Iranian Journal of Diabetes and Obesity
Volume:4 Issue: 4, Winter 2012

GLUT4 is a type of glucose transporter and plays a central role in whole-body metabolism of carbohydrates. The muscle is the major site of GLUT4 and cell line models, to explore GLUT4 behaviors under new therapeutic approach, such as herbal components, should be evaluated. Here, C2C12 cell line is evaluated for GLUT4 translocation from intracellular compartment into the cell membrane. C2C12 cell lines were cultured and differentiated into myotubes. Cinnamon/Turmeric-water soluble extract (CWE and TWE) were prepared and differentiated myotubes were exposed to the 100, 1000 μg/ml CWE, 100 μg/ml TWE or dimethylsulfoxide for 3 hours. Intracellular/cytoplasmic membrane compartments were separated using ultracentrifugation. GLUT4 percentages quantities were measured using western blotting. Data analysis of 3 sample sizes was done by comparing mean±SD of GLUT4 quantities and independent samples t-test. CWE enhances GLUT4 translocation from intracellular compartment into the cytoplasmic membrane; its effect is also dose-dependent meaning that 1000 μg/ml concentration has a more potent effect than 100 μg/ml (p<0.05). However, 100 μg/ml TWE had a reverse effect (p<0.05). Here we have shown that C2C12 is a good model for exploring GLUT4 changes under the effect of herbal extract. Induction or blockade of GLUT4 maybe under control of different signals transduction pathways. Furthermore, although turmeric ingredients are declared to have somewhat anti-diabetic effects, here we have shown that such effect is not applied via TWE effects on GLUT4 intracellular compartments movement into the cell membrane.

The prevalence of obesity is rising in both developed and developing countries. Globally, it is estimated that nearly one billion adults are overweight; at least 300 million of them are clinically obese. In Afghanistan no published data is available regarding non-communicable diseases including obesity. This paper reports the prevalence and associated risk factors of obesity among adult population in Kabul. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Kabul from December 2011-March 2012. A multistage sampling of districts and neighborhoods was used to enroll adults of ≥40 years. Data on socioeconomic status, lifestyle, behavioral factors, blood pressure, and blood sugar were collected and anthropometric measurements were carried out for 1200 inhabitants. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated using measured height and weight; a waist circumference of ≥ 94cm for men and ≥ 80cm for women were considered as central obesity. The overall prevalence of obesity was 31.2% (BMI≥30kg/m2). Main risk and protective factors independently associated with obesity were age (adjusted OR=0.55, CI: 0.40-0.78), sex (AOR=1.73, CI: 1.19-2.51), having diabetes (AOR=1.86, CI: 1.16-2.99), blood pressure (AOR=1.46, CI: 1.03-2.08), central obesity (AOR=5.29, CI: 3.68-7.60), and frequency of walking per week (AOR=2.08, CI: 1.50-2.89). About one-third of the adult population aged 40 and above in Kabul city had obesity. It was strongly associated with risk factors for non-communicable diseases. Modification of lifestyle and promotion of physical activity is recommended. Awareness campaigns on prevention of obesity should be considered.

Oxidative stress is involved in the pathophysiology of diabetes and cardiovascular complications of metabolic syndrome. The main objective of this study was to evaluate total antioxidant status by diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH)-scavenging activity in patients developed metabolic syndrome (MetS). Forty-four patients with MetS diagnosed on the basis of adult treatment panel (ATPIII) criteria along with 46 age- and gender-matched healthy controls were studied. A blood sample was taken after a 12-hour fasting period, and blood glucose, lipid profile, and DPPH were determined. A significant decrease (p=0.03) in DPPH-scavenging activity levels in the study group was observed compared to the control group. Among the components of metabolic syndrome, hyperglycaemia, hypertriglyceridaemia and hypertension were negatively correlated with DPPH-scavenging activity levels. The findings of the present study suggest the oxidative stress in patients with MetS which further increases the cardiovascular risk and diabetes mellitus in these patients. We posited that studying of the oxidative status is crucial in order to prevent type 2 diabetes development and cardiovascular disease and its complications because it is installed long before the disease actually appears.

Diabetes Mellitus as the most common metabolic disease of human has wide range of oral consequences such as oral infections which could make changes in the properties of saliva. The purpose of this study was to compare the amount of salivary IgA in diabetic and non-diabetic patients. In this case-control study, the population consisted of 40 persons including 20 diabetic and 20 non-diabetic subjects. All of them had not eaten, drunk or smoked at least 90 minutes before sampling. Sampling launched and the salivary IgA was measured with nephelometric procedure with Minineph kit (Minineph TM Human Kit, Binding Site Ltd, Birmingham, UK).The data were statistically analyzed by T-test and chi-square using SPSS software. In 70% of the case group, salivary IgA was higher than the normal (>37.6mg/dl) but none were higher than normal in the non-diabetic (control) group and this difference was statically significant (p=0.009). IgA and age (p=0.303), and IgA and sex (p=0.0398) had no significant correlation on both case and control group. Salivary IgA of diabetic patients is higher than the non-diabetics (p=0.009).

Author(s): Mohammad Javad Shekari-Ardekani, Mohammad Afkhami-Ardekani, Mehrshad Poorsaid Isfahani, Shahzad Khosravi Study Type: Research | Subject: Special | Receive: 2013/10/5 - Accept: 2013/10/10 - Publish: 2013/10/10 Article abstract: Nowadays the value of bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) in the estimation of body adiposity both on a clinical basis in the individual and epidemiologically in large populations is of great interest. The current study determine accuracy of BIA compared with body mass index (BMI) measurement for estimating body composition in a group of normal weight employee women with a sedentary job status. Forty normal weight women employed in a private institute in Tehran, Iran, participated in this study. Body composition parameters including percentage body fat, percentage visceral fat, and percentage muscular mass were measured by BIA and BMI was calculated. There were strong direct correlations between one-year BMI value changes and changes in two body composition indices of percentage body fat, and percentage visceral fat, as well as an adverse correlation with the changes in percentage muscular mass. Similar association was only observed between change in basal metabolic rate (BMR) value measured via BIA and percentage body fat, neither percentage visceral fat nor percentage muscular mass. The observed correlation between percentage body fat and BMR was considerably weaker than the relationship between this composition index and BMI value. According to the ROC curve analyses, both BMR and BMI parameters had acceptable values for discriminating decreased from increased percentage body fat; however, the discriminative power of BMR value (c=0.762) was lower compared with BMI measurement (c=0.887). As we considered BMI as a gold standard value, BIA yielded a sensitivity of 70.0% and a specificity of 70.0% for determining changes in percentage body fat. BIA technique is not superior to BMI measure as a predictor of body composition parameters.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a complex metabolic disorder with adverse cardiovascular risk. Chromium (Cr) is an essential nutrient and its role in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism has not been clarified especially in Iran. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of chromium picolinate administration on blood glucose, HbA1c, lipid profile and lipid peroxidation in type 2 diabetic patients. One-hundred subjects were studied in double-blinded and placebo-controlled. They divided into study and placebo groups by simple randomization. The study group received 200µg chromium picolinate capsule twice daily and the placebo group received capsule devoid of chromium (from Century Company) for 12 weeks. Subjects were instructed not to change their normal eating and living habits and medication. Fasting blood glucose, HbA1c, lipid profile and malondialdehyde were measured and analyzed at beginning and completion of the study. Results revealed that chromium picolinate consumption in type 2 diabetic patients reduced fasting blood glucose (48.83%, p≤ 0.01), HbA1c (22%, p<0.001), total cholesterol (6.17%, p≤ 0.02), triglyceride (11.36%, p < 0. 5), LDL (17.22%, p< 0.05), HDL (5.78%, p< 0.05) and malondialdehyde (11.37). These data demonstrate beneficial effect of chromium picolinate supplementation on blood glucose, HbA1c, lipid profile and lipids peroxidation in type 2 diabetic patients.

Cardiovascular complications are the major cause of reduced lifetime in diabetic patients. Given that physical activity can play an effective role in reducing these complications, the current study was conducted with the aim of examining the effects of 8 weeks of aerobic exercise on some cardiovascular risk factors in women with type 2 diabetes. Twenty women with Type 2 Diabetes were selected by convenience sampling method and were randomly divided into two experimental (n=11) and control (n=9) groups. The exercise protocol included aerobic exercise training for eight weeks and 3 sessions per week; every session lasted for 60 minutes and with intensity of 60-70 percent of maximum heart rate reserve. Blood samples were taken to measure serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), glycemia and serum lipids before and after aerobic training period. The obtained results indicated a significant decrease in the levels of hs-CRP, fasting glucose and total cholesterol, and a significant increase of HDL in the experimental group than controls (p<0.05). Mean serum concentration of triglycerides and LDL reduced in the experimental group; however, this reduction was not statistically significant. None of the changes in the control group were significant except for increase in the plasma triglycerides levels. According to the results of this study, 8 weeks of aerobic exercise can reduce inflammatory causes as well as glycemia and lipid profile in women with type 2 diabetes that these changes can have a desired effect on reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease in these patients.

Single-gene disorders occur when mutation in a gene causing alteration of gene function; while in multifactorial disorders, mutations occur in multiple genes, and these are usually coupled with environmental causes. In addition, in a multifactorial disorder such as diabetes, the complication is under the influence of different genes. For example, in diabetic retinopathy many genes are involved including genes related to angiogenesis. One of these genes is SULF1. Studying the function and molecular bases of the mutations in these genes plays an important role in understanding the pathology of diseases and is helpful in management, treatment and even prevention of them. It has been identified that SULF1 can interfere in signaling of many heparan binding growth factors and morphogens. Heparan sulfate (HS) proteoglycans are glycoproteins which regulate many signaling pathways. HS is added to proteins during Golgi modifications. Sulfatase 1 is a catalytic enzyme which removes sulfate groups from HS of proteoglycans. The angiogenesis-related studied molecules which can be regulated by heparan sulfate including VEGF, FGF, Wnt, BMP, HGF, HB-EGF and SHH. In this review, we have focused on the role of these signaling molecules on angiogenesis and the role of SULF1 in their regulation.