Herbal Artichoke, the Anti Diabetes Functional Herbal Remedy in Vivo

By Kyle J. Norton


Diabetes is a medical condition caused by not enough insulin entering the bloodstream as a result of the loss of beta cells in the pancreas or insulin receptor sites clogged by plaques that are responsible for the production of insulin.

The insulin receptor sites processed a function that binds the insulin and passes the message into the cell, leading to the transformation of glucose from the blood to energy.

The hallmark of diabetes is insulin resistance. The condition has been found to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease even without the presence of diabetes.

The exact causes of insulin resistance are unknown. However, some researchers suggested that genetic preposition and lifestyle are major risk factors that cause the onset of the syndrome.

According to the statistics, in the US, between 60 to 70 million individuals are affected by insulin resistance. More than 40% of individuals older than 50 years may be at risk of insulin resistance.

Some researchers suggested that the widespread insulin resistance in the US may be a result of the promotion of the Western diet over the past few decades.

Dr. Merat S, in the examination of the Western-type diets in the risk of insulin resistance, said, "the Western diets commonly used in LDLR-/- mice may not only induce atherosclerosis, but also IR, potentially complicating the interpretation of results".

Artichoke is a perennial thistle of Cynara cardunculus species of the Cynara genus, belonging to the family Carduoideae native to Southern Europe around the Mediterranean.

The herbal plant has been used in traditional medicine for as liver protective and detoxified agent, and to treat digestive disorders, abdominal pain gas and bloating, etc.

Researcher on the finding a natural therapeutics for the treatment of diabetes investigated the artichoke leaves extract on metabolic disorders and oxidative stress in alloxan-diabetic rats.

The study included 40 male Wistar rats induced diabetes with a single dose intraperitoneal injection (i.p.) of alloxan (150 mg/kg body weight (b.w.)) randomly assigned to orally and daily administrated of ethanol extract from C. scolymus at two doses (200-400 mg/kg, b.w) or (12 mg/kg, b.w).

According to the tested assays, the ethanol extract from leaves of C. scolymus showed the highest antioxidant activity and endowed the powerful inhibition in vitro of α-amylase activity with IC50=72,22 ug/uL.

In vivo, the ethanol extract from the leaves of C. scolymus (200-400 mg/kg) decreased significantly the levels of α-amylase enzymes involved in the digestion of carbohydrates in the serum of diabetic rats.

Furthermore, the administration of ethanol extract improved the anti-oxidative activity demonstrated by the increase of CAT, SOD and GSH activities in liver, kidney, and pancreas of diabetic rats.

Compared to diabetic rats, the ethanol extract from leaves of C. scolymus also decreased blood glucose rate, plasma total cholesterol (T-Ch) and triglyceride (TG) and low-density lipoproteins (LDL-C) after 28 days of treatment.

Researchers after taking into account other factors said, "These observed strongly suggest that ethanol extract from the leaves of C. scolymus has anti-hyperglycemic properties, at least partly mediated by antioxidant and hypolipidemic effects".

In order to reveal additional information about artichoke antidiabetic property, researchers in the joint study lead by the Hallym University examined the Jerusalem artichoke inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase and fasting serum glucose levels.

In a non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus animal model (C57BIKsJ db/db) selected for the study, water extract of PJA fermented by L. plantarum, and two strains of Bacillus subtilis injection showed the highest α-glucosidase inhibitory activity in vitro, compared to original Jerusalem artichoke (PJA).

PJA fermentation group significantly lower blood glucose concentration than the control.

At the end 7 weeks, PJA fermentation group also induced higher levels of serum insulin and HDL cholesterol levels and lower the concentrations of triglycerides, non-esterified fatty acids, and total cholesterol.

Additionally, the intestinal α-glucosidase activity was partially inhibited.y the PJA fermentation injection.

Taken altogether, artichoke may be considered a functional remedy for the prevention and treatment of diabetes with no side effects, pending to the validation of larger sample size and multicenter human study.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, 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 Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

References
(1) Protective effects of Cynara scolymus leaves extract on metabolic disorders and oxidative stress in alloxan-diabetic rats by Ben Salem M1, Ben Abdallah Kolsi R2, Dhouibi R1, Ksouda K1, Charfi S3, Yaich M4, Hammami S1, Sahnoun Z1, Zeghal KM1, Jamoussi K4, Affes H. (PubMed)
(2) Fermentation of purple Jerusalem artichoke extract to improve the α-glucosidase inhibitory effect in vitro and ameliorate blood glucose in db/db mice by Wang Z1, Hwang SH1, Lee SY2, Lim SS. (PubMed)