Nutraceutical Herbs and Insulin Resistance
Robert E.C. Wildman, Richard S. Bruno in Handbook of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods, 2019
Konjac extract (KE) was refined from Amorphophallus konjac K.Koch, a kind of Chinese herb. KE is a kind of white crystal grain obtained from its tuber. Its main component is Konjac glucomannan,11 which is a kind of excellent edible fiber. It was reported12,13 that this polysaccharide could decrease total cholesterol (TC) and blood glucose, fat, and excretion. Recent studies indicated that KE could obviously improve glucose tolerance in diabetic patients and animals.14 This was confirmed by Mao et al, who showed that KE might not only improve insulin resistance and increase insulin sensitivity, but also lower fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and glycogen in liver and skeletal muscle, but it had no effect on the release of insulin. The experimental results revealed that KE might improve insulin sensitivity by increasing glucose usage of non-oxidation approach, not depending on the release of insulin.15
Role of Natural Agents in the Management of Diabetes
Rohit Dutt, Anil K. Sharma, Raj K. Keservani, Vandana Garg in Promising Drug Molecules of Natural Origin, 2020
Aloe vera is used as dried sap in traditional medicine for the treatment of diabetes in the Arabian Peninsula and India (Cefalu et al., 2011). The pulp, gel, or juice obtained from the inner part of the leaves can contain glucomannan. Glucomannan is a water-soluble DF with hypoglycemic and insulin-sensitizing properties (Vuksan et al., 2000). Preclinical studies in rats have reported that bitter aloe leaf pulp (10 ml/kg) significantly decreased serum glucose and enhanced serum insulin levels, compared to control diabetic rats (Abo-Youssef et al., 2013). It is believed that one tablespoonful of aloe vera juice administered orally twice a day for 42 days (in the morning and at bedtime) shows anti-hyperglycemic activity in T2DM patients (Kochhar et al., 2018). However, other preclinical studies have shown incompatible results (Yeh et al., 2003).
Lessons to Be Learnt from Ayurveda
D. Suresh Kumar in Ayurveda in the New Millennium, 2020
Obesity can be understood as a disease that is related to imbalance of energy, which can increase the risk for other chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia and some cancers. It is characterized by increased fat mass in the adipose tissue that serves as a storage center for consumed food (Singh et al. 2019). It is a multifaceted disorder with serious social and psychological extents, affecting people of all ages and socioeconomic groups (Chintale et al. 2013). In cases of obesity, like in most other chronic diseases, inflammation plays a major role and these states later lead to the development of another pro-inflammatory disease, atherosclerosis (Aggarwal. 2010). The main cause of obesity is increased high-fat availability and energy-dense foods. Thus, obesity is globally prevalent and nutrition and exercise play a role in its prevention and treatment (Nasri et al. 2014). The mixture of the dietary supplements of nutraceuticals fenugreek, glucomannan, Gymnema sylvestre, and vitamin C significantly decreased body weight and promoted fat loss in obese individuals (Chintale et al. 2013). The supplementation of conjugated linoleic acid that is found in flax seeds, nut oils, fish and eggs reduced the fat mass of obese individuals (Kasbia 2005). Supplementation of conjugated linoleic acid might also have a role towards insulin resistance which occurs in conjunction with obesity, and additionally, supplementation of conjugated linoleic acid to a high-fat diet of rodents has been shown to prevent the onset of obesity-induced muscle insulin resistance (Kasbia 2005).
Merging konjac glucomannan with other copolymeric hydrogels as a cutting-edge liquid raft system for dual delivery of etoricoxib and famotidine
Published in Drug Delivery, 2023
Nabil A. Shoman, Marwa Saady, Mahmoud Teaima, Rehab Abdelmonem, Mohamed A. El-Nabarawi, Sammar Fathy Elhabal
Konjac glucomannan (KGL) is a natural, soluble, highly viscous polysaccharide fiber that is extracted from the tuber of Amorphophallus Konjac roots (Vaughn, 2012). KGL exhibits some medical characteristics like lowering cholesterol, treating constipation and diabetes, and promoting weight loss (Vaughn, 2012). Moreover, KGL can possess some anti-inflammatory effect that would synergize the effect of etoricoxib in managing pain and reduces the inflammatory mediators (Y. Zhao et al., 2020; Wei et al., 2022). One of the suggested mechanisms is the regulation of the nuclear factor kappa B pathway and possible reduction in the population of these inflammatory cells thus preventing oxidative stress and reducing inflammation (Devaraj et al., 2019; Y. Zhao et al., 2020). The other mechanism is the down-regulation of the inflammatory factor, tumor necrosis factor α, which is a potent mediator of inflammatory and immune functions (Behera & Ray, 2016; Wei et al., 2022).
Nanostructured cubosomes in an in situ nasal gel system: an alternative approach for the controlled delivery of donepezil HCl to brain
Published in Journal of Liposome Research, 2019
Rahul P. Patil, Devlya D. Pawara, Chetan S. Gudewar, Avinash R. Tekade
Part B: Gellan gum was weighed and dispersed in deionized water. The dispersions were then stirred for 20 min at 100° C in a water bath and then cooled up to 70 °C temperature. Konjac glucomannan were added slowly with stirring. Appropriate quantities of benzalkonium chloride were also added simultaneously. Deionized water containing gellan gum (0.3%), and Konjac glucomannan (0.03%) was added drop wise at 70 °C, to the above mixture (Part A) under mechanical stirring (Mahajan and Gattani 2010). After complete addition of water, the solution was kept aside for 24 h to attain equilibrium. There was formation of two phase system which was disturbed by stirring. The whole system was subjected to homogenization at 3000 rpm (Milak and Andreas 2015) for 3 h at room temperature to obtain cubosomal mucoadhesive in situ gel. The prepared formulation was kept at 4 ± 0.5 °C in glass vials for further study (Hundekar et al.2014).
An update on the safety of nutraceuticals and effects on lipid parameters
Published in Expert Opinion on Drug Safety, 2018
Arrigo F. G. Cicero, Alessandro Colletti
Glucomannan (Amorphophallus konjac) is a particular soluble fiber (polysaccharide consisting of glucose and mannose polymers in the ratio of 1:1.6, bound through β-1,4-glycosidic bonds). Unlike other fibers, glucomannan does not act by binding bile acids, but it seems to reduce the absorption of cholesterol in the jejunum and the absorption of bile acids in the ileum, yielding improvements in apolipoprotein B (ApoB) and plasma LDL-C levels in both adults and children [31,32]. A meta-analysis of 12 RCTs (n = 370), 8 in adults and 4 in children, shows that glucomannan significantly lowers LDL-C (MD: −13.5.35 mg/dL; 95% CI: −17.8 to −9.7 mg/dL) compared to controls [33].
Related Knowledge Centers
- Dietary Fiber
- Dietary Supplement
- Emulsion
- Galactomannan
- Hemicellulose
- Mannans
- Polysaccharide
- Food Additive
- Thickening Agent
- Bowel Obstruction