<0.01) in urine sugar levels was observed with the same dose. Haemoglobin level increased by 5.2 per cent (P<0.05) and body weight by 2.5 per cent (P<0.05) after 21 days treatment. Interpretation & conclusions: Normal, mild and severely diabetic rat models had shown hypoglycaemic as well as antidiabetic effect of the unripe guava fruit peel aqueous extract. Further studies need to be done to characterize the active components of the peel.

Glycaemic evaluation of Psidium guajava in rats.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Many plant polysaccharides exhibit hypoglycaemic effect. Though the fruit of Psidium guajava is known to contain free sugars, the fruit extract showed hypoglycaemic effect in alloxan treated mice and human subjects. The present study was aimed to determine the glycaemic potential of P. guajava fruit peel extract on blood glucose level (BGL) of normal and streptozotocininduced sub-diabetic rats during fasting blood glucose (FBG) and glucose tolerance test (GTT). METHODS: Female albino Wistar rats (n=42) were divided into seven equal groups, and were given different doses of fruit peel extract. Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin injection (ip) at a dose of 45 mg/kg body weight. Blood glucose levels were measured after collecting the blood from tail veins. RESULTS: The diabetic and sub-diabetic models showed hyperglycaemic effect from a single oral administration of variable doses of P. guajava fruit peel extract. The maximum rise of 26.51 per cent was observed in BGL from a dose of 400 mg/kg bw exactly after 8 h of administration in normal rats whereas the maximum rise of 90.7 per cent was observed with the same dose of 400 mg/kg bw after 2 h of glucose administration in sub-diabetic rats. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: The hyperglycaemic effect of P. guajava fruit peel suggests that the diabetic patients should peel off the guava fruits before consuming. However, it can also be useful in controlling hypoglycaemia occasionally caused due to excess of insulin and other hypoglycaemic drugs.

Flow of chemical energy in Alwar jheel of Yamuna basin near Allahabad.

The water quality, rate of energy transformation, chemical composition of producers and flow of chemical energy were studied in both feeding river Yamuna and Alwar jheel near Allahabad. As the river Yamuna had high value of alkalinity (210.0 mgl(-1)), conductance (518.0 micromhos), dissolved solids (260.0 mgl(-1)), hardness (162.0 mgl(-1)) and chloride (54.6 mgl(-1)) jheel also showed high values of these parameters. The rate of energy transformation from kinetic radiant energy to chemical energy was very high in the jheel 32,315 Cal m(-2) day(-1) of which 25,620 Cal m(-2) day(-1) was contributed by aquatic plants. Out of 11,764 x 10(4) Kcal ha(-1) yr(-1) total energy fixed in the system, producers stored 7,154 x 10(4) Kcal ha(-1) yr(-1) and the rest was lost as heat of respiration. The pattern of storage of energy was different in two groups of producers and thus most of the energy fixed by phytoplankton was stored as protein (56.2%) and less as carbohydrate (11.7%) while aquatic plants stored more energy as carbohydrate (40.8%) than protein (23.2%). The chemical energy obtained from the system was 1,85,000 Kcal ha(-1) yr(-1) and thus only 0.260% of the chemical energy stored by producers was harvested. The potential chemical energy resource in the jheel was 81.4 x 10(4) Kcal ha(-1) yr(-1) of which only 22.6% was harvested in the jheel and there is enough scope for further enhancement.