Glucose Uptake

Background: The incidence of diabetes mellitus (DM) is increasing at an alarming rate globally. There is a need for suitable natural alternatives for its treatment, as the regular use of drugs causes several secondary health issues. Aim: This study aimed to quantitatively evaluate the phenol and flavonoid content; antioxidant and anti-diabetic activity of fenugreek seeds and leaves in water and ethanolic extracts. Materials and Methods: Dried and powdered seeds and leaves of fenugreek were treated at different time and temperature combinations (100°C for 10 min; 80°C for 30 min; 60°C for 1 h; 37°C for 6 h; 24°C [room temperature] for 24 h; 100°C for 10 min followed by overnight soaking). Total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and glucose uptake assays on 3T3-L1 cell lines were performed on the extracts. Results: The results show that fenugreek leaves treated at 100°C for 10 min and overnight soaking yield extracts with the highest concentrations of desired phenols (46.08 ± 0.15 mg GAE/g sample) and flavonoid content (13.02 ± 0.44 mg/g sample) and antioxidant activity (DPPH) (45.41 ± 2.1%) with enhanced glucose uptake activity in 3T3-L1 cell lines. Conclusion: The phenolic and flavonoid content, DPPH radical scavenging activity and antidiabetic activity was highest in the water extract of fenugreek leaves treated at 100°C for 10 min and subsequent soaking for 24 h before filtration as compared to the other protocols tested. Furthermore, water extracts showed enhanced activity as compared to the ethanol extracts in case of both seeds and leaves and in all the treatment combinations.

This work aims to evaluate the feasibility of using imidazolium ionic liquids (ILs) in the design of multiphase bioreactors for the removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The IL affinity for three model VOCs (dimethyl sulfide, dimethyl disulfide and toluene) was evaluated by ...

El Hidrógeno Molecular (H2) es considerado el antioxidante mas poderos!
Es la fuente de energía por excelencia para las células que le permite desempeñar por completo todas sus funciones, tales como: desintoxicar, sanar, reparar y regenerar a si misma. Excelente tanto para los atletas profesionales como para personas con todo tipo de padecimientos, y así como para niños o mujeres embarazadas. En Japón son mas de 50 años que se reconoce de forma oficial su efectividad para tratar mas de 170 padecimientos distintos. Por ser el átomo mas pequeño logra penetrar todas las células del cuerpo humano y en tan solo 45 días poder regenerar órganos como el hígado, páncreas, riñones entre otros y lograr recuperar salud y bienestar de forma estable.

The uptake and utilization of glucose and glutamine by cancer cells is markedly higher than by
most non-transformed, normal epithelial and mesenchymal cells. This metabolic shift enables the
production of ATP and anabolic precursors necessary for the synthesis of proteins, lipids and nucleotides
required for survival, proliferation and invasiveness. The observations that certain oncogenic proteins
(Ras, c-Myc and HIF-1α) and tumor suppressors (P53, PTEN, Rb and VHL) regulate the expression and
activity of several metabolic enzymes has supported their potential as molecular targets for the
development of anti-neoplastic agents. Indeed, recent pre-clinical studies have shown that several
established and novel inhibitors of metabolic enzymes exhibit reasonable therapeutic indices when tested
in xenograft models of tumorigenesis. In this review, we will discuss the rationale of targeting metabolic
enzymes for the treatment of cancer and then will describe published pre-clinical and clinical data for
several inhibitors of metabolism in cancer.

The major glucose transporter protein expressed in skeletal muscle is GLUT4. Both muscle contraction and insulin induce translocation of GLUT4 from the intracellular pool to the plasma membrane. The intracellular pathways that lead to contraction- and insulin-stimulated GLUT4 translocation seem to be different, allowing the attainment of a maximal effect when acting together. Insulin utilizes a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-dependent mechanism, whereas the exercise signal may be initiated by calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum or from autocrine- or paracrine-mediated activation of glucose transport. During exercise skeletal muscle utilizes more glucose than when at rest. However, endurance training leads to decreased glucose utilization during sub-maximal exercise, in spite of a large increase in the total GLUT4 content associated with training. The mechanisms involved in this reduction have not been totally elucidated, but appear to cause the decrease of the amount of GLUT4 translocated to the plasma membrane by altering the exercise-induced enhancement of glucose transport capacity. On the other hand, the effect of resistance training is controversial. Recent studies, however, demonstrated the improvement in insulin sensitivity correlated with increasing muscle mass. New studies should be designed to define the molecular basis for these important adaptations to skeletal muscle. Since during exercise the muscle may utilize insulin-independent mechanisms to increase glucose uptake, the mechanisms involved should provide important knowledge to the understanding and managing peripheral insulin resistance.

Background Use of isothermic blood cardioplegia is not widely reported in paediatric cardiac surgical practice. It is a prospective comparative study of isothermic versus cold cardioplegia done from July 2005 to October 2005. Methods Fifty patients were selected and divided into two equal groups. Group I, Isothermic blood cardioplegia, patients were cooled to 30° C, and cardioplegia given at the same temperature as circulating blood in cardiopulmonary bypass and repeated at 20 minutes. Cardioplegic heat exchanger was not utilized in cardiopulmonary bypass circuit. In group II, conventional cold cardioplegia, patients were cooled to 28–30° C. Cardioplegia was given at 7–10° C and was repeated every 30 minutes. To assess myocardial metabolic activity, myocardial oxygen consumption (MVO2), myocardial glucose uptake, myocardial lactate and acidosis were measured, using arterial and coronary venous blood samples. Results Mean cardiopulmonary bypass time was significantly shorter in children receiving isothermic blood cardioplegia(69 v/s 96 minutes). Serum lactate after cardiopulmonary bypass in isothermic blood cardioplegia were lower (1.9 v/s2.9). There was less metabolic acidosis in isothermic group (pH 7.37 v/s 7.34). Glucose uptake was higher in isothermic group. Myocardial contractile function was slightly better in the isothermic group (Ejection Fraction −62 v/s 60 %). Conclusion Myocardium utilizes more oxygen and glucose after isothermic cardioplegia, but lactate and acid production were less. However they are not statistically significant and operative outcome was not different. Isothermic blood cardioplegia is a safe and cost effective alternative to conventional cold cardioplegia for children undergoing open heart surgery.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of Omapatrilat (Oma) upon blood pressure (BP), systemic hemodynamics (Hemo) and insulin sensitivity (IS) in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SHR). Rationale: Oma inhibits simultaneously two enzymes involved in the formation/degradation of various vasoactive peptides: ACE and NEP.Material and Methods: Male SHRs were treated with Oma (100 μmol/kg/day) for 12 weeks (SHR + OMA, n = 17).

The present study analyses the effect of two plant phenolic compounds, namely chlorogenic acid and ferulic acid, and a plant alkaloid, berberine, alone and also in combination with two commercial oral hypoglycemic drugs (OHD), namely metformin and 2,4-thiazolodinedione (THZ), on the uptake of 2-deoxyglucose (2DG) by L6 myotubes. 2-DG uptake is determined using an enzymatic assay. All the three natural products enhance the uptake of 2DG in time- and dose-dependent manner. A combination of different concentrations of chlorogenic acid and metformin or THZ, has a synergistic effect in the uptake of 2DG with a maximum of 5.0- and 5.3-times respectively, with reference to the base value (without the drugs or the natural products). Ferulic acid in combination with metformin or THZ has also shown a synergistic effect and the 2DG uptake increases by 4.98- and 5.11-fold when compared to the control respectively. Whereas, berberine, in combination with either metformin or THZ, has shown an additive effect with maximum 2DG uptake of 4.1- and 4.7-times from the base value, respectively. The synergistic interaction has been explained with the use of combination index and isobologram. Expression of GLUT4 and PPAR-γ gene were elevated in chlorogenic acid and berberine treated cells, whereas expression of GLUT4 and PI3K transcripts were significantly enhanced in ferulic acid treated cells. The studies indicate that chlorogenic acid enhances glucose uptake by increasing GLUT4 expression via PI3K independent pathway whereas ferulic acid increases glucose uptake by PI3K dependent pathway. The current findings suggest that the phytochemicals can replace the commercial drugs in part, which could lead to a reduction in toxicity and side effects of the later.

Although glucose is an inexpensive substrate widely used as a carbon source in Escherichia coli recombinant fermentation technology, 10-30% of the carbon supply is wasted by excreting acetate. In addition to the loss of carbon source, the excretion of a weak acid may result in increased energetic demands and hence a decreased yield. Because glucose can enter the cell via several transport systems, isogenic strains defective in one or two of these transport systems were constructed. The effects of changes in the glucose uptake capacity on the in vivo flux distribution to a desired end product (beta-galactosidase) and to acetate were studied. The lack of one of the components (IICB(Glc) protein) of the glucose-phosphoenolpyruvate phosphotransferase system (Glc-PTS) reduced the growth rate significantly. The maintenance of a low-copy plasmid in this strain resulted in further arrest of the growth rate. However, beta-galactosidase production had no effect on growth rate. This strain dir...

In the current work, a model for enzymatic hydrolysis and SSF has been reviewed and modified. Parameters referring to the enzymatic hydrolysis were estimated against new experimental data by using a non-linear least square regression tool in Matlab (MathWorks Inc.). To ...

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.