The aim of this research was to determine the effects of Momordica charantia (MC) fruit aqueous extract on pancreatic histopathological changes in neonatal STZ-induced type-II diabetic rats. Diabetes mellitus was induced in one day Sprague-Dawley neonatal rats using a single intrapretoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) (85 mg/kg body weight) and monitored for 12 weeks thereafter. The diabetic rats were separated into three groups, as follows: the diabetic control group (i.e. nSTZ), the diabetic group (i.e. nSTZ/M) - which was orally given 20 mg/kg of MC fruit extract, and the diabetic group (i.e. nSTZ/G) - that was treated with glibenclamide, 0.1 mg/kg for a period of four weeks. At the end of treatment, the animals were sacrificed and blood samples were collected from the saphenous vein to measure the blood glucose and serum insulin level. The pancreatic specimens were removed and processed for light microscopy, electron microscopy examination and immunohistochemical study. The results of this study showed that MC fruit aqueous extract reduced the blood glucose level as well as glibenclamide and increased the serum insulin level in the treated diabetic rats (P<0.05). The fruit extract of MC alleviated pancreatic damage and increased the number of β-cells in the diabetic treated rats (P<0.05). Our results suggest that oral feeding of MC fruit extract may have a significant role in the renewal of pancreatic β-cells in the nSTZ rats.
Since 2000, many countries have achieved considerable success in improving child survival, but localized progress remains unclear. To inform efforts towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.2-to end preventable child deaths by 2030-we need consistently estimated data at the subnational level regarding child mortality rates and trends. Here we quantified, for the period 2000-2017, the subnational variation in mortality rates and number of deaths of neonates, infants and children under 5 years of age within 99 low- and middle-income countries using a geostatistical survival model. We estimated that 32% of children under 5 in these countries lived in districts that had attained rates of 25 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births by 2017, and that 58% of child deaths between 2000 and 2017 in these countries could have been averted in the absence of geographical inequality. This study enables the identification of high-mortality clusters, patterns of progress and geographical inequalities to inform appropriate investments and implementations that will help to improve the health of all populations.