Kudzu Polyphenols Dietary Improves Glucose Handling and Decreases Plasma Cholesterol and blood pressure levels in Stroke Prone‐Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SP‐SHR)

Abstract

Diabetes and the metabolic syndrome play an important role in cardiovascular disease and plant polyphenols appear to delay or prevent these effects. Radix Pueraria is a polyphenol product of kudzu root that provides cardiovascular benefits in animals, apparently related to antioxidant, antidipsotropic and other actions. We hypothesized that dietary kudzu polyphenols improve lipid metabolism and glucose handling and, therefore, prevent cardiovascular dysfunction in SP-SHR. Female SP-SHR were ovariectomized and maintained on a polyphenol-free AIN 76 diet with or without the addition of 0.3% kudzu root extract. Following 3 months on the diet, plasma glucose and arterial pressure (AP) were measured, as well as plasma insulin, total cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The dietary kudzu improved glucose handling, decreased body weight by 10% and reduced AP 15 ± 3.2 mm Hg. Further, plasma insulin (from 2.73 to 0.68 μU/ml) and cholesterol (from 110.6 to 39.6 mg/ml) were also significantly decreased by the supplementation. These data indicate that kudzu polyphenols can protect against insulin resistance and hyper-cholesterolanemia in SP-SHR, suggesting that the previously discovered beneficial effects of kudzu polyphenols may be related to their improvement of glucose and lipid handling in rodents.