Antidiabetic effect of flavones from Cirsium japonicum DC in diabetic rats

Abstract

Cirsium japonicum DC is a traditional Chinese herb used along with other herbs to treat hypertension, traumatic hemorrhage, inflammation, and renal cellular injury. Here, we isolated two flavones from Cirsium japonicum DC, pectolinarin and 5,7-dihydroxy-6,4'-dimethoxy flavone (DDMF), and investigated their antidiabetic effect in diabetic rats established by intravenous injection with streptozotocin followed by feeding with high-carbohydrate/high-fat diet. Both pectolinarin and DDMF showed antidiabetic effect in diabetic rats. However, FECJ, a mixture of pectolinarin and DDMF, is more effective than pectolinarin and DDMF in improving the plasma glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides levels in diabetic rats. The altered activities of glucose metabolism-related enzymes in diabetic rats were well reversed after flavone treatment. The plasma adiponectin level was greatly increased in diabetic rats treated with FECJ, while no obvious effect of the flavones on the dysregulated plasma insulin level and expressions of leptin and glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) was observed. Our data indicated that the flavones improved adiponectin expression, accompanied by restoring of the dysregulated activities of the glucose metabolism-related enzymes, ultimately resulting in well improved glucose and lipid homeostasis. Thus, an antidiabetic effect of Cirsium japonicum DC was revealed in diabetic rats, suggesting the potential benefit of the Cirsium japonicum DC as an alternative in treating diabetes mellitus.

Hydro-Alcoholic Cinnamon Extract, Enhances Glucose Transporter Isotype-4 Translocation from Intracellular Compartments into the Cytoplasmic Membrane of C2C12 Myotubes

“…Cinnamon ingredients have been shown to enhance glucose metabolism via insulin signal transduction pathway in adipocyte cells and tissues [14,23,30]. Liao et al [31] have shown that chromatographic extract of Cirsium Japonicom (CJ) decrease levels of glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol, insulin and adiponectin but increase plasma leptin levels in diabetic rat model. Although they have shown some beneficial effect for CJ but GLUT4 contents of adipose tissue was not changed significantly.…”

Pectolinarigenin - A Flavonoid Compound from <i>Cirsium Japonicum</i> with Potential Anti-proliferation Activity in MCF- 7 Breast Cancer Cell

“…Pharmacological studies show that the extract of C. japonicum and its major constituents possess anti-tumor [1,2], antidiabetic [3], antioxidant [4], anti-inflammatory [4], and antifungal [5]. C. japonicum contains significant amounts of flavonoid compounds, the principal characteristic of the flavonoid compounds are pectolinarin and pectolinarigenin (Figure 1), which exhibited powerful anti-diabetic, hepatoprotective and anticancer activities in vitro [3,6,7].…”

The Positive Effect of LuoHanGuo as &nbsp;Sugar Substitute on Blood Glucose and Metabolism in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Mice

“…Such result implied that it is not effective in improving kidney function, particularly for STZ-induced diabetes. With diabetes, the speed of converting the plasma free fatty acid to triglyceride in the liver increases in order to use fat as the energy source instead of glucose and consequently, it causes increased synthesis of LDL-cholesterol (Liao et al, 2010). Moreover, it causes abnormal lipid metabolism that triggers increase of cholesterol biosynthesis in the course of accelerating LDL secretion (Hong et al, 2002).…”