Submited on: 23 Feb 2013 12:26:12 PM GMT
Published on: 25 Feb 2013 07:29:15 AM GMT
 

  • What are the main claims of the paper and how important are they?

    Study on the efficacy of powdered mixture of Curcuma longa and Emblica officinalis compared to Glyburide, in diabetic rats


  • Are these claims novel? If not, please specify papers that weaken the claims to the originality of this one.

    Yes


  • Are the claims properly placed in the context of the previous literature?

    Yes


  • Do the results support the claims? If not, what other evidence is required?

    Yes


  • If a protocol is provided, for example for a randomized controlled trial, are there any important deviations from it? If so, have the authors explained adequately why the deviations occurred?

    NA


  • Is the methodology valid? Does the paper offer enough details of its methodology that its experiments or its analyses could be reproduced?

    Yes. The weight of the rats 150-300g, is a big range, which could have been reduced to a range of 100g.


  • Would any other experiments or additional information improve the paper? How much better would the paper be if this extra work was done, and how difficult would such work be to do, or to provide?

    1. Body weight of the animals could have been taken into study.

    2. Dose kinetics details could throw more light on the study.

    3. Active ingredients:Bioactive protien study by Chromatography

    4. Hepatic and renal histological studies required.( to study necrosis and degeneration of hepatocytes etc)


  • Is this paper outstanding in its discipline? (For example, would you like to see this work presented in a seminar at your hospital or university? Do you feel these results need to be incorporated in your next general lecture on the subject?) If yes, what makes it outstanding? If not, why not?

    Yes


  • Other Comments:

    None

  • Competing interests:
    None
  • Invited by the author to review this article? :
    No
  • Have you previously published on this or a similar topic?:
    No
  • References:
    None
  • Experience and credentials in the specific area of science:

    None

  • How to cite:  Mani A .Antidiabetic and Antioxidant Efficacy Of a Powdered Mixture Of Curcuma Longa and Emblica Officinalis In Diabetic Rats In Comparison With Glyburide[Review of the article 'Antidiabetic and Antioxidant Efficacy Of a Powdered Mixture Of Curcuma Longa and Emblica Officinalis In Diabetic Rats In Comparison With Glyburide ' by Bhat G].WebmedCentral 2013;4(3):WMCRW002649
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We thank the reviewer for the comments. We have measured the body weight of the animals in all the groups at weekly intervals during the study period. The untreated diabetic control rats lost about 14% of their body weight at the end of the one month period. Diabetic rats treated with the mixture of Curcuma longa and Emblica officinalis, though initially showed weight loss, showed a modest degree of improvement in weight (0.5%) at the end of one month, whereas glyburide treated rats showed a decline in body weight by about 1% at the end of one month treatment. Weight loss in drug treateddiabetic rats was most severe during the first week after induction of diabetes though less than that seen in untreated diabetic rats, after which it showed a steady improvement reaching a high point at the end of one month treatment period suggesting that the initially the diabetic state might have prevailed which was gradually overcome by treatment. We plan to study the active ingredients in the mixture used in our study and perform histological studies on different organs in the future experiments.
Responded by Dr. Guruprasad Rao on 01 Apr 2013 04:33:50 AM

  • What are the main claims of the paper and how important are they?

    Study comparing the efficacy of curcuma longa and emblica officinalis in diabetic rats with oral hypoglycemic drug glyburide. Article draws scientific basis for use of  medicinal herbals in treatment of diabetes mellitus.


  • Are these claims novel? If not, please specify papers that weaken the claims to the originality of this one.

    Yes


  • Are the claims properly placed in the context of the previous literature?

    Yes


  • Do the results support the claims? If not, what other evidence is required?

    Yes


  • If a protocol is provided, for example for a randomized controlled trial, are there any important deviations from it? If so, have the authors explained adequately why the deviations occurred?

    No


  • Is the methodology valid? Does the paper offer enough details of its methodology that its experiments or its analyses could be reproduced?

    Yes


  • Would any other experiments or additional information improve the paper? How much better would the paper be if this extra work was done, and how difficult would such work be to do, or to provide?

    Author could have given the information regarding why he estimated glycated Hb concentrations 1 month after treatment. As glycated Hb is reflceting the overall 3 months glycemic status, is there any study to support your results of one month glycated Hb can be the reflection of glycemic status in rats. Correlation graph could have been included for correlation between TBARS and glycate hb, GSH -px and glycated Hb


  • Is this paper outstanding in its discipline? (For example, would you like to see this work presented in a seminar at your hospital or university? Do you feel these results need to be incorporated in your next general lecture on the subject?) If yes, what makes it outstanding? If not, why not?

    Yes- may stimulate research on basis for cure  in more medicinal plants around.


  • Other Comments:

    Nil

  • Competing interests:
    None
  • Invited by the author to review this article? :
    Yes
  • Have you previously published on this or a similar topic?:
    No
  • References:
    None
  • Experience and credentials in the specific area of science:

    Biochemistry and molecular Biology

  • How to cite:  Shetty J .Antidiabetic and Antioxidant Efficacy Of a Powdered Mixture Of Curcuma Longa and Emblica Officinalis In Diabetic Rats In Comparison With Glyburide[Review of the article 'Antidiabetic and Antioxidant Efficacy Of a Powdered Mixture Of Curcuma Longa and Emblica Officinalis In Diabetic Rats In Comparison With Glyburide ' by Bhat G].WebmedCentral 2013;4(3):WMCRW002603
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We thank the reviewer for the comments. Regarding the reason for estimating glycated Hb concentrations in diabetic rats 1 month after treatment, we wish to quote from some previous references. The lifespan of erythrocytes in rats is in the range of 45-68 days (Preston AM
Responded by Dr. Guruprasad Rao on 18 Mar 2013 10:36:50 AM
Review
Posted by Anonymous Reviewer on 07 Mar 2013 11:43:50 AM GMT

  • What are the main claims of the paper and how important are they?

    Main claims are the role of hypoglycemic and antioxidant property of Mixture Of Curcuma Longa and Emblica Officinalis helps in better control of hyperglycemia in diabetics.

     

    Which was important as most of drugs admisitered controls hyperglycemia not the oxidants levels.


  • Are these claims novel? If not, please specify papers that weaken the claims to the originality of this one.

    Yes


  • Are the claims properly placed in the context of the previous literature?

    Yes


  • Do the results support the claims? If not, what other evidence is required?

    Yes


  • If a protocol is provided, for example for a randomized controlled trial, are there any important deviations from it? If so, have the authors explained adequately why the deviations occurred?

    Protocol is good.


  • Is the methodology valid? Does the paper offer enough details of its methodology that its experiments or its analyses could be reproduced?

    Yes


  • Would any other experiments or additional information improve the paper? How much better would the paper be if this extra work was done, and how difficult would such work be to do, or to provide?

    If the study included one more  group as glyburide along with the Mixture Of Curcuma Longa and/or Emblica Officinalis to know the effect on boold parameters.


  • Is this paper outstanding in its discipline? (For example, would you like to see this work presented in a seminar at your hospital or university? Do you feel these results need to be incorporated in your next general lecture on the subject?) If yes, what makes it outstanding? If not, why not?

    No. As these studies can be converted as randomized studies after it can be confirmed if the results show good control


  • Other Comments:

    NA

  • Competing interests:
    None
  • Invited by the author to review this article? :
    Yes
  • Have you previously published on this or a similar topic?:
    Yes
  • References:

    Comparison of predictive value of sorbitol & microalbuminuria in progression of diabetic nephropathy in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. International Journal of Pharma and Biosciences.2010;1(4):335-339. Oxidative stress and calcium levels in senile and type 2 diabetic cataract patients. International Journal of Pharma and Biosciences.2011;2(1):109-116. Does the glycated hemoglobin have an impact on atherogenic cholesterol in type 2 Diabetes patients? RJPBCS.2012;3(1):103-307. Antioxidant and calcium levels in mature and immature diabetic cataract lens.International Journal of Life Sciences.2012;6(1):56-60.

  • Experience and credentials in the specific area of science:

    Basically my research involved in Diabetes mellitus

  • How to cite:  Anonymous.Review[Review of the article 'Antidiabetic and Antioxidant Efficacy Of a Powdered Mixture Of Curcuma Longa and Emblica Officinalis In Diabetic Rats In Comparison With Glyburide ' by Bhat G].WebmedCentral 2013;4(3):WMCRW002573
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We plan to study the effect of combining the nishamalaki preparation along with glyburide to see its beneficial effect in providing glycemic control and antioxidant benefits. Thank you
Responded by Dr. Guruprasad Rao on 08 Mar 2013 04:04:25 AM

  • What are the main claims of the paper and how important are they?

    The manuscript by Dr. Rao is a thorough study of the effect of herbals Curcuma Longa and Emblica Officinalis mixture in streptozotocin induced diabetic animals. The author demonstrated that the herbal mix “Nishamalaki” treated diabetic animals show significant reduction of plasma glucose and also significantly lowering glycated hemoglobin. The technical aspects of the paper are solid and the conclusions are reasonable. 


  • Are these claims novel? If not, please specify papers that weaken the claims to the originality of this one.

    Yes


  • Are the claims properly placed in the context of the previous literature?

    Yes


  • Do the results support the claims? If not, what other evidence is required?

    Yes


  • If a protocol is provided, for example for a randomized controlled trial, are there any important deviations from it? If so, have the authors explained adequately why the deviations occurred?

    NA


  • Is the methodology valid? Does the paper offer enough details of its methodology that its experiments or its analyses could be reproduced?

    Yes


  • Would any other experiments or additional information improve the paper? How much better would the paper be if this extra work was done, and how difficult would such work be to do, or to provide?

    Identification of the active ingredient in Nishamalaki would improve the paper.


  • Is this paper outstanding in its discipline? (For example, would you like to see this work presented in a seminar at your hospital or university? Do you feel these results need to be incorporated in your next general lecture on the subject?) If yes, what makes it outstanding? If not, why not?

    Yes


  • Other Comments:

    Simple conventional HPLC technique combined with mass spec could be used to further characterize the herbal mixture, but this is for next paper.

  • Competing interests:
    None
  • Invited by the author to review this article? :
    Yes
  • Have you previously published on this or a similar topic?:
    No
  • References:
    None
  • Experience and credentials in the specific area of science:

    NA

  • How to cite:  Raju M .Antidiabetic and Antioxidant Efficacy Of a Powdered Mixture Of Curcuma Longa and Emblica Officinalis In Diabetic Rats In Comparison With Glyburide [Review of the article 'Antidiabetic and Antioxidant Efficacy Of a Powdered Mixture Of Curcuma Longa and Emblica Officinalis In Diabetic Rats In Comparison With Glyburide ' by Bhat G].WebmedCentral 2013;4(3):WMCRW002551
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We thank Dr. Raju for the positive response to our paper The identification of the possibly multiple active ingredients in 'nishamalaki' preparation through HPLC and Mass Spectrometry will be planned in the near future.
Responded by Dr. Guruprasad Rao on 02 Mar 2013 01:09:18 PM
Review of
Posted by Dr. Pietro Scicchitano on 27 Feb 2013 07:00:32 PM GMT

  • What are the main claims of the paper and how important are they?

    The paper is a good research about the role of alternative medicine in diabetes treatment, although performed only in animals.


  • Are these claims novel? If not, please specify papers that weaken the claims to the originality of this one.

    Yes


  • Are the claims properly placed in the context of the previous literature?

    Yes


  • Do the results support the claims? If not, what other evidence is required?

    Yes


  • If a protocol is provided, for example for a randomized controlled trial, are there any important deviations from it? If so, have the authors explained adequately why the deviations occurred?

    Any deviations could be detectable.


  • Is the methodology valid? Does the paper offer enough details of its methodology that its experiments or its analyses could be reproduced?

    Yes


  • Would any other experiments or additional information improve the paper? How much better would the paper be if this extra work was done, and how difficult would such work be to do, or to provide?

    No


  • Is this paper outstanding in its discipline? (For example, would you like to see this work presented in a seminar at your hospital or university? Do you feel these results need to be incorporated in your next general lecture on the subject?) If yes, what makes it outstanding? If not, why not?

    Yes


  • Other Comments:

    Bari, February, 27th, 2013

    Title: “Antidiabetic and Antioxidant Efficacy Of a Powdered Mixture Of Curcuma Longa and Emblica Officinalis In Diabetic Rats In Comparison With Glyburide”.

    Dear Editor,

    We have read through this original article and we think that some things should be better outlined:

    - English should be improved by a native English speaker.
    - Why did not the authors consider insulin as “control” treatment rather than glyburide? Please comment
    - The work seems to emphasize the role of “alternative medicine” in diabetic treatment. Nevertheless, we think that the discussion should be more focused on the evaluation of traditional pharmacological treatment of diabetes in opposition to alternative pharmacological medicine. This is a quite hot topic and deserves much more attention.

     
    Yours sincerely,
    Dr. Pietro Scicchitano

     
    Address:

    Piazza G. Cesare 11 - 70124 Bari Italy
    Tel +39-3339801846
    e-mail: piero.sc@hotmail.it

  • Competing interests:
    None
  • Invited by the author to review this article? :
    No
  • Have you previously published on this or a similar topic?:
    Yes
  • References:

    Marco Matteo Ciccone, Alfredo Marchese, Aikaterini Generali, Cataldo Loiodice, Francesca Cortese, Rosa Carbonara, Pietro Scicchitano, Luigi Laviola and Francesco Giorgino. Interventional Therapy in Diabetic Foot: Risk Factors, Clinical Events and Prognosis at One Year Follow-up (A Study of 103 Cases). Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences Volume 15, Number 16, 789-794, 2012

  • Experience and credentials in the specific area of science:
    None
  • How to cite:  Scicchitano P .Review of [Review of the article 'Antidiabetic and Antioxidant Efficacy Of a Powdered Mixture Of Curcuma Longa and Emblica Officinalis In Diabetic Rats In Comparison With Glyburide ' by Bhat G].WebmedCentral 2013;4(2):WMCRW002542
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Dear Sir We wish to thank Dr. Pietro Scicchitano for the valuable review comments. We used glyburide as a control rather than insulin since our aim was mainly to compare the efficacy of an orally administered plant preparation with an oral hypoglycemic agent used in traditional pharmacological treatment of diabetes. Though we have mentioned a few alternative Ayurvedic preparations used in traditional Indian medicine for treatment of diabetes in the discussion, our discussion mainly centered around the glycemic control and antioxidant benefits provided by the nishamalaki preparation in comparison to a standard oral hypoglycemic agent. Therefore, we did not elaborate much on the big picture of tradtional pharmacologic treatment vs alternative pharmacologic treatment of diabetes.
Responded by Dr. Guruprasad Rao on 02 Mar 2013 01:04:33 PM