This study determined the effects of palm vitamin E (TRF) diet on the levels of blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin (gHb), serum advanced glycosylation end-products (AGE) and malondialdehyde (MDA) of diabetic Sprague-Dawley rats. The rats received either control (normal rat chow), TRF diet (normal chow fortified with TRF at 1 g/kg) or Vitamin C diet (vitamin E-deficient but contained vitamin C at 45 g/kg). The animals were maintained on the respective diet for 4 weeks, made diabetic with streptozotocin (STZ), then followed-up for a further 8 weeks. At week-4, mean serum AGE levels of rats given TRF diet (0.7 +/- 0.3 units/ml) were significantly lower than those of control or Vitamin C diet rats (p pounds 0.03). The levels increased after STZ and became comparable to the other groups. At week 12, blood glucose (20.9 +/- 6.9 mM) and gHb (10.0 +/- 1.6%) of rats on TRF diet remained significantly low compared to that of control or Vitamin C diet rats (p pounds 0.03). MDA however, was not affected and remained comparable between groups throughout the study. This study showed that TRF may be a useful antioxidant; effectively prevented increase in AGE in normal rats, and caused decrease in blood glucose and gHb in diabetic rats. Further studies are needed to elucidate the mechanisms of action of TRF.
Rattus norvegicus ; Diet ; Protirelin ; control ; Streptozocin

The LH and FSH responses to synthetic LH-RH and the prolactin response to synthetic T-RH were evaluated during different phases of the mentrual cycle in order to understand secretory capacity of the pituitary during the menstrual cycle. Eleven regularly menstruating women between 22 and 35 years of age with a usual cycle length of 27 to 31 days volunteered for this Study. Volunteers received an intra-venous injection of 100 microgram synthetic LH-RH and 200 microgram synthetic T-RH during the early and the late follicular phases and during the early and midluteal phases of the menstrual cycle. LH-RH induced a prompt increase in circulating LH, reaching the peak concentration at 30 minutes following LH-RH administration in all phases of the cycle studied. A change in responsiveness with greater and more sustained LH release from the early to the late follicular phases was observed. The response during the luteal phase was significantly greater than the responses in both the early and the late follicular phases. A concomitant but a much smaller FSH response was observed. T-RH elicited a prompt increase in circulating prolactin within 30 minutes and decreased gradually thereafter, reaching the baseline level by 2 hours after T-RH administration. Maximum concentration of prolactin was reached in 30 minutes following T-RH during all phases of the menstrual cycle. No variation in pituitary responsiveness to T-RH, however, was observed during different phases of the menstrual cycle. These data indicate that the sensitivity of the pituitary gonadotrophs to LH-RH varies during different phases of the menstrual cycle.
Adult ; Female ; Follicle Stimulating Hormone/secretion ; Gonadorelin/pharmacology* ; Human ; Luteinizing Hormone/secretion ; Menstruation* ; Pituitary Gland/drug effects* ; Protirelin/pharmacology*