Project description:Unraveling the biosynthetic pathway of active ingredients in diabetes curing tropical medicinal herb Madhunashini (Gymnema sylvestre) through transcriptome analysis
Project description:Four new pregnane glycosides 1-4 were isolated from the ethanol extract of the stem of Gymnema sylvestre and named gymsylvestrosides A-D. Hydrolysis of compound 1 under the catalysis of Aspergilus niger ?-glucosidase afforded compound 5 (gymsylvestroside E). Their structures were determined by spectroscopic methods such as HRESIMS, 1D and 2D NMR, as well as HMQC-TOCSY experiment. Compounds 1-4 were screened for Saccharomyces cerevisiae ?-glucosidase inhibitory activity.
Project description:Background. Gymnemic acids, from the plant Gymnema sylvestre (GS), selectively suppress taste responses to sweet compounds without affecting the perception of other taste elements. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of consuming a GS-containing mint on the desire to consume high-sugar sweet foods directly thereafter. Methods. This study utilized a single-blind, crossover design comparing the consumption of a mint (dissolving tablet) containing 4 mg of gymnemic acids with an isocaloric placebo in 56 healthy young men and women. Participants were given samples of their favourite chocolate (varied between 14-18 g; energy varied between 292-370 kJ) and were directed to rate on their hunger on 100-mm visual analogue scales 30 s prior to consuming high-sugar sweet food (chocolate). They then consumed the GS mint or placebo mint and rated their perceived pleasantness and desire for more chocolate on separate visual analogue scales immediately following consumption of the high-sugar sweet food before being offered up to five additional servings (and asked to rate hunger, pleasantness and desire to eat more chocolate between each ingestion period). Results. The number of chocolate bars eaten decreased by 0.48 bars (21.3%) within a 15-min period of consumption of the GS mint (p = 0.006). Desire to eat more of the high-sugar sweet food (p = 0.011) and pleasantness of the high-sugar sweet food (p < 0.001) was reduced after GS mint intake. Those who reported having a 'sweet tooth' had a greater reduction in the pleasantness of chocolate (p = 0.037) and desire to eat more (p = 0.004) after consuming the GS mint for the first serving of a high-sugar sweet food following the mint. Conclusion. Consuming gymnema-containing mints compared to placebo significantly reduced the quantity of chocolate eaten mainly due to a decrease in the desire and pleasantness of consuming it.
Project description:Gymnema sylvestre (Asclepiadaceae), popularly known as "gurmar" for its distinct property as sugar destroyer, is a reputed herb in the Ayurvedic system of medicine. The phytoconstituents responsible for sweet suppression activity includes triterpene saponins known as gymnemic acids, gymnemasaponins, and a polypeptide, gurmarin. The herb exhibits a broad range of therapeutic effects as an effective natural remedy for diabetes, besides being used for arthritis, diuretic, anemia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolemia, cardiopathy, asthma, constipation, microbial infections, indigestion, and anti-inflammatory. G. sylvestre has good prospects in the treatment of diabetes as it shows positive effects on blood sugar homeostasis, controls sugar cravings, and promotes regeneration of pancreas. The herbal extract is used in dietary supplements since it reduces body weight, blood cholesterol, and triglyceride levels and holds great prospects in dietary as well as pharmacological applications. This review explores the transition of a traditional therapeutic to a modern contemporary medication with an overview of phytochemistry and pharmacological activities of the herb and its phytoconstituents.
Project description:Gymnema sylvestre is a plant included in Apocynaceae family and is located in many regions of Asia, Africa and Australia. This plant is widely used as a traditional therapy for different purposes. Even now it is being used as a dietary supplement due to its numerous therapeutic uses. It is known to have blood glucose lowering potential and, thus, is widely used in traditional and Ayurvedic systems of medicine. It renders glucose lowering activity due to the presence of phytochemicals, such as gurmarin, gymnemic acid as well as gymnemasaponins. Gymnema sylvestre is also known to have anti-oxidant, antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, gastro and hepatoprotective, anticancer and lipid-lowering activities. This review discusses in details on different pharmacological and clinical potentials of Gymnema sylvestre and its chemical constituents associated with its therapeutic potentials.
Project description:Gymnema sylvestre is an important medicinal plant containing antidiabetic activity. Through de novo transcriptomic study, the pathways of polyoxypregnane glycosides were explored and candidate genes of these pathways were identified in G. sylvestre. High-quality raw reads were assembled into transcripts which resulted in 193,615 unigenes. These unigenes further decoded 58,274 coding DNA sequences (CDSs). Functional annotation of predicted CDSs was carried out using the protein databases, i.e., NCBI's non-redundant, Uniprot and Pfam. Eukaryotic orthologous group (KOG) classification and transcription factor analysis has revealed most CDS-enriched categories as "Signal transduction mechanism" and "Basic Helix loop helix" (bHLH) transcription factor family, respectively. A total of 16,569 CDSs were assigned minimum one Gene Ontology (GO) term. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis disclosed 235 CDSs which represented total 27 genes of pregnane glycoside pathways and 19 CDSs represented 10 important enzymes of polyoxypregnane glycoside biosynthesis, i.e., sterol 24-C-methyltransferase, cycloeucalenol cycloisomerase, ?14-sterol reductase, C-8,7 sterol isomerase, sterol methyltransferase 2, C-5 sterol desaturase, sterol ?7 reductase, ?24 sterol reductase, 3?-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and progesterone 5? reductase (5?POR). This transcriptome analysis provided an important resource for future functional genomic studies in G. sylvestre.