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Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is one of the notorious diabetes associated complications. Despite many therapeutic strategies available, metabolic control of DN continues to poses a challenge. In this study, the interactions of mangiferin with selected oral hypoglycemic drugs, metformin and gliclazide to effectively alleviate the symptoms of renal injury in DN are evaluated. Male Sprague Dawley rats were used as experimental model and type II diabetes was induced by administration of high fat diet and low dose streptozotocin. Oral intervention of mangiferin with metformin and gliclazide for a period of 28 days was given to diabetic rats. At the end of the treatment period, biochemical parameters, kidney function markers, anti-oxidant enzymes levels, oxidative stress mediated gene expression and histology were analysed. Significant reduction in the serum biochemical markers (glucose, urea and creatinine) were observed in the groups treated with combination drugs. Marked improvement in the combination treated groups in terms of inflammation and oxidative damage in the gene (TNFα, NFκB, TGFβ, VEGF, PKC) and protein expression (NFκB, VEGF) were noted in the kidney tissue alleviating the symptoms of DN. These results were further corroborated with histopathological results. Scientific data in the present study reveals that the combinations of mangiferin with the oral hypoglycemic drugs have been favorable in alleviating renal injury. Hence, a combination therapy to alleviate the vascular complication, diabetic nephropathy may be considered as a possible therapeutic strategy by including natural phytocompounds as an add on therapy to conventional oral hypoglycemic drugs.

Background Dyslipidemia a common pathology in metabolic syndrome results due to various factors. Although statins are proven for its beneficial role in the management of hyperlipidemia, plant-based foods and their ingredients are still a cornerstone of health care and medical prescriptions. Legumes are important constituents of a balanced diet. They are rich in fiber and provide health benefits and are used to treat disease related pathologies. Purpose The present study intended to identify the influence of two legumes, horsegram and groundnut individually and with atorvastatin in high fat diet induced hyperlipidemic rats and trace if there is any adverse effect due to food drug interactions. Methods Hyperlipidemia in Sprague Dawley rats were induced by feeding high fat diet for 12 weeks. Subsequently, supplementation of horsegram and groundnut with and without atorvastatin was given for 4 weeks. The physiological indicators (body weight, feed intake, fat index), biochemical parameters (cholesterol, triglyceride, glucose, urea and creatinine) including markers of oxidative stress (catalase, GST, SOD, TBARS and GSH), mRNA expression markers of lipid metabolism and inflammation markers (SREBP-1, ACC, FABP, HMG-CoAR, NF-kB and IL-6) and the protein expression of HO-1 and NF-kB followed by histopathological analysis of the heart, liver and kidney tissues were checked to study the influence of the legumes with and without atrovastatin. Results Results showed that administration of the legumes individually and their combination with atorvastatin significantly reduced the body weight, feed intake, fat index, biochemical metabolites and enzymatic markers in comparison to the HFD group. In addition, it also decreased the enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant levels. Likewise, the legumes individually as well as in combination with atorvastatin significantly decreased the protein expression of HO-1 and NF-kB. Further, histopathological analysis confirmed the influence of the legumes and its combination to overcome hyperlipidemia as evidenced by the pathological changes in the treated rats. Conclusion The results of the present work confirm that the legumes individually as well as its combination with atorvastatin are helpful to manage hyperlipidemia. On comparison, horsegram with atorvastatin possess a better therapeutic efficacy when compared to groundnut with atorvastatin and there is no evidence of food drug interactions.

Background Mangiferin, is a xanthone glycoside mainly present in Mangifera indica fruits and few other medicinal plants that are cultivated in the tropical and sub-tropical regions. Mangiferin has a wide spectrum of biomedical properties from anti-microbial to anti-cancer activities. Aim In the present study, the mangiferin content in the methanolic extract of unripe and ripe mango pulp was compared and quantified by Reverse Phase HPLC method. Further, inhibitory action of mangiferin on α-glucosidase and α-amylase enzymes which play a vital role in the regulation of serum glucose level was studied. Materials and methods The enzyme inhibitory nature of mangiferin was tested using in silico docking analysis with Autodock software and was further confirmed by in vitro α-glucosidase and α-amylase biochemical assays. Results The results of this study reveal that, mangiferin content was higher in ripe methanolic extract than in unripe. Further, mangiferin exhibited better enzyme inhibitory action in silico with α-glucosidase with a binding energy of − 7.4 kcal/mol than α-amylase. This was concurred with α-glucosidase in vitro assays wherein the IC50 of mangiferin was 36.84 μg/ml and that of ripe mango extract was 112.8 μg/ml when compared to the standard acarbose 21.33 μg/ml. Conclusion Evidently, it can be concluded that mangiferin from Mangifera indica fruits slows down the glucose metabolism and thereby could be used as a possible hypoglycemic agent owing to its enzyme inhibitory properties.