Amelioration of Cisplatin-Induced Nephrotoxicity in Rats by Curcumin and α-Tocopherol

Purpose: Learners, including medical students, naturally have different learning style preferences. Teachers need to use a variety of teaching materials to help learners understand the content. However, previous studies have not reported the effects of learning in medical biochemistry by teaching based on the VARK learning style. This study aims to investigate the learning style preferences, the effects of learning in medical biochemistry by teaching based on the VARK learning style, and the relationship between type and number of VARK learning styles and medical biochemistry achievement in medical students. Methods: We investigated a total of 92 first-year medical students at Walailak University. The VARK questionnaire was used to identify the learning style preference of medical students. All students took a pretest before beginning each online lecture. After completing each lecture, all students received additional teaching materials according to their learning style to use in reviewing the lessons. All students took a posttest for each lecture after reviewing the lesson. Results: The results showed that the medical students preferred a multimodal learning style (70.65%) more than a unimodal learning style (29.35%). The medical students preferred four learning styles (VARK) more than two and three learning styles. All learning styles had a mean difference score (posttest score minus pretest score) above 27.00 (33.75%). There were no significant differences in mean difference scores among the different learning styles. In addition, there were no significant differences in mean difference scores between the single style preference, two style preferences, three style preferences, and four style preferences. Conclusion: Teaching based on the VARK learning style could enhance medical students’ learning in medical biochemistry. The difference in learning style and the difference in the number of learning styles (single, two, three, and four style preferences) were not significantly related to medical students’ learning achievement in medical biochemistry.

This research investigated the effects of processing by dry heating, boiling, and steaming on the antioxidant activity and DNA protection against oxidative damage of bambara groundnut seeds (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.). Comparing raw and processed samples of bambara groundnut seeds, dry heating caused a significant (P < 0.05) reduction of ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), metal chelating activity, DPPH^• and ABTS^•+ radical scavenging activity. The boiling process did not cause a significant difference in FRAP and metal chelating activity and caused smaller losses in DPPH^• and ABTS^•+ radical scavenging activity than the dry heating and steaming processes. The steaming process caused a significant (P < 0.05) reduction of FRAP, DPPH^• and ABTS^•+ radical scavenging activity. For DNA protection against oxidative damage, boiled and steamed bambara groundnut seed samples were more effective with a lower minimum concentration (50 µg/mL) than raw and dry heated samples. These results indicated that the boiling process caused smaller losses antioxidant activity than dry heating and steaming. Therefore, boiling was recommended as processing method for bambara groundnut seeds to preserve antioxidant components and antioxidant activity.

A new compound (C₂₀H₁₈O₉) was isolated from bambara groundnut seeds (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) and identified as a luteolin glycoside based on ¹H, ¹³C and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy data and previously reported data. This compound exhibited similar scavenging activity for DPPH radical to Trolox and had a higher inhibitory effect on superoxide anion radicals than gallic acid and Trolox. C₂₀H₁₈O₉ exhibited an inhibitory effect on DPPH and superoxide anion radicals, with IC₅₀ values of 2.25 ± 0.14 µg/mL and 9.8 ± 0.3 µg/mL, respectively. However, C₂₀H₁₈O₉ displayed low activities for FRAP and metal chelation. C₂₀H₁₈O₉ had a higher inhibitory effect on lipoxygenase (IC₅₀ = 2.16 ± 0.14 µg/mL) than nordihydroguaiaretic acid but had a lower inhibitory effect on xanthine oxidase than allopurinol. These results indicate that bambara groundnut seeds can be natural sources of antioxidants for humans and can serve as lipoxygenase inhibitor to reduce inflammation.

Luteolin, a flavonoid in the class of flavones, is found in various plant families. Luteolin is present in plants as both aglycone and glycosides. Luteolin glycosides are found in plants more often than aglycone. In this review, the structure, metabolism, biological activities, and health benefits of luteolin glycosides present in plants are summarized and discussed. This review also describes the therapeutic activities of luteolin glycosides against each disease related to the structure of the compounds. Natural luteolin glycosides are present in plants in the form of luteolin C ‐glycosides or luteolin O ‐glycosides. There are several types of sugars found in the structure of luteolin glycosides. Phytochemical luteolin glycosides have therapeutic significance in many diseases. Several luteolin glycosides participate in multiple mechanisms related to the treatment of a disease. Therefore, luteolin glycosides may be applied as therapeutic agents in the future.