Lipoma of the Small Intestine: A Cause for Intussusception in Adults

Intussusception as a cause of intestinal obstruction in adults is rare. There is invariably an underlying pathology which leads to intussusception in adults. A case of intussusception in an adult due to a small intestinal lipoma is presented in view of this association. Ultrasound and CECT may help in a preoperative diagnosis. However early surgical intervention is the mainstay of treatment in order to confirm the diagnosis of the underlying pathology, thereby avoiding misdiagnosis of an underlying cancer

Case Report Lipoma of the Small Intestine: A Cause for Intussusception in Adults

Intussusception as a cause of intestinal obstruction in adults is rare. There is invariably an underlying pathology which leads to intussusception in adults. A case of intussusception in an adult due to a small intestinal lipoma is presented in view of this association. Ultrasound and CECT may help in a preoperative diagnosis. However early surgical intervention is the mainstay of treatment in order to confirm the diagnosis of the underlying pathology, thereby avoiding misdiagnosis of an underlying cancer

Cyanobacterial pigments as natural anti-hyperglycemic agents: An in vitro study

Traditional medicines for controlling postprandial hyperglycemia includes herbs and plant extracts as well as synthetic drugs like acarbose. Synthetic drug molecules frequently have side effects such as flatulence and diarrhea. Cyanobacterial pigments have excellent anti-oxidant and free radical scavenging properties. Thus, α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibiting activities of purified pigments and crude extracts from three cyanobacterial species, Lyngbya, Microcoleus and Synechocystis sp., were investigated. Lyngbya extract had the highest total anti-oxidant activity (TAC) before digestion (48.26 ± 0.04 µg AAE ml-1) while purified lycopene had the highest TAC after digestion (154.16 ± 0.96 µg AAE ml-1). The Microcoleus extract had the highest ABTS scavenging activity before digestion (98.23 ± 0.25 %) while purified C-phycocyanin (C-PC) had the highest ABTS scavenging after digestion (99.69 ±0.04 %). None of the digested or undigested extracts performed better than acarbose in inhibiting α-amylase but the digested Microcoleus extract was able to inhibit its activity by ~35 %. The purified pigments gave inhibitory activities ranging from ~ 8 – 16 %. The Lyngbya extract had the highest inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase both before and after digestion (62.22 ± 0.02 and 97.82 ± 0.03 % respectively). Purified C-phycoerythrin (C-PE), C-PC, lycopene and myxoxanthophyll could inhibit α-glucosidase in a range of ~83 – 96 %. Considering the potent inhibitory activities of purified pigments against both α-amylase and α-glucosidase, cyanobacterial pigments could be used as food additives for their dual advantage of anti-oxidant and anti-hyperglycemic activities

Antioxidant, Anti-Nephrolithe Activities and in Vitro Digestibility Studies of Three Different Cyanobacterial Pigment Extracts

Phycobiliprotein-containing water and carotenoid-containing methanolic extracts of three different cyanobacteria, Pseudanabaena sp., Spirulina sp. and Lyngbya sp., were studied for their DPPH scavenging, iso-bolographic studies, and anti-nephrolithe activities. The best EC50 values for DPPH scavenging were in Lyngbya water (LW, 18.78 ± 1.57 mg·mg−1 DPPH) and Lyngbya methanol (LM, 59.56 ± 37.38 mg·mg−1 DPPH) extracts. Iso-bolographic analysis revealed most of the combinations of extracts were antagonistic to each other, although LM—Spirulina methanol (SM) 1:1 had the highest synergistic rate of 86.65%. In vitro digestion studies showed that DPPH scavenging activity was considerably decreased in all extracts except for Pseudanabaena methanol (PM) and LM after the simulated digestion. All of the extracts were effective in reducing the calcium oxalate crystal size by nearly 60%–65% compared to negative control, while PM and Spirulina water (SW) extracts could inhibit both nucleation and aggregation of calcium oxalate by nearly 60%–80%