Gymnemic acid, a potent antidiabetic agent protects skeletal muscle from hyperglycemia mediated oxidative stress and apoptotic events in High fat and High fructose diet fed adult rats

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes is delineated by impaired metabolic lexibility, and intramyocellular lipid accumulation, causing insulin resistance, particularly in skeletal muscle by reducing insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. High-fat diet and high fructose (HFD and HF) administration in rodents bestows a model for hyperlipidemia, insulin resistance, and Type 2 diabetes. The current study is focused on elucidating the role of Gymnemic acid in combating hyperglycemia mediated oxidative stress and apoptotic events in the skeletal muscle of HFD and HF induced Type 2 diabetes in Wistar albino rats by boosting antioxidant defense system. Gymnemic acid, a saponin of triterpene glycoside contained in leaves of Gymnema Sylvestre, has potent anti-diabetic properties. Treatment with Gymnemic acid restored the antioxidant status (Gpx, SOD, CAT, GR, Vit C & Vit E) with signi icant (p<0.05) decrease in free radical levels and reinvigorated the expression of apoptotic and antiapoptotic proteins in Type 2 diabetic rats. Histopathological data demonstrate that oral administration of Gymnemic acid protects skeletal muscle ibers from an oxidative niche in HFD and HF in Type 2 diabetic rats. In accordance with this, Gymnemic acid might be regarded as a promising therapeutic agent against Type 2 diabetes, thereby restoring skeletal muscle integrity and function.

Sodium nitroprusside enhances biomass and gymnemic acids production in cell suspension of Gymnema sylvestre (Retz.) R.Br. ex. Sm.

“…Published reports indicated that oral administration of GA-IV to 13.4 mg/kg body weight decreased blood sugar by 60.0% (Sugihara et al, 2000). GA-IV (150 mg/kg) was administered to high fat and fructose diabetic rats to restore antioxidant levels in the liver and kidneys (Karthikeyan et al, 2020). Recently, oral administration of GAs to diabetic rats at 5 mg/kg body weight has shown a signi cant decrease in blood sugar and increased levels of insulin in plasma and haemoglobin (Mahadeva Rao et al, 2020).…”