The levels of the three ATPases found in the erythrocyte membrane of diabetic patients were significantly lower than normal subjects. The distribution of the enzymes was also different. Na^+,K^+-ATPase and Mg^2+-ATPase reflected the status of blood glucose more than Ca^2+-ATPase. The ratio between two of the ATPases was sensitive to glycémie response. When dikanut, a viscous preparation, was fed to diabetics for 4 weeks, blood glucose became normal and the activities of the three ATPases increased significantly. The ratio among the enzymes also approached that of normal subjects. A relationship was found between the blood glucose level and erythrocyte membrane ATPases which, if linked to insulin binding or level, may provide a rapid inexpensive assay in diabetes research.

Bryophyllum pinnatum Lam. (Crassulaceae) called ‘Oda-opue’ in Igbo, ‘Eru-odundunin Yoruba and ‘Abomoda’ in Hausa languages are widely used as food and as medicines in traditional medical practice. They are found widely in tropical Africa, America, India and China. This study investigates the inhibitory activities of hydro-ethanolic leaf extract of B. Pinnatum against some strains of microorganisms (Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Psuedomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Basillus subtilis, Aspergillus niger and Penicillum marneffei) using standard inoculate method. Results showed that hydro-ethanolic leaf extract of B. pinnatum exhibited a considerable antimicrobial activity at the lowest concentration (15.625 mg/ml). The results in the findings showed that the leaf of B. pinnatum has high inhibitory activities against pathogenic organisms and could be employed to formulate new plant-based drug to improve human health.

Background: Preventive measures that could slow down the rising incidences of diabetes mellitus are essential. The use of neglected local foods, which have effects on this chronic disease beyond basic nutrition as dietary controls, is desirable.Objective: The effect of Dioscorea dumetorum (Kunth) Pax (Dioscoreaceae) feed on satiety, weight, blood glucose, and insulin levels were investigated in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.Methods: Twenty adult male rats in four groups of five were used for the experiment. Three groups – D. dumetorum, glibenclamide, and standard pellet-fed rats were induced with diabetes by i.p. administration of 50mg kg-1 streptozotocin, while the fouth group (?) served as a non-diabetic control. D. dumetorum was fed at 15g daily for ten days before induction, and after induction, feeding continued. Glibenclamide was orally administered 5mg kg-1 daily. Both the untreated and non-diabetic rats were kept on standard rat pellets. Feed intake, weight, and blood glucose concentration were monitored daily, while insulin level was measured on day two and day six after inductions. Results: Average feed intake for non-diabetic rats was 15g for D. dumetorum per day, which dropped to 10.3g after induction of diabetes. Weight of normal non-diabetic rats consistently increased (142.61 ± 4.37g – 169.43 ± 8.61g) for the duration (17 days) of the experiment. The D. dumetorum-fed rats showed weight reduction of 5.4%, glibenclamide 4.0%, and untreated diabetic 6.15%. Non-diabetic rats blood glucose levels ranged between 70 to 100mg dL-1. Streptozotocin (STZ) (i.p.) administration increased blood glucose levels from 370% to 626% in the rats. D. dumetorum-fed rats showed reduced (p<0.05) blood glucose levels of 22.6%. Glibenclamide had 5.5% reduction (p<0.05). Insulin was absent in D. dumetorum-fed rats, whereas 0.95ng ml-1 of insulin was detected in glibenclamide-administered rats. These quantities were lower (p<0.001) than 1.40ng ml-1 in the non-diabetic rats. Conclusion: This study revealed that D. dumetorum tuber caused decreased hunger, weight reduction, and displayed hypoglycemic property in diabetic rats, even after heat treatment. Its probable mechanism of anti-hyperglycemic activity might not be through increased insulin secretion.Key words: D. dumetorum, streptozotocin-induced diabetes, weight, blood glucose, insulin.

Bryophyllum pinnatum (Lam.) Oken (Crassulaceae) is used traditionally to treat many ailments. This study investigated the anti-inflammatory effect of hydro-ethanol leaf extract of Bryophyllum pinnatum on Wistar rats using acute and chronic models and also evaluates the bioactive compounds of the leaf extract. The phytochemical constituents of the plant extract were quantitatively determined by Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID) and acute anti-inflammatory activity was carried out with the aid of plethysmometer while chronic anti-inflammatory activity was investigated using cotton pellet. Results showed that the leaf extract of B. pinnatum was rich in kaempferol (7.006 ±0.02 μg/g), sapogenin (3.372 ±0.02 μg/g), rutin (1.837 ±0.01 μg/g) and lunamarine (1.359 ±0.01 μg/g). The findings showed that the plant had considerable anti-inflammatory effects in a dose dependent manner, returning edema in carragenean-induced and cotton pellet induced granuloma in Wistar rats to normal within 120 minutes and 7 days respectively. The findings of this work have shown that the leaf of B. pinnatum was rich in bioactive compounds which could be synthesized to produce new plant based product to fight inflammatory disorders with fewer side effects.