Phytochemical Betanin Isolated From Beetroot, the Potential Anti-Hyperglycemia Remedy

By Kyle J. Norton

Hyperglycemia is a condition characterized by abnormally high levels of blood glucose.

In patients with diabetes, hyperglycemia is a condition of poor control of blood glucose caused by a number of reasons, including unhealthy diet,  not using enough insulin and medication.

Hyperglycemia is also a hallmark of people with type 1 and 2 diabetes and prediabetes.

In some cases, the condition also occurs in patients who have not injected insulin properly and taken certain medication such as steroids.

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) or hyperglycemic hyperosmolar nonketotic syndrome occurred mostly in patients with type 1 diabetes is suddenly and severely elevated glucose levels that require medical emergency

Regardless of the causes, long-term hyperglycemia in diabetics has been found to induce serious diabetics complications, such as cardiovascular disease, neuropathy, and nephropathy, particularly in eye and foot damage that lead amputation and blindness, respectively.

Believe it or not, hyperglycemia can also happen to people without diabetes caused by the intake of certain medication such as androgen blockers, cardiovascular drugs, especially statins and medical condition including stress, illness or infection.

Most common symptoms of hyperglycemia include increased thirst and frequent urination.

Other patients may also experience symptoms of blurred vision, hunger and headaches due to elevated levels of glucose in the blood.

If you have experienced some of the aforementioned symptoms, you may have hyperglycemia, please check with your doctor to rule out the possibility.

Some researchers suggested by maintaining a healthy lifestyle with moderate exercise and followed by diabetic management, most cases of hyperglycemia in patients with diabetes and prediabetes are preventable.

Dr. Fritha Morrison, the lead scientist said, "Comparing patients with face-to-face counseling rates of once or more per month versus less than once per 6 months, median time to A1C <7.0% was 3.5 versus 22.7 months, time to blood pressure <130/85 mmHg was 3.7 weeks versus 5.6 months, and time to LDL cholesterol <100 mg/dL was 3.5 versus 24.7 months, respectively (P < 0.0001 for all)".

And, "Lifestyle counseling in the primary care setting is strongly associated with the faster achievement of A1C, blood pressure, and LDL cholesterol control. These results confirm that the findings of controlled clinical trials are applicable to the routine care setting and provide evidence to support current treatment guidelines".

Betanin is phytochemicals in the class of red and yellow indole-derived pigments of Betacyanins, belonging to the group of Betalains, found abundantly in beets, chard, etc.

On finding a natural compound to reduce risk diabetics complications, researchers examined betanin antihyperglycemic activity.

Selected rats in the study were induced diabetes by a single intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of streptozotocin (45 mg/kg b.w.) dissolved in 0.1 M citrate buffer (pH 4.5) 15 min after the i.p. administration of nicotinamide (110 mg/kg b.w.).

Before injection of betanin, diabetic rats revealed significant (p < 0.05) increase in the levels of glucose, and parameters associated with hyperglycemia (HbA1C, hexose, hexosamine, sialic acid and fucose) in the plasma accompanied by the decrease in the levels of plasma insulin, hemoglobin (Hb) and sialic acid associated with liver and kidney damage.

Injection of co-supplementation of betanin and glibenclamide to diabetic rats for the period of 30 days restored all levels of plasma and tissues glycoprotein components.

In other words, betanin combined with glibenclamide protected the tested animal against the onset of hyperglycemia and the risk of diabetic complications.

In order to reveal more information about betanin antihyperglycemic activity, researchers determined whether betanin (a natural pigment) is protective against hyperglycemia in streptozotocin (STZ) - nicotinamide (NA) induced diabetic rats.

Experient rats induced diabetes mellitus by injected with STZ (40mg/kgb.w.) 15 mins after the administration of NA (110mg/kgb.w.) by intraperitoneal (i.p.) 30days and after 72h, the diabetic rats were treated with betanin orally at a doses of 10, 20 and 40mg/kg b.w., respectively in a dose-dependent manner and glibenclamide (600μg/kgb.w.). 

 Among the three doses, 20mg/kgb.w. of betanin showed a similar protective effect against the rise of plasma glucose by increasing the enzyme involved in keeping the glucose concentration low and promoting continuous transport of glucose into the cell through the plasma membrane transporters and decreasing the enzyme involved in gluconeogenesis. 

In other words, betanin exerted significantly antihyperglycemic effect by restoring the levels of carbohydrate metabolic key enzymes to near normal in diabetic rat.

Interestingly, according to the immunohistochemical assay, betanin treated diabetic rats showed increased insulin immunoreactive β-cells in the pancreas.

Taken altogether, betanin may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of hyperglycemia, pending to the confirmation of larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of betanin in the form of supplement should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

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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.

Sources
(1) Betanin exhibits significant potential as an antihyperglycemic and attenuating the glycoprotein components in streptozotocin-nicotinamide-induced experimental rats by Indumathi D1, Sujithra K1, Srinivasan S1,2, Vinothkumar V. (PubMed)
(2) Ameliorating effect of betanin, a natural chromoalkaloid by modulating hepatic carbohydrate metabolic enzyme activities and glycogen content in streptozotocin - nicotinamide induced experimental rats by bDhananjayan I1, Kathiroli S1, Subramani S2, Veerasamy V. (PubMed)
(3) Lifestyle Counseling in Routine Care and Long-Term Glucose, Blood Pressure, and Cholesterol Control in Patients With Diabetes by Fritha Morrison, MPH,1 Maria Shubina, SCD,1 and Alexander Turchin, MD, MS. (PMC)