Mechanisms of toxic effect of streptozotocin on ß-cells in the islets of langerhans.

Administration of streptozotocin caused selective damage to endocrine ß-cells in rat pancreatic islets, which was related to activation of apoptosis. The cytotoxic effect of streptozotocin was associated not only with DMA damage due to dysfunction of the antioxidant defense system, but also with activation of the caspase cascade and TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand.

[Antidiabetic effect of Gymnema sylvestre-based medicinal complex].

The paper deals with the study of the antidiabetic mechanism of action of the medicine "Diabeta". The agent has been found to have a central effect (pancreatotropic one associated with insulin secretion stimulation) and a peripheral one (extrapancreatic effect associated with intestinal carbohydrate malabsorption).

[Structural alterations in pancreatic islets in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats treated with of bioactive additive on the basis of Gymnema sylvestre].

The structural alterations in pancreatic islets in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were studied after the administration of Gymnema sylvestre extract or its composition. Diabetes mellitus was modeled by daily injection of streptozotocin (20 mg/kg for 5 days) and single injection of 0.2 ml of complete Freund's adjuvant, Only the animals with the blood glucose level exceeding 15 mmol/l were included in the experiment. B- and A-endocrinocytes were demonstrated using immunocytochemistry. The proportions of the area of the pancreatic islets, occupied by B- and A-endocrinocytes, as well as the volume fraction of the pancreatic islets within the pancreas, were determined. In the model of streptozotocin-induced diabetes, the part of the total islet area occupied by B-endocrinocytes, was diminished in the pancreatic islets located in all the zones of the gland. Prophylactic administration of Gymnema sylvestre extract or its composition tended to restore the area occupied by B-endocrinocytes in the pancreatic islets. These results indicate the equal potency of the composition and extract of Gymnema sylvestre to induce the regeneration of B-endocrinocytes.

[Hemorheological activity of Gymnemy sylvestre extracts in streptozotocin-induced diabetes].

Extracts of Gymnemy sylvestre (GS) exhibit hemorheological activity. The most pronounced effect was observed for GL extract in 25 wt % concentration, which (i) induced a decrease in the viscosity of blood and washed erythrocyte suspensions in the entire range of shear rates by a factor of 1,3 (ii) reduced the degree of deformability of red blood cells, (iii) increased the degree of osmotic resistance of erythrocytes by 21.3%, (iv) increased the intensity of fluorescence of DSM+ probe in erythrocyte suspensions by a factor of 1.5, and (v) decreased the degree of anisotropy, thus generally improving the viscoelastic properties of the erythrocyte membrane and preventing the thrombocyte aggregation. In this respect, the GS extract activity exceeded that of Tanakan.

Double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot and phase III study of activity of standardized Andrographis paniculata Herba Nees extract fixed combination (Kan jang) in the treatment of uncomplicated upper-respiratory tract infection.

Two randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel group clinical trials were performed to investigate the effect of a standardized extract (SHA-10) of Andrographis paniculata fixed combination (Kan jang) in the treatment of uncomplicated upper-respiratory tract infections. 46 patients in the pilot study and 179 patients in the phase III study completed the study according to the protocol. Medication was taken three times daily for a minimum of 3 days and a maximum of 8 days for the pilot study, and for exactly three days in the phase III study. The primary outcome measures in the patients self-evaluation were: related to pain in the muscle, cough, throat symptoms, headache, nasal symptoms and eye symptoms and temperature. The physician's fixed score diagnosis was based mainly on sign/symptoms: ears, nose, oral cavity, lymph glands-tonsils and eyes. The total symptom score showed a tendency toward improvement in the pilot study (p = 0,08), while both the total symptom score and total diagnosis score showed highly significant improvement (p < or = 0.0006 resp. 0.003) in the verum group as compared with the placebo. In both studies throat symptoms/signs, were found to show the most significant improvement.

[Effect of natural complexes of biologically active substances on liver regeneration in alcohol poisoning]. / Vliianie prirodnykh kompleksov biologicheski aktivnykh veshchestv na protsessy vosstanovleniia funktsii pecheni pri alkogol'noi intoksikatsii.

Hepatoprotective effect of natural substances obtained from extracts of grape combs, leaves of green and black tea were studied in liver tissue of ethanol-consuming rats by means of evaluation of the neutral lipid fractions and phospholipids as well as by measurement of glucose and nicotinamide coenzymes NAD+ and NADP in blood. In all the animal groups treated with these vegetable extracts content of total phospholipids, decreased after the ethanol treatment, was increased, while fraction composition of phospholipids and of neutral lipids was normalized; in blood content of glucose, NAD+ and NADP approached to control values. These results suggest that the vegetable extracts studied exhibited the hepatoprotective effect in alcohol intoxication.

[The structural organization of the erythrocyte membranes of representatives of different ethnic groups following a single drink of ethanol]. / Strukturnaia organizatsiia membran éritrotsitov u predstavitelei raznykh étnicheskikh grupp posle odnokratnogo priema étanola.

Comparative data of phospholipids and fatty acids contents in erythrocytes of the people working in the North after the single uptake of ethanol are given. The increase of the fatty acids saturation index in all groups was noted. The modifications of the polyunsaturated fatty acids from omega-6-series for Europeans and omega-3-series for Mongolians was also found.