Antidiabetic Activities of Abutilon indicum (L.) Sweet Are Mediated by Enhancement of Adipocyte Differentiation and Activation of the GLUT1 Promoter

Abstract

Abutilon indicum (L.) Sweet is an Asian phytomedicine traditionally used to treat several disorders, including diabetes mellitus. However, molecular mechanisms supporting the antidiabetic effect of A. indicum L. remain unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether extract of A. indicum L. improves insulin sensitivity. First, we observed the antidiabetic activity of aqueous extract of the entire plant (leaves, twigs and roots) of A. indicum L. on postprandial plasma glucose in diabetic rats. The subsequent experiments revealed that butanol fractions of the extract bind to PPARγ and activate 3T3-L1 differentiation. To measure glucose uptake enhanced by insulin-like activity, we used rat diaphragm incubated with various concentrations of the crude extract and found that the extract enhances glucose consumption in the incubated solution. Our data also indicate that the crude extract and the fractions (water and butanol) did not affect the activity of kinases involved in Akt and GSK-3β pathways; however, the reporter assay showed that the crude extract could activate glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) promoter activity. These results suggest that the extract from A. indicum L. may be beneficial for reducing insulin resistance through its potency in regulating adipocyte differentiation through PPARγ agonist activity, and increasing glucose utilization via GLUT1.

In vitro Anti‐diabetic Activity and Chemical Characterization of an Apolar Fraction of Morus alba Leaf Water Extract

“…To speed up the screening of novel anti‐diabetic candidate materials from natural products, we established an in vitro model by comparing the 24 h glucose consumption from the culture medium of 3 T3‐L1 adipocytes. Similar in vitro models using the measurement of glucose consumption in the culture medium have been applied to screen the anti‐diabetic effect of reagents in several reports (Zou and Shen, ; Van De Venter et al ., ; Wang and Yao, ; Krisanapun et al ., ). Using this method DE was found to significantly increase the glucose consumption of adipocytes in both models, as shown in Fig.…”

Phytochemistry and pharmacological activities of genus Abutilon: a review (1972-2015)

“…The extract was administrated orally at doses of 250 and 500mg/kg for 14 days. The extract significantly lowered (P<0.05) 2 hrs postprandial plasma glucose [63]. The chloroform fraction of the ethanolic extract of A. indicum plant at dose of 50 mg/kg was evaluated for its anti-diabtic effects in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.…”

Anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic and antidiabetic activities of Abutilon hirtum (Lam.) Sweet

“…Furthermore, the significant of the total ethanolic extract and aqueous fraction may be attributed to their high content of flavonoids and flavonoidal glycosides, in addition to sterols which were reported to have analgesic activity [27]. The total ethanolic extract and different fractions exhibited a potent anti-diabetic effect and the crude polysaccharides was found to have the highest antidiabetic activity from the first hour till the third hour followed by a sever hypoglycemia after 4 h. This hypoglycemic effect may be attributed to a decrease in blood glucose level or inhibition of glucose absorption [29], an increase in the insulin secretion level, reduced insulin metabolism, through remediating destruction of pancreatic islets and damage of pancreatic βcells [30,31].…”