International Journal of Biochemistry Research & Review

Background: Carica papaya is commonly used in the treatment of various diseases like constipation, piles, hypertension and malaria. The ameliorative effect of Carica papaya on alloxan-induced diabetic rats has been suggested by several studies.

Aim: The present study aims to investigate the effect of methanolic extract of unripe Carica papaya pulp on the lipid profile and liver biomarkers of a diabetic rat.

Materials and Methods: After acclimatization, thirty-two (32) animals were randomly classified into 8 groups (4 rats per group). The different test (extract) groups received in addition to normal diet ad libitum, dosages of 200, 400, 600 and 1000 mg/kg/day of the Carica papaya extract. The normal and negative control groups received a normal diet, while the positive control was given oral treatment with 6 mg/65 kg/day of glibenclamide as well as the normal diet. After 28 successive days of treatment, all the experimental rats were sacrificed by ocular puncture and the serum used in the evaluation of body lipids, liver function parameters and biochemical indexes.

Results: The administration of the unripe Carica papaya extract resulted in a dose-dependent and significant decrease (p<0.05) in serum albumin, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total protein, and in alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level.  There was, however, a significant increase in High-density lipoprotein (HDL) level for 400-1000 mg/kg extract groups. The result also showed a reduced cholesterol level at an extract dose of 1000 mg/kg/day.

Conclusion: The ameliorative properties of the unripe pulp of Carica Papayaon biochemical parameters of a diabetic rat, as shown from the result could be indicative that unripe Carica papaya can be valuable in the management of diabetes mellitus and other complications that may arise.

Background: Lead poisoning is a serious and sometimes fatal condition. It occurs when lead builds up in the body. Students exposed to lead by eating junk foods wrapped in newspaper, the licking of fingers for turning the photocopies, book pages, printout etc. and use of same fingers for eating purpose. Additionally young population get exposed to lead by use of Kohl or Kajal eyeliners, some traditional ethnic medicines, time spent at firing ranges and some hobbies like wall paintings or jobs related to plumbing and soldering. Damage caused by lead poisoning cannot be reversed. Lead inhibits necessary enzymes required for heme synthesis, and this result in increased levels of delta-aminolevulinic acid (δ-ALA) excretion through urine.

Aim: To Estimate the urinary δ-ALA levels in the students of age group 15 to 25 years as an index of lead exposure.

Study Design: This is a cross-sectional study in Mumbai from a suburban locality.

Methodology: The study was done on 70 students of age group between 15 years and 25 years with their brief history related to lead exposure. Their urine samples were analyzed for δ-ALA by using Ehrlich reagent.

Results: According to our observation, out of 70 students 46 student’s (65.71%)urine samples shown δ-ALA level  above reference level and remaining 24 (34.28%) were considered as below reference level.

Conclusion: The prevalence of lead exposure among our study population is 65.71%.

Clinical Significance: We conclude that there is high prevalence of lead exposure in students of age group 15 to 25 years in Mumbai and necessary precautions need to be taken to avoid detrimental effects of lead poisoning.

Aims: Reports regarding the effects of antioxidants in obesity have been contradictory. Antioxidant N-acetylcysteine is usually considered a nutritional supplement. Our aim is to evaluate bioactivity of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on mature adipocytes, which is a close model to in vivo condition.

Study Design: In vitro study.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Basic Science (Universidad Nacional de Lujan), Department of Chemical Biology (Universidad de Buenos Aires), CONICET – INEDES and CONICET – IQUIBICEN, between March 2017 and June 2019.

Methodology: We evaluated the bioactivity of different concentrations of NAC for 5 days (0.01 mM to 5 mM) on fully differentiated 3T3-L1 cells (mature adipocytes).

Results: We demonstrated that NAC treatment was not toxic to mature adipocytes. Only 5mM NAC inhibited reactive oxygen species production. 5 mM NAC treatment resulted in a 60% decrease in cellular triglycerides content and inhibited 70% cholesterol accumulation.  We also determined the mRNA and protein expression levels of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor g as well as, mRNA levels of lipid protein Perilipin in NAC treated adipocytes; we observed that 5mM NAC treatment caused nearly 30% decrease in the expression of these parameters.

Conclusion: These results suggest that NAC could avoid lipid accumulation in mature adipocytes; the antioxidant NAC could be beneficial in obesity treatment.

Background: The extract of Hibiscus sabdariffa commonly known as Sobo is widely consumed for its nutritional and health benefits. This study investigated the effect of aqueous leaf extract of  H. sabdariffa on anemic condition caused by phenylhydrazine in rats.

Materials and Methods: Thirty (30) rats used for this study were divided into three groups of 10 rats each. Group 1 received distilled water and served as control. Group 2 received phenylhydrazine (40 mg/kg, i.p.). Group 3 was treated with phenylhydrazine (40 mg/kg, i.p.) 30 minutes prior to administration of (200 mg/kg, p.o.) aqueous extract of H. sabdariffa (Sobo) once daily for 14 days. At the end, 2 ml blood samples were collected through cardiac puncture into clean sample bottles containing ethylenediamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) for hematological analyses.

Results: Sobo significantly increased (P<0.05) hemoglobin (Hb) concentration and packed cell volume (PCV) in the phenylhdrazine-treated rats. Also, Sobo significantly (P<0.05) increased total white blood cell (TWBC) in phenylhydrazine administered rats. However, the extract did not produce any significant effect on mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) relative to control and anemic groups.

Conclusion: The findings from this study revealed that the aqueous extract of H. sabdariffa demonstrates anti-anemic effect in rats treated with phenylhydrazine, suggesting its ethno-pharmacological beneficial effect in anemic conditions.

This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of different processing methods on extraction of millet milk viz., germinated millet milk extraction, germinated and roasted millet milk extraction; enzyme assisted millet milk extraction and ultrasonicated millet milk extraction. Physical parameters viz., sedimentation rate, separation rate, whiteness index, heat stability and viscosity of extracted millet milk by different processing methods were evaluated. Among the various processing methods, enzyme assisted extraction showed better results as compared to other processing methods in terms of sedimentation rate (0.93±0.07 to 1.13±0.05 g/40 ml), separation rate (45.28±1.44 to 51.97±0.14 ml/h), viscosity (2.32±0.02 to 2.82±0.03cP) and heat stability (24.7±0.13 to 21.2±0.51 minutes). The whiteness index was found to be maximum in germinated millet milk extraction while the enzyme treated millet milk recorded the lowest value (40.48±0.71to 62.81±0.64%). Based on heat stability and sedimentation rate, the enzyme assisted millet milk extraction was found to be best for extraction of millet milk and for product development.

This study investigated the in-vitro antioxidant activity of ethanol leaf extract of Justicia carnea and its effect on antioxidant status of alloxan-induced diabetic albino rats. The in-vitro antioxidant activity was assayed by determining the total phenol, flavonoids, ascorbic acid, β-carotene and lycopene contents and by using 2,2 diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical, reducing antioxidant power and inhibition of lipid peroxidation antioxidant systems. Oxidative stress was produced in rats by single intraperitoneal injection of 150 mg/kg alloxan and serum concentration of malonaldehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were determined. Five experimental groups of rats (n=6) were used for the study. Two groups of diabetic rats received oral daily doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg Justicia carnea leaf extract respectively while gilbenclamide (5 mg/ml); a standard diabetic drug was also given to a specific group for 14 days. From the result, the leaf extract contained a higher concentration of flavonoids followed byphenols, ascorbic acid, lycopene and β-carotene. The extract displayed more potent reducing power ability with EC₅₀ of 40 µg/ml compared to BHA (EC₅₀ of 400µg/ml). The percentage DPPH radical scavenging activity of the extract was also higher with EC₅₀ of 200µg/ml and increased with increase in concentration while BHA had EC₅₀of 320µg/ml. The inhibition of lipid peroxidation also increased with increase in concentration with EC₅₀ of 58µg/ml and comparable with BHA (EC₅₀=60µg/ml). The effect of the plant extract on antioxidant enzyme activities was concentration-dependent. Administration of 100mg/kg of the plant extract resulted in a significant decrease (p<0.05) in serum MDA concentration, while 200 mg/kg of the extract caused a significant (p˂0.05) increase in superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase activities with a non-significant increase (p>0.05) in the serum level of MDA when compared with the diabetic untreated group. These findings suggest that ethanol leaf extract of Justicia carnea have antioxidant properties and could handle diabetes-induced oxidative stress.