Abstract
ABSTRACTObjectives: The present study was to evaluate the effect of theaflavin on the activities of key enzymes of carbohydrate metabolism in high fat diet and streptozotocin – induced diabetic rats.Methods: Diabetes was induced in male albino Wistar rats by feeding them with high fat diet comprising of standard laboratory rat chow 84.3%, lard 5%, egg yolk powder 10%, cholesterol 0.2% and bile salt 0.5% for 2 weeks. After 2 weeks, the animals were kept in an overnight fast and injected with low dose of streptozotocin (40 mg/kg b.w).Results: Theaflavin (100 mg/kg b.w /day) was administered orally to diabetic rats for 30 days. At the end of the experimental period, diabetic control rats showed significant increase in plasma glucose, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) with concomitant decrease in plasma insulin, total hemoglobin and body weight. The activities of key enzymes of carbohydrate metabolism, lipid peroxidation markers, antioxidant enzymes, glycogen content and glycogen synthase and glycogen phosphorylase were also altered in diabetic rats.Discussion: Oral administration of theaflavin to diabetic rats significantly ameliorated all the biochemical alterations to near normal levels. The results of the present study suggest that theaflavin exhibits antidiabetic effect through its antioxidant activity.
Highlights
Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder which is characterized by hyperglycemia along with alterations in carbohydrate, lipid and protein metabolism associated with complete or relative deficiencies in insulin secretion and/or insulin action [1]
The diabetic rats showed a significant increase in blood glucose and a significant decrease in plasma insulin levels
Theaflavin supplementation prevented the rise of blood glucose levels significantly in a dose dependent manner
Summary
Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder which is characterized by hyperglycemia along with alterations in carbohydrate, lipid and protein metabolism associated with complete or relative deficiencies in insulin secretion and/or insulin action [1]. Chronic hyperglycemia in diabetes is associated with long term damage, dysfunction and eventually the failure of organs, the eyes, kidneys, nerves and cardiovascular system [2]. Several other factors such as dyslipidemia or hyperlipidemia are involved in the development of cardiovascular complications in diabetes which are the major causes of morbidity and mortality [3]. The management of diabetes with insulin and synthetic oral hypoglycemic drugs can produce serious side effects and in addition, they fail to prevent diabetes related complications in many patients. New diabetic management strategy is obligatory nowadays which should be more effective and have less side effects than the synthetic drugs [5]. Many species of plants and plant based drugs have been described in the scientific literature as having hypoglycemic activity due to their apparent effectiveness and minimal side effects in clinical experience and relatively low costs [6]
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