Secretion of intestinal hormones is regulated by the consumption of nopal

Abstract

The nopal (Opuntia sp), a Mexican variety of cactus is widely used as a food and as a popular treatment for diabetes mellitus. It has been seen that consuming nopal improves glucose tolerance. To determine whether nopal has an effect on insulin secretion, several gut hormones were measured after the consumption of 93.75 g of nopal beverage containing 50 g of available carbohydrates compared with a solution containing 50 g of glucose in a two hour period. Our results showed that the glycemic and insulinemic index of nopal were 32.1 + 10.7 and 7.8 + 1.2 respectively. The release of amylin, and GLP‐1 were lower in subjects that drank the nopal beverage. Interestingly GIP release was inhibited by 74 % in subjects that ingested the nopal beverage. Ghrelin was increased during the fasting and decreased more slowly after the consumption of nopal. The PP peptide increased significantly after 15 min of nopal consumption and decreased slower than the glucose solution. There was no significant difference in the PYY peptide with time. The results suggest that nopal modifies the release of several intestinal peptides decreasing insulin secretion and possibly alters hunger behaviour. Supported by: Nutriva de México S.A. de C. V. Aguascalientes, Ags. México.