Dose Dependent Effect of Glycyrrhizin on Glycaemic Control of Type 2 Diabetic Rats

Abstract

To assess the effect of low and high dose of glycyrrhizin on body weight, fasting blood sugar level (FBSL), serum insulin and glycemic indices in high fat diet induced type 2 diabetic rats. METHODS:In this experimental study with intervention period of 34 weeks, rats were grouped into four experimental groups; Group-A: normal control; Group-B: diabetic control; Group-C: glycyrrhizin-150 and Group-D: glycyrrhizin-300. Diabetes mellitus was induced in rats by giving high fat diet with injection dexamethasone. At 32 weeks, body weight, FBSL, serum insulin, Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR), Homeostatic Model Assessment of beta cells (HOMA-β) and Quantitative Insulin Sensitivity Check Index (QUICKI) were estimated. Two experimental groups received glycyrrhizin 150 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg per oral per day till completion of 34 weeks in addition to the high fat diet. At 34 weeks all the parameters were re-estimated. RESULTS: It was observed that both doses of glycyrrhizin significantly reduced FBSL and insulin levels in group-C (95.00±8.23 mg/dl, 671.60±55.51 µIU/ml) and group-D (94.00±6.27 mg/dl, 675.00±44.96 µIU/ml) as compared to group-B (236.10±13.26 mg/dl, 1052.80±37.82 µIU/ml) [p-value<0.001] at 34 weeks. HOMA-IR decreased [group-C (157.62±19.39) and group-D (157.03±18.21) vs group-B (613.79±49.91)] whereas HOMA-β [group-C (2498.23±299.58) and group-D (2526.24±150.65) vs group-B (1546.87±106.81)] and QUICKI increased [group-C (0.208±0.00) and group-D (0.208±0.002) vs group-B (0.185±0.001)] (P-value<0.001). Body weight decreased insignificantly in group-C (344.00±30.21mg) (P-value>0.05) but significantly in group-D (293.20±42.54) as compared to group-B (372.00±24.03) [P-value<0.001]. CONCLUSION: Glycyrrhizin effectively improves glycaemic control in rat model of type 2 diabetes mellitus.