There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

Secret History: Return of the Black Death Channel 4, 7-8pm In 1348 the Black Death swept through London, killing people within days of the appearance of their first symptoms. Exactly how many died, and why, has long been a mystery. This Secret History documentary follows experts as they pick through the evidence and reveal why the plague killed on such a scale. And they ask, what might be coming next?

Medscape

Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni is a shrub having a high content of sweet diterpenoid glycosides in its leaves, mainly stevioside and rebaudioside A, which are used as noncaloric, natural sweeteners. The aim of this study was to deepen the knowledge about the insulin-mimetic effect exerted by four different mixtures of steviol glycosides, rich in stevioside and rebaudioside A, in neonatal rat cardiac fibroblasts. The potential antioxidant activity of these steviol glycosides was also assessed, as oxidative stress is associated with diabetes. Likewise the insulin effect, steviol glycosides caused an increase in glucose uptake into rat fibroblasts by activating the PI3K/Akt pathway, thus inducing Glut4 translocation to the plasma membrane. The presence of S961, an insulin antagonist, completely abolished these effects, allowing to hypothesize that steviol glycosides could act as ligands of the same receptor engaged by insulin. Moreover, steviol glycosides counteracted oxidative stress by increasing reduced glutathione intracellular levels and upregulating expression and activity of the two antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase and catalase. The present work unravels the insulin-mimetic effect and the antioxidant property exerted by steviol glycosides, suggesting their potential beneficial role in the cotreatment of diabetes and in health maintenance.

/pdf/glycosides-from-stevia-rebaudiana-bertoni-possess-insulin-4qc812mmvw.pdf

Glycosides from Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni Possess Insulin-Mimetic and Antioxidant Activities in Rat Cardiac Fibroblasts.

An update on natural compounds in the remedy of diabetes mellitus: A systematic review.

Vitexin and isovitexin from the Leaves of Ficus deltoidea with in-vivo α-glucosidase inhibition.

Ficus deltoidea from the Moraceae family has been scientifically proven to reduce hyperglycemia at different prandial states. In this study, we evaluate the mechanisms that underlie antihyperglycemic action of Ficus deltoidea. The results had shown that hot aqueous extract of Ficus deltoidea stimulated insulin secretion significantly with the highest magnitude of stimulation was 7.31-fold (P < 0.001). The insulin secretory actions of the hot aqueous extract involved K(+) (ATP) channel-dependent and K(+) (ATP)-channel-independent pathway. The extract also has the ability to induce the usage of intracellular Ca(2+) to trigger insulin release. The ethanolic and methanolic extracts enhanced basal and insulin-mediated glucose uptake into adipocytes cells. The extracts possess either insulin-mimetic or insulin-sensitizing property or combination of both properties during enhancing glucose uptake into such cells. Meanwhile, the hot aqueous and methanolic extracts augmented basal and insulin-stimulated adiponectin secretion from adipocytes cells. From this study, it is suggested that Ficus deltoidea has the potential to be developed as future oral antidiabetic agent.

/pdf/ficus-deltoidea-a-potential-alternative-medicine-for-7q7p9ljwyw.pdf

Ficus deltoidea: A Potential Alternative Medicine for Diabetes Mellitus.

Insulin resistance is a key factor in metabolic disorders like hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia, which are promoted by obesity and may later lead to Type II diabetes mellitus. In recent years, researchers have identified links between insulin resistance and many noncommunicable illnesses other than diabetes. Hence, studying insulin resistance is of particular importance in unravelling the pathways employed by such diseases. In this review, mechanisms involving free fatty acids, adipocytokines such as TNFα and PPARγ and serine kinases like JNK and IKKβ, asserted to be responsible in the development of insulin resistance, will be discussed. Suggested mechanisms for actions in normal and disrupted states were also visualised in several manually constructed diagrams to capture an overall view of the insulin-signalling pathway and its related components. The underlying constituents of medicinal significance found in the Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni plant (among other plants that potentiate antihyperglycemic activities) were explored in further depth. Understanding these factors and their mechanisms may be essential for comprehending the progression of insulin resistance towards the development of diabetes mellitus.

/pdf/potential-roles-of-stevia-rebaudiana-bertoni-in-abrogating-ftnxuqazmo.pdf

Potential Roles of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni in Abrogating Insulin Resistance and Diabetes: A Review

Ficus deltoidea, which is locally known as ‘mas cotek,’ has been traditionally believed to have hypoglycaemic activity. In this study, hypoglycaemic activity of aqueous extract of Ficus deltoidea in normal and mild diabetic rats (streptozotocin induced) was evaluated. The extract was administered orally at different doses (100, 500 and 1000 mg/kg) to both groups in fasting and post prandial state. The result shows that the aqueous extract of Ficus deltoidea did not have any hypoglycaemic activity in normal rats as well as in fasting mild diabetic group. In post prandial mild diabetic rats, aqueous extract of Ficus deltoidea at the dose of 1000 mg/kg show hypoglycaemic activity after 2 (p < 0.01), 4 (p < 0.05) and 6 (p < 0.01) hours extract administration. Metformin, 500 mg/kg also shows hypoglycaemic activity after 2 (p < 0.05), 4 (p < 0.01) and 6 (p < 0.01) hours administration. Therefore, we suggested that mechanism of action of the Ficus deltoidea aqueous extract maybe through enhancement of glucose uptake to muscle tissue and reduce hepatic gluconeogenesis.

https://ejournal.ukm.my/jskm/article/download/33014/9405

Effect of Ficus deltoidea Aqueous Extract on Blood Glucose Level in Normal and Mild Diabetic Rats

/pdf/inhibitory-properties-of-ficus-deltoidea-on-a-glucosidase-461nojentm.pdf

Inhibitory properties of Ficus deltoidea on α-glucosidase activity.

The present study was designed to evaluate the potential of five extract and three fractions of Ficus deltoidea to enhance basal and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake into Chang liver cell line. The results showed that all Ficus deltoidea extracts and fractions except petroleum ether extract have the ability to enhance either basal or insulin-stimulated glucose uptake into liver cell line. Ethanolic and methanolic extracts as well as acidified chloroform and bacified chloroform fractions possess insulin-mimetic activity. Of all extracts and fractions, ethanolic extract possess the highest insulin-mimetic activity. Methanolic extract and n-butanolic fraction possess insulin-sensitizing activity, with the highest activity shown by methanolic extract. There is no synergistic effect between Ficus deltoidea extracts or fractions with 100 nM insulin. It can be suggested that antidiabetic action of Ficus deltoidea is partly associated with glucose disposal into liver cells.

/pdf/effect-of-ficus-deltoidea-extracts-on-hepatic-basal-and-35l0lj2ja0.pdf

Zainah Adam

Papers

Ficus deltoidea: A Potential Alternative Medicine for Diabetes Mellitus.

Potential Roles of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni in Abrogating Insulin Resistance and Diabetes: A Review

Effect of Ficus deltoidea Aqueous Extract on Blood Glucose Level in Normal and Mild Diabetic Rats

Inhibitory properties of Ficus deltoidea on α-glucosidase activity.

Effect of Ficus deltoidea extracts on hepatic basal and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake.