Background: Obesity is well associated as being an interfering factor in metabolic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes by increasing the secretion of proinflammatory markers from adipose tissue. Having healthy effects, vitamin C could work as an anti-inflammatory agent through its antioxidant capacity. Registration: Registration number: FPSK_Mac [13]04. Objective: The aim of the study reported here was to identify the effect of vitamin C on reducing the levels of inflammatory markers in hypertensive and/or diabetic obese adults. Subjects and methods: Sixty-four obese patients, who were hypertensive and/or diabetic and had high levels of inflammatory markers, from primary health care centers in Gaza City, Palestine, were enrolled into one of two groups in an open-label, parallel, randomized controlled trial. A total of 33 patients were randomized into a control group and 31 patients were randomized into an experimental group. The experimental group was treated with 500 mg vitamin C twice a day. Results: In the experimental group, vitamin C significantly reduced the levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin 6 (IL-6), fasting blood glucose (FBG), and triglyceride (TG) after 8 weeks of treatment (overall: P<0.001); no changes appeared in total cholesterol (TC). In the control group, there were significant reductions in FBG and TG (P=0.001 and P=0.026, respectively), and no changes in hs-CRP, IL-6, or TC. On comparing the changes in the experimental group with those in the control group at the endpoint, vitamin C was found to have achieved clinical significance in treating effectiveness for reducing hs-CRP, IL-6, and FBG levels (P=0.01, P=0.001, and P<0.001, respectively), but no significant changes in TC or TG were found. Conclusion: Vitamin C (500 mg twice daily) has potential effects in alleviating inflammatory status by reducing hs-CRP, IL-6, and FBG in hypertensive and/or diabetic obese patients.

A split plot 3 by 4 experiment was designed to examine the impact of 15-week variable levels of nitrogen fertilization (0, 90, 180 and 270 kg N/ha) on the characteristics of total flavonoids (TF), total phenolics (TP), total non structurable carbohydrate (TNC), net assimilation rate, leaf chlorophyll content, carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N), phenyl alanine lyase activity (PAL) and protein content, and their relationships, in three varieties of Labisia pumila Blume (alata, pumila and lanceolata). The treatment effects were solely contributed by nitrogen application; there was neither varietal nor interaction effect observed. As nitrogen levels increased from 0 to 270 kg N/ha, the production of TNC was found to decrease steadily. Production of TF and TP reached their peaks under 0 followed by 90, 180 and 270 kg N/ha treatment. However, net assimilation rate was enhanced as nitrogen fertilization increased from 0 to 270 kg N/ha. The increase in production of TP and TF under low nitrogen levels (0 and 90 kg N/ha) was found to be correlated with enhanced PAL activity. The enhancement in PAL activity was followed by reduction in production of soluble protein under low nitrogen fertilization indicating more availability of amino acid phenyl alanine (phe) under low nitrogen content that stimulate the production of carbon based secondary metabolites (CBSM). The latter was manifested by high C/N ratio in L. pumila plants.

Nowadays, phytochemicals and antioxidants in plants are raising interest in consumers for their roles in the maintenance of human health. Phenolics and flavonoids are known for their health-promoting properties due to protective effects against cardiovascular disease, cancers and other disease. Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is one of the traditional folk medicinal plants and it is widely used in cooking in Malaysia. In this study, four levels of glasshouse light intensities (310, 460, 630 and 790 μmol m⁻²s⁻¹) were used in order to consider the effect of light intensity on the production, accumulation and partitioning of total phenolics (TP), total flavonoids (TF) and antioxidant activities in two varieties of Malaysian young ginger (Zingiber officinale). TF biosynthesis was highest in the Halia Bara variety under 310 μmol m⁻²s⁻¹ and TP was high in this variety under a light intensity of 790 μmol m⁻²s⁻¹. The highest amount of these components accumulated in the leaves and after that in the rhizomes. Also, antioxidant activities determined by the 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) assay in both of varieties, increased significantly (p ≤ 0.01) with increasing TF concentration, and high antioxidant activity was observed in the leaves of Halia Bara grown under 310 μmol m⁻²s⁻¹. The ferric reducing (FRAP) activity of the rhizomes was higher than that of the leaves in 310 μmol m⁻²s⁻¹ of sun light. This study indicates the ability of different light intensities to enhance the medicinal components and antioxidant activities of the leaves and young rhizomes of Zingiber officinale varieties. Additionally, this study also validated their medicinal potential based on TF and TP contents.

A factorial split plot 4 × 3 experiment was designed to examine and characterize the relationship among production of secondary metabolites (total phenolics, TP; total flavonoids, TF), carbohydrate content and photosynthesis of three varieties of the Malaysian medicinal herb Labisia pumila Benth. namely the varieties alata, pumila and lanceolata under CO₂ enrichment (1,200 µmol mol^-1) combined with four levels of nitrogen fertilization (0, 90, 180 and 270 kg N ha^-1). No varietal differences were observed, however, as the levels of nitrogen increased from 0 to 270 kg N ha^-1, the production of TP and TF decreased in the order leaves>roots>stems. The production of TP and TF was related to increased total non structural carbohydrate (TNC), where the increase in starch content was larger than that in sugar concentration. Nevertheless, the regression analysis exhibited a higher influence of soluble sugar concentration (r² = 0.88) than starch on TP and TF biosynthesis. Photosynthesis, on the other hand, displayed a significant negative relationship with TP and TF production (r² = -0.87). A decrease in photosynthetic rate with increasing secondary metabolites might be due to an increase in the shikimic acid pathway that results in enhanced production of TP and TF. Chlorophyll content exhibited very significant negative relationships with total soluble sugar, starch and total non structural carbohydrate.