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Context: The health benefits and medicinal properties of herbal food products are known since antiquity. Fenugreek [Trigonella foenum-graecum Linn. (Fabaceae)], a seed spice used to enhance flavor, color and texture of food, is employed for medicinal purposes in many traditional systems. A number of epidemiological studies and laboratory research have unraveled the biological actions of fenugreek., Objective: Research on fenugreek in recent years has identified a number of health benefits and physiological attributes in both experimental animals as well as clinical trials in humans. In this study we have reviewed the available scientific literature on fenugreek., Methods: This review article summarizes and reviews published experimental studies and scientific literature from the databases including PubMed, Google and local library searches., Results: The information available in the literature on the health benefits and pharmaceutical effects of Trigonella accounts for its known medicinal properties and adds new therapeutic effects in newer indications. Besides its known medicinal properties such as carminative, gastric stimulant, antidiabetic and galactogogue (lactation-inducer) effects, newer research has identified hypocholesterolemic, antilipidemia, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, antiulcer, antilithigenic, anticarcinogenic and other miscellaneous medicinal effects of fenugreek. Although most of these studies have used whole seed powder or different forms of extracts, some have identified active constituents from seeds and attributed them medicinal values for different indications., Conclusion: The resarch on Trigonella exhibits its health benefits and potential medicinal properties in various indications and has little or no side effects, suggesting its pharmaceutical, therapeutic and nutritional potential.

Neurokinin B (NKB), a decapeptide of mammalian origin exhibits a variety of biological activities such as regulatory functions in reproduction, pre-eclampsia and neuroprotection in Alzheimer's disease. In order to gain insight into structure-function relationship, three-dimensional structure of NKB has been investigated using CD spectropolarimetry and two-dimensional proton nuclear magnetic resonance (2D 1H-NMR) spectroscopy in aqueous and membrane mimetic solvents. Unambiguous NMR assignments of resonances have been made with the aid of correlation spectroscopy (DQF-COSY and TOCSY) experiments and Nuclear Overhauser Effect Spectroscopy (NOESY) experiments. Distance constraints obtained from the NMR data have been used to generate a family of structures, which have been refined using restrained energy minimization and dynamics. Our data show that a helical structure is induced in NKB, in presence of perdeuterated dodecyl phosphocholine (DPC) micelles, a membrane model system. Further, the conformation adopted by NKB in presence of DPC micelles represents a structural motif typical of neurokinin-3 selective agonists.

Experimentally induced diabetic rats were treated separately with insulin and vanadate. The activities of hexokinase (HK) and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6PDH) were increased in reticulocyte hemolysate isolated from the diabetic rats and were restored to normal levels by insulin. The restoration was not detected in vanadate treated diabetic animals. The enzymes of glutathione metabolism namely glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione-s-transferase (GST) exhibited increases in their activities with diabetes and were restored to almost control values by insulin treatment. Vanadate given to diabetic animals further increased GPx, and GST. The level of superoxide dismutase(SOD) decreased in the reticulocytes of diabetic rats and catalase (CAT) was unchanged. Both CAT and SOD had normal values when the diabetic rats were treated with insulin and vanadate. It is proposed that vanadate may cause an increase in the activity of GR which may stimulate glucose transporters and glucose metabolism.

The effects of insulin and the insulin mimetic agent "vanadate" were studied on the activities of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, glutamate dehydrogenase and arginase in the cytosolic and the mitochondrial fractions of the kidney in control and alloxan induced diabetic rats. An enhancement in the activities of these enzymes were noted in both the fractions of diabetic kidney. Vanadate treatment (0.6 mg/ml in drinking water) of alloxan induced diabetic rats restored the activities of these enzymes almost completely in the cytosolic and partially in the mitochondrial fractions. Vanadate treatment also normalized hyperglycaemia without altering the depressed levels of insulin secretion in diabetic rats. The effect of insulin treatment was found to be the same as that of vanadate in diabetic rats.

The effects of alloxan diabetes and its reversal with insulin treatment, on NADH-oxidase (E.C.1.6.99.3) was measured in the microsomal fractions of brain, liver and kidney at different time interval after diabetes induction. A significant increase was found in the enzyme activity in brain and kidney microsomes of the diabetic animals, whereas liver showed a decrease. The decrease in the NAD+/NADH ratio in the diabetes reported earlier could be due to the changes in the enzyme activity as well as other changes in the metabolite concentration.

The erythrocytes from control (C), diabetic (D) and thyroxine-treated diabetic (D+T4) rats were separated into three ageing groups (TAG) like light dense (young cells), intermediate-dense (middle-aged cells) and heavy-dense (old aged cells). Thyroxine reversed the diabetic defense enzymes to normal values like catalase in young cells, glutathione-s-transferase in middle-aged and old cells and levels of GSH in middle-aged cells. Thyroxine also increased the levels of GSSG in TAG whereas the levels of GSH increased in young cells, and decreased in old cells. The percentage of glycosylated haemoglobin did not return to normal levels by thyroxine in diabetic animals. Thyroxine may be playing the dual role in increasing the sulfhydryl levels and also inactivating enzymes in ageing erythrocytes of diabetic animals.

The erythrocytes from control (C), diabetic (D) and insulin-treated diabetic (D+I) rats were separated into three ageing groups (TAG) i.e., light dense (young cells), intermediate-dense (middle-aged cells) and heavy-dense (old aged cells) samples. The activities of enzymes and metabolites changed from young to old cells in the following manner: (1) Increase of CAT in TAG and a lower level in D and D+I (2) Decrease of GPx in TAG but a low level in D (3) Increase of GR in TAG but a higher level in D, (4) Increase of GST in C and a decrease in D with a higher level in young cells and a lower level in middle-aged and old cells. The reversal of enzyme was more in young cells of D+I (5) Increase of GSH in TAG, a low level in D and a high level in D+I (6) Increase of GSSG in TAG, a high level found only in young cells of D. The results show that young red cells are affected more significantly in diabetes than other age cell types.

Enzymes and metabolic intermediates of glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway and the tricarboxylic acid cycle were measured in immature rat uterus after treatment with oestradiol. The flux of glucose through alternative pathways was examined. Fructose-2,6-bis-phosphate, the well known regulator of glycolytic pathway, increased after the injection of oestradiol and remained elevated. This increase was accompanied by raised levels of most of glycolytic intermediates and by increase in glycolytic flux. The key enzymes of glycolysis and all the enzymes of pentose phosphate pathway showed a gradual increase in the activity with administration of oestradiol up to 48 hours. Phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate, the metabolite required in nucleotide synthesis, was also elevated. Marked changes in the levels of key metabolic intermediates and the enzyme activities are correlated with the increased nucleic acid, protein and lipid synthesis occurring following oestradiol treatment.