Neuropathic pain treatment between drug therapy and supplement effects

Neuropathic pain (NP) is a medical condition induced by diseases or lesions in the primary or inner cell systems that influence somatosensory nervous system buildings. Central NP, including backbone pain; multiple sclerosis, is recurrent. NP has an important impact on the life of patients and a strong economic impact on people and the society. some small neuropathy responds like a NSAID, aspirin and ibuprofen to an over-the-counter drug. More strong medicine (such as anti-depressants and serotonin-epinephrine reuptake inhibitors), anticonvulsants (pregabalin and gabapentin), and topical lidocaine-these are recognized as the most advanced neuropathical treatment-is also needed for other serious circumstances to increase ache leadership. Supplemental drugs, such as beta lipoic acid, acetyl-L-carnitine, benfotiamine, taurine and others, have been studied for neuropathic pain relieve under doctors to guarantee safe use and not bring any medicines that may interact with the dietary supplement. A medical procedure has been investigated for a neuro-lipoic pain relief. In specific, owing to the power of drug contrast with alternative products and owing to the effect of some drugs, it was considered that the drugs are (in spite of their side effects) more helpful and efficient to relieve neuropathic pain than the option, since neuropathic pain represents a serious illness and needs a more strong and effective therapy technology (particularly in severe cases).

Benfotiamine supplementation prevents oxidative stress in anterior tibialis muscle and heart / 中西医结合学报

OBJECTIVE@#This study aimed to evaluate the influence of oral supplementation with benfotiamine on oxidative stress in the liver, heart and muscles of endurance-trained mice.@*METHODS@#Twenty-five male BALB/c mice were allocated to the following treatment groups: standard diet and sedentary activity (Sta-Sed), benfotiamine-supplemented diet and sedentary activity (Ben-Sed), standard diet and training activity (Sta-Tr) and benfotiamine-supplemented diet and training activity (Ben-Tr). The training comprised 6 weeks of endurance swimming training. The concentration of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), carbonylated proteins, total thiols and non-protein thiols was analyzed in the liver, heart and tibialis anterior muscle.@*RESULTS@#In the muscle, TBARS concentration in the Sta-Sed group was higher than that in other groups; in the heart, TBARS concentration in the Sta-Sed and Ben-Tr groups was higher than that in the Ben-Sed group. The carbonyl content of the muscle tissues was higher in the Sta-Sed group than in both supplemented groups. In liver, the carbonyl content was lower in the Ben-Sed group than in the Sta-Sed group. The level of total thiols was lower in the Ben-Sed group than in the Sta-Tr group. In the heart, the level of total thiols was higher in the Ben-Sed group than in the Ben-Tr group. The concentration of non-protein thiols in the muscle was higher in the Ben-Sed group than in the Ben-Tr group, whereas in the heart, concentration of non-protein thiols of Sta-Tr group was lower than that of Sta-Sed group.@*CONCLUSION@#The results show that benfotiamine is an efficient antioxidant for the anterior tibialis muscle and heart; however, swimming training did not alter redox status.

Anti-diabetic effects of benfotiamine on an animal model of type 2 diabetes mellitus / 대한수의학회지

Although benfotiamine has various beneficial anti-diabetic effects, the detailed mechanisms underlying the impact of this compound on the insulin signaling pathway are still unclear. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of benfotiamine on the hepatic insulin signaling pathway in Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats, which are a type 2 diabetes mellitus model. OLETF rats treated with benfotiamine showed decreased body weight gain and reduced adipose tissue weight. In addition, blood glucose levels were lower in OLETF rats treated with benfotiamine. Following treatment with benfotiamine, the levels of Akt phosphorylation (S473/T308) in the OLETF groups increased significantly compared to the OLETF control group so that they were almost identical to the levels observed in the control group. Moreover, benfotiamine restored the phosphorylation levels of both glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3alpha/beta (S21, S9) and glycogen synthase (GS; S641) in OLETF rats to nearly the same levels observed in the control group. Overall, these results suggest that benfotiamine can potentially attenuate type 2 diabetes mellitus in OLETF rats by restoring insulin sensitivity through upregulation of Akt phosphorylation and activation of two downstream signaling molecules, GSK-3alpha/beta and GS, thereby reducing blood glucose levels through glycogen synthesis.

Effect of Benfotiamine on the Expression of Phosphodiesterase Type 5 and Its Isoforms in Type 2 Diabetic Rat Kidneys / 대한남성과학회지

PURPOSE: The phosphodiesterases (PDEs) are critical components in the cyclic AMP/protein kinase A and the cyclic GMP/phosphokinase G signaling pathways. The cAMP and cGMP pathways are regulated by activation and dissolution of PDEs. Benfotiamine, a lipophilic derivation of thiamine is known an activator of transketolase, is reported to prevent diabetic nephropathy by decreasing proteinuria and reducing oxidative stress. We did this study to investigate the effect of benfotiamine in type 2 diabetic rat kidneys. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We prepared 10 male Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (LETO: control) and 20 male Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats, which developed non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) naturally. An oral glucose tolerance test confirmed diabetic development in the OLETF rats at 26 weeks. We classified 10 of the OLETF rats into Group I, the no treatment group and the other 10 into Group II, the treatment group. Group II received 100 mg/kg benfotiamine after developing DM. At 44 weeks, we checked kidney weight, serum glucose, free testosterone, insulin, total cholesterol, and triglyceride before sacrifice. We designed the primers for rat PDE5, PDE5A1, and PDE5A2 genes were carried out semiquantitive multiplex RT-PCR. Immunohistochemical staining was performed for monoclonal mouse anti-cGB-PDE5 and mouse monoclonal anti-smooth muscle alpha-actin. RESULTS: For the Control Group, Group I, and Group II, kidney weight was 2.13+/-0.23, 2.08+/-0.22, and 1.94+/-0.44 g; serum glucose was 279.50+/-56.79, 338.00+/-55.00, and 314.71+/-139.1 mg/dl; free testosterone was 1.46+/-1.08, 1.05+/- 0.42, and 0.72+/-0.56 pg/dl; insulin was 1.03+/-0.43, 1.09+/-0.83, and 1.15+/-1.08 ng/ml; total cholesterol was 86.83+/-4.79, 132.00+/-7.69, and 118.14+/-30.93 mg/dl; and triglyceride was 78.83+/-16.47, 177.83+/-75.62, and 194.57+/-92.57 mg/dl, respectively. All three groups expressed PDE5, PDE5A1, PDE5A2 mRNA, but Group I PDE5 mRNA expression was lower than that of Group C, II. However, the expression of PDE5A1 and PDE5A2 mRNA was not significantly different among the three groups. CONCLUSIONS: Serum cholesterol, triglyceride, and glucose were significantly higher in OLETF than in LETO rats. The PDEs were lower in diabetic rat (OLETF) kidneys and PDEs may play a significant role in the development of diabetic renal complications. Benfotiamine is suggested to increase expression of PDE5 mRNA in the type 2 diabetes rat kidney, but the difference in expression levels between PDE5A1 and PDE5A2 was not significant. These findings suggest that benfotiamine may play a specific role in diabetic changes of the rat kidney via a PDE5-related pathway, but it is not clear whether subtype PDE5A1 and PDE5A2 genes play a specific role.