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Impaired antioxidant system and structural changes in hippocampus are considered as key instigators of neurodegenerative diseases. The present study aimed to investigate the antioxidant and tissue protective properties of Bacopa monniera whole-plant extract (BME) against aluminum (Al)- induced oxidative stress and hippocampus damage in rats. Male Wistar rats were evenly divided into four groups, nine in each and labeled as control, Al treated (10 mg/kg), BME administered (40 mg/kg) and combination of both Al plus BME (Al+BME) treated groups. After one month of treatment by oral administration, antioxidant status was determined, and structural changes in the hippocampus were evaluated by electron microscopy. Al-induced increased oxidative damage in the hippocampus was revealed by elevated thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). This increased lipid peroxidation was associated with significantly decreased antioxidant enzyme activities, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). However, aluminum intoxicated rats treated with BME for 30 days showed significantly restored antioxidant enzyme activities along with decreased TBARS (P < 0.01). Further evidences from electron micrographs clearly indicated that Al-induced vacuolation, lipofuscin deposition and pyramidal cell degeneration in the hippocampus was attenuated with co-administration of the whole-plant extract. Our results demonstrate that structural derangement in hippocampus by aluminum is directly proportionate with increased lipid peroxidation. Nevertheless, B. monniera treatment potentiates the antioxidant status and suppressed the tissue damage induced by Al-intoxication. These findings suggest that B. monniera whole-plant extracts can be considered as a possible remedy to counteract aluminum-associated neurological disorders.

In this study, the effect of mushroom extracellular polysaccharides on fatty acid composition and liver peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPAR-α) expression in obese-diabetic rats was investigated, and distinguished the association among anti-obesity, hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic properties. Extracellular polysaccharides from three different strains of Pleurotus tuber-regium were extracted and labeled as HP (high-percentage), MP (medium-percentage) and LP (low-percentage). Obese- diabetes (OD) was induced by chronic high-fat diet plus streptozotocin (STZ) injections. Simultaneously to the diet, polysaccharides were orally administered to OD groups (20 mg/kg body weight/8-week), and categorized into OD+HP, OD+MP and OD+LP groups (n = 10/group), respectively. High-fat diet plus STZ-induced hyperglycemia was prominently attenuated by polysaccharides. Increased fatty acid component n-6/n-3 ratio in liver and plasma of obese-diabetic rats was attenuated, while, reduced MUFA/ PUFA and MUFA/SFA ratios were restored (P < 0.01) with polysaccharides treatment. Furthermore, elevated serum total cholesterol, triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) concentrations were controlled, and parallel restoration of decreased high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels were found with polysaccharides supplementation. This hypolipidemic property might be associated with up-regulated liver PPAR-α mRNA expression and protein levels (P < 0.01). These findings concluded that stable fatty acid components and activated PPAR-α by polysaccharides may contribute to its hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic properties. Therefore, P. tuber-regium could be considered as nutritional supplement to treat diabetic complications.

Diabetes is characterized by elevated blood glucose levels and disturbed homeostasis of metabolic enzymes in whole-body. This study aimed to investigate the effect of ginger administration on altered blood glucose levels, intra- and extra-mitochondrial enzymes and tissue injuries in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Wistar strain rats (n = 30) were equally divided into 5 groups: normal control (NC), ginger treated (Gt, 200 mg/kg b.w. orally/30 days), diabetic control (DC, 50 mg/kg b.w.), diabetic plus ginger treated (D + Gt) and diabetic plus glibenclamide treated (D + Gli) groups. We found highly elevated blood glucose levels in the diabetic group, and the glucose levels were significantly (P < 0.001) lowered by ginger administration. Activities of intra- and extra-mitochondrial enzymes such as glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), malate dehydrogenase (MDH) and glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) were significantly (P < 0.01) decreased in the kidneys of the diabetic rats, while this was significantly reversed by 30 days of ginger treatment. We also observed consistent renal tissue damages in the diabetic rats; however, these injuries recovered in the ginger-treated diabetic rats as shown in histopathological studies. In this study, we demonstrated that an ethanolic extract of ginger could lower the blood glucose levels as well as improve activities of intra- and extra-mitochondrial enzymes in diabetic rats. Our results suggest that ginger extracts could be used as a nephro-protective supplement particularly to reverse diabetic-induced complications.