Formononetin Treatment in Type 2 Diabetic Rats Reduces Insulin Resistance and Hyperglycemia

Abstract

Type 2 diabetic mellitus is a multifactorial metabolic disorder affecting huge population around the world. This indicates that there is an urgent unmet need of cost effective, new treatment strategies for type 2 diabetes mellitus with no or less side effects. Phenolic compounds including isoflavones are known for their beneficial effect in metabolic disorders. The present work was intended to find out efficacy of formononetin, an isoflavone treatment in experimental model of type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes mellitus was induced by feeding high fat diet for 2 weeks prior to streptozotocin administration in Sprague Dawley rats. Diabetic animals were treated with formononetin for 28 days at three dose level, i.e., 10, 20, and 40 mg/kg body weight orally. The effect of formononetin treatment on various parameters such as plasma glucose, glucose tolerance, insulin, HOMA-IR, lipid profile, hepatic glycogen content, glycohaemoglobin and SIRT1 expression in pancreatic tissue was measured. Histopathological changes in pancreatic tissue were also studied. Results of the study demonstrate that formononetin treatment reduces blood glucose level significantly (p < 0.001) at all the three dose level. It also improved glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity and lipid profile along with reduction in glycohaemoglobin content in blood. Formononetin treatment also improved hepatic glycogen level profoundly in diabetic rats. Determination of SIRT1 expression in pancreatic tissue by immunohistochemical analysis showed that formononetin treatment increases the expression of SIRT1 in pancreatic tissue. Histopathological study showed that treatment with formononetin protects pancreatic beta cells from necro-degeneration and atrophic effect. It can be concluded that formononetin treatment reduces insulin resistance and attenuate hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes which may be due to increasing expression of SIRT1 in pancreatic tissues.

Trifolium pratense (Red Clover) Improve SIRT1 Expression and Glycogen Content in High Fat Diet‐Streptozotocin Induced Type 2 Diabetes in Rats

“…Type 2 diabetes was induced in Sprague Dawley rats as per Oza et al . The diabetic animals were divided into five groups.…”

“…Oral Glucose Tolerance Test ( OGTT ). Oral glucose tolerance test was performed at the end of the study as per Oza et al …”

“…Pancreatic tissue was collected at the end of the study and processed as per Oza et al . The prepared slides were examined to detect histopathological changes under light microscope using Hematoxylin & Eosin (H&E) stain (Motic, Canada).…”

“…Immunohistochemical staining of pancreatic tissue was performed to estimate SIRT1 expression as per method described by Oza et al . Optical density was calculated as measure of SIRT1 expression in pancreatic tissue by ImageJ software.…”

“…Flowering tops of plant are used as a dietary supplements because of presence of isoflavones . These isoflavones have been reported for their antidiabetic activity . They regulate the expression of various proteins associated with pathogenesis of diabetes such as PI3 K, MAP kinase, PPAR, NF‐k β , visfatin and SIRT1 …”