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Diabetes mellitus is one of the most prevalent global public health issues associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases, contributing to morbidity and mortality. Research has demonstrated that elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in diabetes can trigger apoptosis, exacerbating diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM). This study investigates the cardioprotective effects of Paederia foetida in rats’ models of type 2 diabetes induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) and streptozotocin (STZ) treatment. The diabetic model was established in Sprague Dawley rats by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ, 40 mg/kg). Sprague Dawley rats were treated with varied concentrations of standardized extract of P. foetida (50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg), administered orally once daily for four weeks. Standardized extract from P. foetida has a range of therapeutic potential, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-diabetic properties. The common metabolic disorder indices and myocardial apoptosis were investigated. The findings from this study demonstrated increased expression of Bcl-2 and decreased expression of Bcl-2 Associated X-protein BAX as indicated by IRS scoring in cardiomyocytes, suggesting that P. foetida has a significant protective effect on diabetic cardiomyopathy by decreasing apoptosis. Increased Bcl-2 and decreased BAX levels may be related to regulating oxidative stress and mitochondrial pathways involving myocardial apoptosis. P. foetida extract could be a potential intervention for attenuating cardiomyopathy in diabetes mellitus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic disorders sharing the common underlying feature of hyperglycemia. In developed countries, use of medicinal plants has recently increased as scientific evidence about their effectiveness has become broadly available. This article is to review the efficacy and safety of medicinal plants commonly used for diabetes mellitus. Materials and Methods: We carried out a literature search in several electronic data bases such as: Pubmed, Pubmed Central, Google, Google Scholar, Scopus and Medline from 2000 to 2020 to acquire the status of information concerning this concept. Results: Medicinal plants have long been used in traditional systems of medicine for diabetes. Some recent reports on the medicinal plant with anti-diabetic effects have provided evidence for possible mechanisms of action. Nonetheless, the majority of investigators only speculated on a wide range of possible mechanisms or simply demonstrated an antihyperglycemic effect for the crude plant extracts or the isolated compounds of interest. Conclusion: This review articles hope that this will be beneficial as a starting point to consider the discussed products for further investigations to identify and develop new medicinal remedies with potential alternative or complementary use in controlling diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tualang honey has been shown to reduce oxidative stress in various animal models. Objective: This study aims to investigate the responses of antioxidant defenses to normobaric hypoxia and the effects of Tualang honey on brain oxidant/antioxidant status of adult male rats. Methods: The rats were divided into four groups (n = 12 per group); i) sucrose non-hypoxia, ii) sucrose with hypoxia, iii) honey non-hypoxia, iv) honey with hypoxia. Oral Tualang honey (0.2 g/kg body weight) and sucrose (1 mL of 7.9%) supplementations were given to the rats daily for 14 days. The rats were then subjected to ~11% continuous normobaric hypoxia for 7 days. The brain homogenate was used to determine oxidative stress markers levels/activities. Results: The sucrose with hypoxia group demonstrated a significant increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) and a decrease in total antioxidant capacity (TAC), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) levels when compared to sucrose non-hypoxia group. A significant increase in TAC, CAT, SOD and GPx, and a decrease in MDA levels were observed especially in honey with hypoxia group compared to sucrose with hypoxia group. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that normobaric hypoxia disrupts the efficiency of the antioxidant system leading to oxidative damage. Pretreatment with Tualang honey has been demonstrated to increase brain tolerance to hypoxia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Honey has been demonstrated to possess anti-inflammatory property. This is a randomized, controlled, open-label trial to determine the effects of 12-week honey oral supplementation on plasma inflammatory markers such as high sensitive C-reactive protein, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α among chronic smokers. Methods/design: A total of 32 non-smokers and 64 chronic smokers from Quit Smoking Clinic and Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia participated in the study. Smokers were then randomized into 2 groups: smokers with honey group that received Malaysian Tualang honey (20 g/day daily for 12 weeks) and smokers without honey group. Blood was obtained from non-smokers and smokers at pre-intervention, and from smokers at postintervention for measurement of the inflammatory markers. Results: At pre-intervention, smokers had significantly higher high sensitive C-reactive protein than non-smokers. In smokers with honey group, tumor necrosis factor-α was significantly increased while high sensitive C-reactive protein was significantly reduced at post-intervention than at pre-intervention. Conclusion: This study suggests that honey supplementation has opposite effects on tumor necrosis factor-α and high sensitive C-reactive protein indicating the inconclusive effect of honey on inflammation among chronic smokers which needs further study on other inflammatory markers. Trial registration: The Trial has been registered in the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12615001236583. Registered 11 November 2015 (Retrospectively Registered). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]