Recent investigations suggest that gut microbiota affects the brain activity through the microbiota-gut-brain axis under both physiological and pathological disease conditions like Parkinson’s disease. Further dopamine synthesis in the brain is induced by dopamine producing enzymes that are controlled by gut microbiota via the microbiota-gut-brain axis. Also alpha synuclein deposition and the associated neurodegeneration in the enteric nervous system that increase intestinal permeability, oxidative stress, and local inflammation, accounts for constipation in Parkinson’s disease patients. The trigger that causes blood brain barrier leakage, immune cell activation and inflammation, and ultimately neuroinflammation in the central nervous system is believed to be due to the chronic low-grade inflammation in the gut. The non-motor symptoms that appear years before motor symptoms could be reliable early biomarkers, if they could be correlated with the established and reliable neuroimaging techniques or behavioral indices. The future directions should therefore, focus on the exploration of newer investigational techniques to identify these reliable early biomarkers and define the specific gut microbes that contribute to the development of Parkinson’s disease. This ultimately should pave the way to safer and novel therapeutic approaches that avoid the complications of the drugs delivered today to the brain of Parkinson’s disease patients.

Banana is an extensively cultivated plant worldwide, mainly for its fruit, while its ancillary product, the banana pseudostem, is consumed as a vegetable and is highly recommended for diabetics in the traditional Indian medicine system. The present study was aimed at elucidating the mechanism of antihyperglycaemia exerted by the ethanol extract of banana pseudostem (EE) and its isolated compounds viz., stigmasterol (C1) and β-sitosterol (C2), in an alloxan-induced diabetic rat model. Diabetic rats which were administered with C1, C2 and EE (100 and 200 mg per kg b. wt.) for 4 weeks showed reduced levels of fasting blood glucose and reversal of abnormalities in serum/urine protein, urea and creatinine in diabetic rats compared to the diabetic control group of rats. Diabetic symptoms such as polyphagia, polydipsia, polyuria, urine glucose and reduced body weight were ameliorated in the diabetic group of rats fed with EE, C1 and C2 (100 mg per kg b. wt., once daily) for 28 days. The levels of insulin and Hb were also increased, while the HbA1c level was reduced. The altered activities of hepatic marker enzymes viz., aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP); glycolytic enzyme (hexokinase); shunt enzyme (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase); gluconeogenic enzymes (glucose-6-phosphatase, fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase and lactate dehydrogenase) and pyruvate kinase were significantly reverted to normal levels by the administration of EE, C1 and C2. In addition, increased levels of hepatic glycogen and glycogen synthase and the corresponding decrease of glycogen phosphorylase activity in diabetic rats illustrated the antihyperglycaemic potential of EE and its components. The histological observations revealed a marked regeneration of the β-cells in the drug treated diabetic rats. These findings suggest that EE might exert its antidiabetic potential in the presence of C1 and C2, attributable to the enhanced glycolytic activity, besides increasing the hepatic glucose utilization in diabetic rats by stimulating insulin secretion from the remnant β-cells.

Olanzapine (OLZ) is a typical anti-psychotic drug, which is highly lipophilic in nature, belongs to Biopharmaceutical Classification System (BCS) class II category. Though OLZ is an effective agent in the treatment of Schizophrenia, but it exhibits poor bioavailability (57%) due to extensive first-pass metabolism resulted in high dose is required to achieve therapeutic concentration in brain. Emerging evidences are indicating that high dose administration of OLZ may cause Extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS) in the psychotic patients. Hence, the present study is designed to develop Olanzapine solid lipid (OLZ-SLNs) using minimal dose of OLZ thereby enhancing the brain efficacy as well as to reduce the side effects associated with OLZ. OLZ-SLNs have been prepared by "solvent diffusion method" using lipids, such as glyceryl monostearate (GMS), tripalmitin (TP), Tween 80, and Stearyl amine as positive charge inducer. The prepared OLZ-SLNs were subjected to particle size analysis, zeta potential, and poly dispersity index measurement by using Malvern Zetasizer. Pharmacokinetics assessments of OLZ-SLNs were carried in conscious male Wistar rats through intravenous administration. Results have shown that average particle size and zeta potential of SLNs of GMS and TP were ranged from 165.1 ± 2.2 to 110.5 ± 0.5 and 35.29 ± 1.2 and 66.50 ± 0.7 mV, respectively. Relative bioavailability of OLZ in the brain was increased up to 23-fold and clearance was decreased when OLZ-SLNs while administrated intravenously. The area under the curve (AUC) and mean residence time (MRT) of OLZ-SLNs in brain were higher than OLZ suspension. These results indicate that SLNs are a promising drug delivery for OLZ. It may be an effective tool to enhance the bioavailability of OLZ in the brain with less dose administration, which could reduce the EPS associated with OLZ.

The aim of this work was to evaluate the inhibitory activities of different extracts of Asparagus racemosus Willd on α - amylase and α - glucosidase at varying concentrations. Diabetes mellitus is a clinical condition characterized by hyperglycaemia in which an elevated amount of glucose circulates in the blood plasma. α - amylase and α - glucosidase inhibitors are used to achieve greater control over hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes mellitus. This study is to treat the diabetes using natural resources. We aimed to evaluate of Asparagus racemosus Willd by digestive enzymes inhibitory activity. n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, methanol, and aqueous was used to extract the root of the Asparagus racemosus Willd. The different extracts were then used to study its digestives enzymes activity α-amylase and α - glucosidase inhibitory activity. The significant inhibitory effect of α-amylase and α - glucosidase enzyme and exhibited lower inhibitory activity than acarbose was extracted by the ethyl acetate and aqueous extracts of the plant. Flavonoids, Tannins and phenolic, Saponins, Amino acids, Protein are the major phytochemical constituents present. The total flavonoid content plant extracts of ethyl acetate and aqueous showed dose dependent 23.45 ± 1.33 mg rutin equivalent/g and 25.81 ± 0.82 mg rutin equivalent/g respectively. The total triterpenoids content plant extracts of ethyl acetate, aqueous showed dose dependent 109.8 ± 5.6 mg ursolic acid/g and 95.6 ± 7.5 mg ursolic acid/g respectively. The antidiabetic potential and to develop medicinal preparations and nutraceuticals and function foods for diabetes has revealed.

Aloe vera gel is used traditionally for the treatment of skin diseases, including psoriasis. An ethanolic extract of the gel was assessed for antipsoriatic activity using a mouse tail model of psoriasis. The extract produced a significant differentiation in the epidermis, as seen from its degree of orthokeratosis (85.07 ± 3.36%) when compared with the negative control (17.30 ± 4.09%). This was equivalent to the effect of the standard positive control, tazarotene (0.1%) gel, which showed a 90.03 ± 2.00% degree of orthokeratosis. The ethanolic extract of Aloe vera leaf gel also produced a significant increase in relative epidermal thickness when compared with the control group, whereas the standard tazarotene showed no change. Taken together, the extract showed an overall antipsoriatic activity of 81.95%, compared with 87.94 for tazarotene, in the mouse tail model for psoriasis.