Antihyperglycemic and antioxidant effect of hydroethanolic extract of Butea monosperma bark in diabetic mice.

The antihyperglycemic, antihyperlipidemic and antioxidative properties of hydroethanolic extract of Butea monosperma bark were investigated in alloxan-induced diabetic mice. Alloxan administration resulted in higher blood glucose level and reduced hepatic glycogen content as compared to normal animals. Besides, serum lipid profile parameters such as total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein (LDL) and very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) cholesterol were also found to be significantly elevated, whereas the level of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol was markedly reduced in diabetic animals. Oxidative damage in the tissues of diabetic mice was evidenced by a marked increase in the level of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), distinct decrease in reduced glutathione (GSH) content and declined activity of antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px). The daily treatment of diabetic animals with crude extract of B. monosperma bark (300 mg kg-1) for 45 days significantly lowered blood glucose level and elevated hepatic glycogen content, bringing the values close to those observed in normal control and glibenclamide-treated diabetic mice. Furthermore, the level of various lipid profile parameters was also reversed towards normal. TBARS and GSH also restored towards normal and the declined activity of antioxidant enzymes in diabetic animals was also normalized in crude extract administered mice, thus indicating the antioxidant efficacy of the drug in diabetes-induced oxidative damage. Significant antihyperglycemic and antioxidant potential of the crude extract of B. monosperma bark indicated that it may find use in the management of diabetes and resultant oxidative stress.

Antihyperglycemic and antioxidative attribute of hydroethanolic extract of Butea monosperma (Lam.) seeds and its active constituents.

Treatment of diabetic mice with glibenclamide and crude extract (BE) significantly declined the FBG content. However, amongst the 6 isolated compounds, 3 compounds (C1, C4 and C6) appreciably subsided the exaggerated level of FBG. Simultaneously, glibenclamide, BE, C4 and C6 treatment markedly enhanced the hepatic glycogen content as compared to diabetic control group. Administration of crude extract, C4, C5 and C6 also exerted a protective effect on the declined activity of SOD, CAT and GSH-Px in the three tissues. However, all the herbal treatments produced a pronounced escalation in GSH content. Contrarily the elevated level of hepatic, pancreatic and renal TBARS monitored in diabetic animals was significantly diminished in treated groups of animals. Alloxan administration severely deteriorated the structure of liver and pancreas of diabetic mice, which was found to be restored to a certain extent in glibenclamide, BE and C6 treated animals. Identification of the most potent antihyperglycemic compound C6 by HPLC confirmed its triterpene nature. C6 was then further characterized via various spectroscopic methods (IR, NMR and Mass) that revealed its similarity with laccijalaric ester-I, a triterpene present in soft resin of B. monosperma seeds.

Degradation of Benzo [a] Pyrene by a novel strain Bacillus subtilis BMT4i (MTCC 9447)

Benzo [a] Pyrene (BaP) is a highly recalcitrant, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) with high genotoxicity and carcinogenicity. It is formed and released into the environment due to incomplete combustion of fossil fuel and various anthropogenic activities including cigarette smoke and automobile exhausts. The aim of present study is to isolate bacteria which can degrade BaP as a sole source of carbon and energy. We have isolated a novel strain BMT4i (MTCC 9447) of Bacillus subtilis from automobile contaminated soil using BaP (50 ìg /ml) as the sole source of carbon and energy in basal salt mineral (BSM) medium. The growth kinetics of BMT4i was studied using CFU method which revealed that BMT4i is able to survive in BaP-BSM medium up to 40 days attaining its peak growth (10(29) fold increase in cell number) on 7 days of incubation. The BaP degradation kinetics of BMT4i was studied using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) analysis of BaP biodegradation products. BMT4i started degrading BaP after 24 hours and continued up to 28 days achieving maximum degradation of approximately 84.66 percent. The above findings inferred that BMT4i is a very efficient degrader of BaP. To our best of knowledge, this is the first report showing utilization of BaP as a sole source of carbon and energy by bacteria. In addition, BMT4i can degrade a wide range of PAHs including naphthalene, anthracene, and dibenzothiophene therefore, it could serve as a better candidate for bioremediation of PAHs contaminated sites.

Antidiabetic and antioxidant potential of ethanolic extract of Butea monosperma leaves in alloxan-induced diabetic mice.

The possible protective effect of ethanolic extract of B. monosperma leaves (BMEE) on diabetes and diabetes-induced oxidative stress was evaluated in alloxan (ALXN)-induced diabetic male adult mice. Experimental animals were divided into three groups viz., I, II, and III. Diabetes mellitus (DM) was induced in groups II and III mice by a single intraperitoneal injection of alloxan (150 mg/kg body wt). Group I (control mice) received an equal volume of normal saline. Group III mice were further treated with BMEE (300 mg/kg body wt, p.o.) for a period of 45 days. Body weight and fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels were measured at periodic intervals during the test period. At the end of treatment period, blood was collected by cardiac puncture under mild ether anesthesia and serum was isolated to analyze its lipid profile i.e. serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL) and very low density lipoprotein (VLDL). The homogenates of hepatic, pancreatic and renal tissues were also analyzed for both enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), reduced glutathione (GSH), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and total protein (TP). Alloxan injection resulted in a significantly (P < 0.05) increased concentration of FBG level. Besides, the levels of enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidants were decreased and TBARS level increased significantly (P < 0.05) in hepatic, pancreatic and renal tissues. Also, serum TC, TG, LDL and VLDL-cholesterol level elevated significantly (P < 0.05), whereas HDL-cholesterol reduced significantly (P < 0.05) in group II (alloxan-treated diabetic control). The FBG level decreased significantly (P < 0.05) after 45 days treatment of BMEE from 172 to 117.143 mg/dl, as compared to normal control (79.286 mg/dl). The activities of antioxidant enzymes (CAT and GSH-Px) and GSH level in hepatic, pancreatic and renal tissues also increased significantly (P < 0.05) in BMEE-treated mice, but the activity of SOD was not improved significantly. BMEE treatment also reduced the TBARS levels and lowered serum lipid profile significantly (P < 0.05). The findings of the present study indicated significant hypoglycemic and anti-oxidant activity in B. monosperma leaves, thus lends credence to its folklore use in the management and/or control of type-2 DM.