Quail (Coturnix japonica) egg yolk bioactive components attenuate streptozotocin-induced testicular damage and oxidative stress in diabetic rats.

INTRODUCTION: The testicular milieu is the machinery for the metabolism of testosterone in the male reproductive system. PURPOSE: The dysfunction of this highly regenerating system is inevitable in the condition of glucose imbalance as a result of insulin machinery impairment. Therefore, it is imperative to recommend dietary intervention for attenuating the testicular dysfunction and oxidative stress resulting from STZ-induction of diabetes. METHODS: STZ-induced diabetes (65 mg/kg, ip) was treated with QEYEM (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg/day) and quercetin (50 mg/kg/day) for 7weeks. In serum, glucose, testosterone, IL-6 and TNF-α levels were estimated, and in testis, tissues TBARS, sulfhydryl groups, nucleic acids and total protein (TP) levels were estimated. SOD, CAT and GST activities were also determined in testicular cells. Histopathological changes were evaluated in a cross-section of testis. RESULTS: Testosterone concentration was decreased while pro-inflammatory markers were increased in STZ-assaulted rats. Treatment using QEYEM of diabetic rats corrected assaults and reverse significantly the diabetic conditions. QEYEM-treated groups showed significant inhibition of TBARS levels and elevation of testicular GSH, NP-SH, total protein (TP) and nucleic acids-DNA and RNA levels. The QEYEM administration reversed the inhibited activities of SOD, CAT and GST in testicular cells in diabetic rats. The characterization of the extract carried out through HPLC analytical techniques revealed vitamins A, D and E concentrations of 0.645, 0.012 and 6.3 mg/100 g, respectively. CONCLUSION: QEYEM supplementation to STZ-induced diabetic rats for seven (7) consecutive weeks is a potential intervention against testicular damage in adult diabetic rats, probably by decreasing oxidative stress.

Xeronine structure and function: computational comparative mastery of its mystery.

Morinda citrifolia (Noni) fruit has a long history of dietary use in tropical regions of the world. Pharmacological properties that have been attributed to the fruit include anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and antioxidant properties. Xeronine, a small alkaloid which has been patented (US4543212) is one of the bioactive compounds of Noni fruit, which is believed to be capable of modifying the molecular structure of specific inactive proteins thereby regulating proper folding to active enzymes. Despite reports of the potential of Xeronine as therapeutic agent, its presence is controversial and its structure has not been explored. In this study, standard chemoinformatics tools and servers such as ChemSketch, ChemMine, Swisstargetprediction, SwissADME and Swisssimilarity have been employed to predict its possible structure. In addition, synthetic xeronine structures based on the known bioactive components of Noni fruit were designed. Results showed that the hypothetical structure of xeronine provided by the patent inventor is a mystery based on its <5% probable protein targets and no similarity match to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drugs and experimental compounds by in silico evaluation. By constrast, final designed xeronine structure possess all the features that were described in the patent document, and has >40% probable protein targets related to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), which possibly justifies the key function stated in the patent.