Context: In vitro and in vivo research has shown that curcumin can alleviate diabetes and the relevant complications. Objective: To investigate the effect of curcumin on gestational diabetes (GD). Materials and methods: C57 BL/KsJ db /+ ( db /+) mice and C57 BL/KsJ +/+ mice (10–12 weeks old) were divided into four groups ( n = 15): normal pregnancy (C57 BL/KsJ +/+ ), GD (C57 BL/KsJ db /+ ), GD plus low dose curcumin (50 mg/kg, orally gavage every day) and GD plus high dose curcumin (100 mg/kg, orally gavage every day). The tolerance of glucose and insulin were measured on gestation day 10. Body weight at birth and litter size of offspring were investigated, and the expression of oxidative stress factors [thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS), glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT)] and AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), phospho-AMPK, histone deacetylases 4 (HDAC4), pHDAC4 and glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) in the livers were analyzed by ELISA and Western blot on gestation day 20. Results: High dose curcumin could partly ameliorate the intolerance of glucose and insulin, and completely restore the litter size and the body weight of GD mice through decreased TBARS expression ( p < 0.05) and increased GSH, SOD and CAT expression ( p < 0.05). Enhanced AMPK activation, accompanied with decreased HDAC4 and G6Pase expression ( p < 0.05) were partly contributed to the alleviation of GD mediated by curcumin. Conclusions: Although further detailed mechanism needs to be deciphered, curcumin can be considered as an alternative treatment for gestational diabetes.

Peptides hold great promise in proteomics, diagnostics and drug discovery. While natural peptides continue to be of key importance, chemically modified unnatural peptides have been found to show enhanced biological...

Summary of main observation and conclusion A Pd(II)‐catalyzed enantioselective intramolecular amidation of both benzylic and unbiased methylene C(sp3)−H bonds for the straightforward synthesis of chiral β‐lactams from aliphatic carboxamides is reported. The combination of 2‐pyridinylisopropyl (PIP) auxiliary with 3,3’‐substituted BINOL ligands is crucial for the enhancement of both reactivity and enantiocontrol of differentiating unbiased methylene C(sp3)−H bonds. The desired chemoselective C—N reductive elimination was achieved by employing 2‐fluoro‐1‐iodo‐4‐nitrobenzene as oxidant.

The asymmetric synthesis of chiral benzo-ring containing compounds through enantioselective intramolecular arylation of unbiased methylene C­(sp3)–H bonds was reported. Judicious choice of non-C2-symmetric chiral phosphoric acid (CPA) ligand is crucial for the high reactivity and enantioselectivity. The slight decrease in enantioselectivity at the late stage of the reaction was attributed to the hydrolysis of CPA ligands to the corresponding BINOL.