Background: Diabetes mellitus and its complications are public health problems. Hyperglycemia triggers harmful biochemical effects to the body, such as oxidative stress and inflammatory process. The use of medicinal plants with high antioxidant capacity as Lepidium meyenii Walp (maca) is an alternative in treatment of this disease. Objective: To determine whether ingestion of maca flour improves the relation reduced/oxidized glutathione (GSH/GSSG) in diabetic rats. Design: Experimental. Setting: Biochemistry and Nutrition Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru. Biological material: Yellow maca flour and adult male Holtzman albino rats. Interventions: Diabetes was induced in 24 rats with streptozotocin (STZ) 40 mg/kg body mass; rats were randomly divided into four groups of six animals each: control (CO), glibenclamide (GL) 10 mg/kg body...

Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) is part of our food and medicinal biodiversity and both roots and leaves are used due to their antioxidant, hypoglycemic and antibacterial properties. Consequently its use as functional food and/or nutraceutical is promising. Objectives: To determine the antioxidant capacity of 10 yacon accessions native from Cajamarca. Design: Descriptive, cross sectional and prospective study. Setting: Biochemistry and Nutrition Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM), and Universidad Nacional de Cajamarca (UNC), Peru. Biological material: Yacon leaves and roots. Interventions: Yacon leaves and roots of plants cultivated in the Experimental Field of the Roots and Andean Tubers Program, Cajamarca's city (2 536 meters above sea level), were used, from the collection that supports the UNC Faculty of Agrarian Sciences. Origin o...

Objetivos: Evaluar el efecto hepatoprotector del extracto acuoso de hojas de yacón (EHY) en ratas intoxicadas con acetaminofén, mediante biomarcadores de estrés oxidativo. Diseño: Analítico, experimental. Institución: Centro de Investigación de Bioquímica y Nutrición, Facultad de Medicina, UNMSM. Material biológico: EHY, obtenido de Yauyos-Lima. Intervenciones: Se formó 4 grupos de ratas hembras (n=6). Se les administró por vía oral lo siguiente; G1: control (suero fisiológico (SF)) por 11 días; G2, G3 y G4: paracetamol 300 mg/kg por 6 días y, luego, por 5 días SF, EHY, 400 mg/kg y silimarina 50 mg/kg, respectivamente. Principales medidas de los resultados: Lipoperoxidación, superóxido-dismutasa (SOD), catalasa (CAT), glutatión peroxidasa y glutatión S-transferasa. Resultados: Los niveles de lipoperoxidación de G3 (6,5 umol/L) fueron menores que G1 (7,9 umol/L). La ...