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Journal of Ethnopharmacology
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a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history:
Received 7 April 2009
Received in revised form 19 June 2009
Accepted 19 July 2009
Available online 25 July 2009
Keywords:
Type 2 diabetes
Artemisia sphaerocephala Krasch.
Antidiabetic plants
Asteraceae
Insulin resistance
a b s t r a c t
Aim of the study: Since ancient times, practicians of traditional Chinese medicine have discovered that
Artemisia sphaerocephala Krasch. (Asteraceae) seed powder was useful for the treatment of diabetes.
Artemisia sphaerocephala Krasch. gum (ASK gum), which is extracted from seed powder of the plant, is a
novel food additive favored by the food industry in China. The objective of this study was to determine
the antidiabetic function of ASK gum on type 2 diabetes.
Materials and methods: Type 2 diabetic rat model was induced with high fat diet and low dose of streptozotocin (STZ). The effects of ASK gum on hyperglycemia, hyperlipemia, insulin resistance, and liver fat
accumulation in type 2 diabetic rats were evaluated. The results were compared to those of normal rats
and diabetic rats treated with metformin.
Results: The addition of ASK gum to the rats food supply signicantly lowered fasting blood glucose, glycated serum protein, serum cholesterol, and serum triglyceride in type 2 diabetic rats, and
signicantly elevated liver glucokinase, liver glycogen, and serum high density protein cholesterol in
the diabetic rats. ASK gum signicantly reduced insulin resistance and liver fat accumulation of type
2 diabetes.
Conclusion: : Artemisia sphaerocephala Krasch. gum can alleviate hyperglycemia, hyperlipemia and insulin
resistance of type 2 diabetes.
2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Diabetes mellitus affects people of all ages and ethnic groups.
It was estimated that 2.8% of the worlds population was diabetic
in 2000 and this gure would climb to be as high as 4.4% of the
worlds population by 2030 (Wild et al., 2004). Type 2 diabetes,
which accounts for more than 9095% of all diabetes, is characterized by metabolic defects, say, insulin resistance (Lillioja et al., 1988;
ORahilly et al., 1988). Sulfonylureas, biguanide, thiazolidinedione,
and -glycosidase inhibitors are widely used to control the hyperglycemia, hyperlipemia and insulin resistance of type 2 diabetes,
but these drugs fail to signicantly alter the course of diabetic complications and have limited use because of undesirable side effects
and high rates of secondary failure (Rang and Dale, 1991). Thus, it is
essential to look for more effective antidiabetic agents with fewer
side effects.
Artemisia sphaerocephala Krasch. (ASK) (Asteraceae) is a lowgrowing shrub. It is widely distributed in the desert regions of
northwest Chinas Xinjiang, Ningxia, Gansu and Shannxi Provinces.
Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 029 87092159; fax: +86 029 87092159.
E-mail address: hxinzhong@yahoo.com (X.-Z. Hu).
0378-8741/$ see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jep.2009.07.021
The Chinese Academy of Science estimated that annual seed output of ASK seeds is at least 500,000 tons in China (Bai et al., 2000).
Since ancient times, the people in northwest China have added
ASK seed powder to noodles and other traditional Chinese foods
to improve sensory qualities such as elasticity and chewing quality. Practicians of traditional Chinese medicine also discovered that
ASK seed powder was useful for the treatment of diabetes and other
diseases (e.g. parotitis, tonsillitis, scabies and ileuses) (Zhao and
Huang, 1981). However, the active compounds that are responsible
for these therapeutic effects are poorly known.
Wei and Tu (1980) were the rst to report on the extraction
of ASK gum from ASK seed powder. ASK gum has many desirable
physical properties as a food ingredient for improving structure and
quality of various foods (Wei et al., 1996; Gao et al., 2006; Geng
and Wang, 2006; Hu et al., 2006; Liu and Gu, 2006). Commercial
ASK gum is available in China as a food additive (Hu et al., 2006).
Recently, Zhang et al. (2006) reported that ASK gum had hypoglycemic effect on alloxan-induced type 1 diabetic rats. Though type
2 diabetes is much more common than type 1 diabetes (Lillioja et
al., 1988; ORahilly et al., 1988), little is known about the role of ASK
gum on type 2 diabetes. The objective of this study was to evaluate
the effects of ASK gum on hyperglycemia, hyperlipemia and insulin
resistance of type 2 diabetes.
Type of animals
Formula of feed
Normal control
Diabetic control
Metformin control
0.3% ASK gum
0.9% ASK gum
2.7% ASK gum
Normal rats
Diabetic rats
Diabetic rats
Diabetic rats
Diabetic rats
Diabetic rats
8
8
8
8
8
8
411
Fig. 1. Effect of ASK gum on: (A) FBG, (B) GSP, (C) liver glycogen and (D) liver glucokinase activity. Values are presented as mean SEM, with 8 animals for each group. There
are letters in the top of the bars. Comparison between two groups: two bars without a common letter are signicantly different, P < 0.05.
412
Fig. 2. Effect of ASK gum on lipid prole: (A) TG, (B) TC, and (C) HDL-C. Values are presented as mean SEM, with 8 animals for each group. There are letters in the top of the
bars. Comparison between two groups: two bars without a common letter are signicantly different, P < 0.05.
413
1
FBG (mmol/L) FBI (mIU/L)
Table 2
Effect of ASK gum on ISI and FBI of type 2 diabetic rats.
Treatments
FBI (mIU/L)
Normal control
Diabetic control
Metformin control
0.3% ASK gum
0.9% ASK gum
2.7% ASK gum
8
8
8
8
8
8
38.02
48.43
46.50
46.58
45.56
45.23
1.56b
1.36a
1.2a
1.17a
1.41a
1.36a
ISI
5.18
7.02
6.60
6.90
6.83
6.76
0.11a
0.06d
0.09b
0.07cd
0.07bcd
0.08bc
Values are presented as mean SEM. Comparison between two groups: there is
superscript for each value. Two values without a common letter in their superscripts
are signicantly different, P < 0.05.
OGTT test showed that blood glucose levels in the diabetic control group were higher compared to the other diabetic groups
at 30 min, 60 min, 90 min and 120 min (Fig. 3A). The OGTT curve
declined gradually as the amount of ASK gum increased. The OGTT
curve of the 2.7% ASK gum group was signicantly (P < 0.05) lower
than the curve of the diabetic control group, but was signicantly
(P < 0.05) higher than the curve of the metformin control group. The
slope of the OGTT curve in the 2.7% ASK gum treatment was similar
to the slope of the metformin control group.
Diabetic control group had signicantly (P < 0.05) higher serum
free fatty acid (FFA) level and signicantly lower ISI level than the
normal control group (Fig. 3B and Table 2). Compared to diabetic
control group, 2.7% ASK gum group had signicantly (P < 0.05) lower
serum free fatty acid (FFA) level and signicantly (P < 0.05) higher ISI
level. There were no signicant differences (P > 0.05) in serum FFA
and ISI between the 2.7% ASK gum and metformin control group.
The FBI level in any of the ve diabetic groups was signicantly
(P < 0.05) higher than in normal control group, but there were no
signicant differences in FBI level among the ve diabetic groups
(P > 0.05) (Table 2).
3.4. Effect of ASK gum on liver fat accumulation
The diabetic control group had severe fat degeneration with a
large area of hepatocytes taken over by large white droplets of fat
414
Fig. 4. Effect of ASK gum on liver fat accumulation in different groups of rats: (A) Diabetic control, (B) 0.3% ASK gum, (C) 0.9% ASK gum, (D) 2.7% ASK gum, (E) Metformin
control and (F) Normal control. The samples were obtained from the same liver anatomical regions. For each group, 8 rats were examined and 80 pictures were taken. The
above picture for each group was chosen randomly from the 80 pictures in this group. Original magnication, 400.
(Fig. 4A). As the amount of ASK gum increased, the histological conditions improved (Fig. 4BD). There were some large fat droplets in
the 0.3% ASK gum group, but the granularity and quantity of fat
droplets were much less compared to the diabetic control group.
There were only a few small and medium sized fat droplets in the
2.7% ASK gum treatment, and the appearance was very similar to
that of the metformin control group (Fig. 4E).
4. Discussion and conclusions
4.1. Some considerations regarding the gum constitution, the
animal model, and the method of gum supplementation
Zhang et al. (2006) reported that ASK gum consisted of polysaccharide which was composed of six monosaccharides: l-Ara,
d-Xyl, d-Lyx, d-Man, d-Glc and d-Gal, and their molar ration was
1:4.98:1.69:27.86:3.76:13.92. The data in our laboratory about the
composition of the polysaccharide of ASK gum was quiet close to
Zhangs report (Xing et al., 2009). In this study, the yield (w/w) of
ASK gum in terms of ASK seed powder is 17.8%.
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authors suggested that the model could be used to test antidiabetic agents for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Their study was
415
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