Abstract
Mistletoe (Viscum Album coloratum) has been known as a medicinal plant in European and Asian countries. Recent data show that biological activity of mistletoe alleviates hypertension, heart disease, renal failure, and cancer development. In this study, we report the antidiabetic effect of Korean mistletoe extract (KME). KME treatments enhanced the insulin secretion from the pancreatic β-cell without any effects of cytotoxicity. PDX-1 and beta2/neuroD known as transcription factors that regulate the expression of insulin gene were upregulated by treatment of the KME protein fractions isolated by ion-exchange chromatography after ammonium sulfate precipitation. Furthermore, these KME protein fractions significantly lowered the blood glucose level and the volume of drinking water in alloxan induced hyperglycemic mice. Taken together with the findings, it provides new insight that KME might be served as a useful source for the development of medicinal reagent to reduce blood glucose level of type I diabetic patients.
Highlights
Insulin is an essential hormone that maintains the blood and urinary glucose level
Due to the cytotoxicity of lectin A subunit contained in Korean mistletoe extract (KME), we examined whether KME has the cytotoxic activity on rat pancreatic β cells (RINm5F)
We found that insulin secretion was severely impaired by alloxan injection but it was partially restored by injection of the KME protein fractions (Figure 4(a))
Summary
Insulin is an essential hormone that maintains the blood and urinary glucose level. At transcriptional level, insulin gene expression is controlled by the specific transcription factors: pancreatic and duodenal homeobox factor-1 (PDX-1) and beta2/neuroD [1,2,3,4]. Abnormal immune response destroys pancreatic β cell and impairs insulin secretion, leading to insulin dependent type I diabetes [5, 6]. Mistletoe (Viscum album) is a semiparasitic plant which grows on deciduous trees in Asian and European countries It has been used as a traditional therapeutic reagent to lower blood pressure and modulate immune responses [14,15,16,17,18]. We revealed KME protein fractions without cellular damage induced to release insulin from the pancreatic β cell by activating transcription factors such as PDX-1 and beta2/neuroD required for insulin gene expression. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine fraction, the blood glucose level and drinking water volume were significantly reduced in alloxan induced hyperglycemic mice [26, 27]
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