Herbal Therapy: Chaste Tree Berry, the Functional Food for Treatment of Type I and II Diabetes

Kyle J. Norton

Whole food ingredients in herbal plant have been found to process some significant effects in reduced risk and treatment of certain diseases, but single ingredient isolated from such plants may induce opposite responses.

Chaste tree berry may have a potential in improved pancreatic islet regeneration in reduced risk of development and treatment of Type I and II diabetes, the renowned institute study postulated.

Diabetes are condition caused by insufficient insulin entering the bloodstream in regulation of glucose. The disease are either caused by cells in pancreas dying off or receptor sites clogged up by fat and cholesterol. In some cases, diabetes is also caused by allergic reaction of cells in the immune system.

Chaste tree berry is a species of Vitex agnus-castus, genus Vitex, belonging to the family Lamiaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, used in herbal medicine for thousands of year as anaphrodisiac herb and considered as Queen herb in treating menstrual problems and discomforts.

According to the study, diabetes rats induced by streptozotocin treated with extract of chaste tree berry displayed a significant effect in increased volume density of pancreatic islet as well as percentage of β-cells and size of islet.

Dr. Oche O, the lead researcher said, "plant extracts, (exhibited) regeneration of β-cells along with β-cells repairs, in compared to non-treated diabetic control which showed complete degeneration of the islet cells".

Furthermore, the study also found that the levels of total bilirubin, direct bilirubin and unconjugated bilirubin which are associated to diabetes were significantly lower in treated group in comparison to control.

More important, in D-galactose induces pancreatic disorder along in aging mouse model, treatment of Vitex agnus-castus (VAC) demonstrated potential pancreatic protective and hypoglycemic effects through improved the size of pancreatic islets decreased in aged and D-galactose groups.

In a total of 72 adult female Naval Medical Research Institute (NMRI) mice (weighing 30-35 g) divided into 6 groups of control, VAC hydroalcoholic extract, D-galactose, D-galactose + VAC hydroalcoholic extract, aged, aged + VAC hydroalcoholic extract through subcutaneous injection of D-galactose for 45 days and, VAC hydroalcoholic extract gavaged twice a day in the last 7 days. 24 h after the last drug and extract administrations, group treated with Chaste tree berry extract or combinations of the extract showed a increased insulin and decreased serum glucose and in D-galactose level compared to other treatment groups.

The study also found, "Despite the size of pancreatic islets decreased in aged and D-galactose groups, ........... VAC hydroalcoholic extract has hypoglycemic and pancreatic protective effects in natural aged and aging model mice".

In fact,  there is also a report indicated that oral administration of once daily to diabetic rats for the period of 30 days of iridoid glucoside isolated from chaste tree berry may be as effective as glibenclamide, a known hypoglycemic drug, at concentration of 50 mg/kg b.w.
Promissingly, iridoid glucoside reversed hyperglycemia-induced biochemical changes to near normal levels.

Collectively, Chaste tree berry may be used as functional food for treatment of Type I and Type II diabetes through the hypoglycemic and pancreatic protective effects.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton, Master of Nutrients
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published on line, including world wide health, ezine articles, article base, healthblogs, selfgrowth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bio science, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Pancreatic islet regeneration and some liver biochemical parameters of leaf extracts of Vitex doniana in normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic albino rats by Oche O1, Sani I1, Chilaka NG1, Samuel NU1, Samuel A1.(PubMed)
(2) Pancreatic protective and hypoglycemic effects of Vitex agnus-castus L. fruit hydroalcoholic extract in D-galactose-induced aging mouse model by Ahangarpour A1, Oroojan AA2, Khorsandi L3, Najimi SA4.(PubMed)
(3) Antihyperglycemic effect of iridoid glucoside, isolated from the leaves of Vitex negundo in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats with special reference to glycoprotein components by Sundaram R1, Naresh R, Shanthi P, Sachdanandam P.(PubMed)