Subacute Toxicity Evaluation of Methanolic Extract of Syzygium polyanthum in Rats.

Syzygium polyanthum (Wight) Walp. var. polyanthum (serai kayu) leaves is a popular herb and widely used in traditional medicine. Despite the ethnomedicinal benefits, very limited studies have researched on the toxicity of this plant. The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential effects of methanolic extract of Syzygium polyanthum (MESP) leaves via 28-day repeated oral dosing in Sprague Dawley rats. MESP leaves was administered at doses of 0 (control), 400, 1000 or 2000 mg/kg to an equal number of male and female rats (n = 10/group). Results obtained indicated that MESP did not affect the general conditions (body weight, feed intake and oestrous cycle) and apparent behavioural changes of the rats. Biochemical parameters revealed a slight significant variation in the aspartate aminotransferase (AST) level between the male rats treated with the lowest and highest doses of MESP, but these findings were both statistically insignificant when compared to the control group. The liver of the males (dose 1000 and 2000 mg/kg/day) also exhibited histoarchitectural defects on the hepatocytes and cytoplasm when compared to those of the control group. In contrast, female rats did not encounter any significant findings in all parameters tested. In conclusion, this study suggests that the MESP leaves might exhibit sex-based variation effects and thus, the use of this extract particularly at higher doses should be thoroughly considered.

Daun Syzygium polyanthum (Wight) Walp. var. polyanthum (serai kayu) ialah herba popular dan banyak digunakan dalam perubatan tradisional. Walaupun terdapat manfaat etnoperubatan, kajian ke atas ketoksikan tumbuhan ini sangat terhad. Tujuan kajian ini adalah untuk mengkaji kemungkinan kesan ekstrak metanol daun Syzygium polyanthum (MESP) melalui dos oral berulang 28 hari ke atas tikus Sprague Dawley. MESP diberikan pada dos 0 (kawalan), 400, 1000 atau 2000 mg/kg kepada tikus jantan dan betina yang sama bilangan (n = 10/kumpulan). Hasil yang diperolehi menunjukkan bahawa MESP tidak mempengaruhi keadaan fizikal (berat badan, pengambilan makanan dan kitaran estrus) dan perubahan jelas ke atas tingkah laku tikus. Parameter biokimia menunjukkan sedikit perbezaan yang signifikan dalam aras aspartate aminotransferase (AST) di antara tikus jantan yang dirawat dengan dos MESP terendah dengan dos tertinggi, tetapi keputusan ini tidak signifikan secara statistik bila dibandingkan dengan kumpulan kawalan. Hepar tikus jantan (dos 1000 dan 2000 mg/kg/hari) juga menunjukkan kecacatan histoarkitek pada hepatosit dan sitoplasma bila dibandingkan dengan kumpulan kawalan. Sebaliknya, tikus betina tidak menunjukkan keputusan yang signifikan dalam semua parameter yang diuji. Kesimpulannya, kajian ini mencadangkan bahawa MESP mungkin menunjukkan perbezaan kesan berdasarkan jantina dan oleh itu, penggunaan ekstrak ini terutama pada dos tinggi harus dipertimbangkan sewajarnya.

Antidiabetic and In Vitro Enzyme Inhibition Studies of Methanol Extract of Ocimum tenuiflorum Linn Leaves and Its Fractions.

The current study aimed to determine the best dose of methanol extract of Ocimum tenuiflorum L. leaves extract, and it is a fraction to blood-glucose-lowering in diabetic rats, and evaluated the α-amylase, α-glucosidase inhibitors and insulin level of diabetic rats used to achieve greater control over hyperglycemia. The result of the antihyperglycaemic of oral administration of a different dose of methanol extract in streptozotocin-induced rats showed that the highest dose of methanol extract significantly reduced the blood glucose level compared to another dose. Also, the result of repeated administration of methanol fractions indicates that ethyl acetate-butanol fraction exhibited a stronger antihyperglycemic effect than chloroform and ethanol-water fractions. Moreover, the result showed that effect of methanol extract and its fraction on α-glucosidase and α-amylase enzymes activities and its insulin level by in vitro study, ethyl acetate-butanol fraction could control with low concentration compared to other fractions and acarbose that used as a positive control. From the result of insulin level, methanol extract and fraction did not show any significant. These findings indicated that the active crude extract (methanol) and its active fractions (ethyl acetate/butanol) could exert significant glucose-lowering effect due to the presence of polyphenolics active constituents. In conclusion, isolation of the active components of Ocimum tenuiflorum L. may pave the way to the development of new agents for the treatment of diabetes and its complications.

Roles of adiposity, lifetime physical activity and serum adiponectin in occurrence of breast cancer among Malaysian women in Klang Valley.

BACKGROUND: Lack of physical activities throughout life is related to obesity and is a risk factor of breast cancer, however, the associations of these factors with adiponectin in the occurrence of breast cancer have not been well investigated. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the relationship between adiposity, lifetime physical activities and serum adiponectin as breast cancer risk factors among Malaysian women in Klang Valley, Malaysia. DESIGN: A case-control study was carried out among 70 newly diagnosed breast cancer patients and 138 controls aged 29 to 65 years old in Klang Valley. SUBJECTS: The inclusion criteria for both groups were not having menstruation for premenopausal women, no evidence of pregnancy, not lactating and no chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes at the time of data collection. In addition, the cases must be pathologically newly diagnosed with breast cancer (stage I to III) and not on any therapy for cancer, with the exception of surgery. The controls were matched with cases for age +/- 5 years and menopausal status. MEASUREMENTS: Subjects were interviewed to obtain information on socio-demography, health and reproductive history using a pretested questionnaire. Subjects were also asked on their engagement of physical activity since secondary school. Anthropometric parameters included height, weight, waist and hips were also measured. A total of 6 ml of fasting venous blood was drawn for analysis of serum adiponectin in duplicate using Linko Adiponectin ELISA Kit. Fasting blood glucose (FBG) and blood pressure were also measured. RESULTS: Mean body mass index (BMI) among cases and controls were not significantly different (p> 0.05) at 26.1 -/+ 4.8 kg/m2 and 25.3 -/+ 4.5 kg/m2, respectively. FBG among cases (6.3 -/+ 1.8 mmol/L) was higher than controls (5.6 -/+ 1.1 mmol/L) (p<0.05). Waist hip ratio (WHR) of cases (0.85 -/+ 0.07) was also higher than controls (0.80 -/+ 0.06) (p<0.05). Abdominal obesity (WHR > 0.85) increased risk of breast cancer by three folds [Adjusted OR 3.3 (95%CI 1.8-6.2)] (p<0.05). Adiponectin level was inversely related to waist circumference (r=-0.510, p=0.000), BMI (r=-0.448, p=0.000) and FBG (r=-0.290, p=0.026). Adiponectin level in cases (11.9 -/+ 4.8 microg/ml) were lower than controls (15.2 -/+ 7.3 microg/ml) (p<0.05). A greater reduction of breast cancer risk was observed with the increasing level of serum adiponectin level according to percentiles (p<0.05). Subjects with mean serum adiponectin level at the highest quintile (> 75th)( >or= 16.7 microg/ml) had 80% reduced risk of breast cancer [Adjusted OR 0.2 (0.0-0.6)](p<0.05). A higher percentage of cases (47%) had not engaged in any physical activity throughout life as compared to controls (19%)[Adjusted OR 3.7 (1.7-7.7)](p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Abdominal obesity and physical inactivity throughout life were associated with low serum adiponectin and breast cancer risk among subjects. Thus, it is essential for Malaysian women to be physically active and achieve a healthy waistline in order to increase serum adiponectin level and reduce breast cancer risk.