title: An extract of Artemisia dracunculus L. stimulates insulin secretion from β cells, activates AMPK and suppresses inflammation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Artemisia dracunculus L. (Russian tarragon) is a perennial herb belonging to the family Compositae and has a history of medicinal use in humans, particularly for treatment of diabetes.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  In this study a defined plant extract from A. dracunculus L. (termed PMI-5011) is used to improve beta(β) cells function and maintain β cell number in pancreatic islets as an alternative drug approach for successful treatment of diabetes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mouse and human pancreatic beta cells were treated with defined plant extract of A. dracunculus L. (PMI-5011) to understand the mechanism(s) that influence beta cell function and β cell number.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that the PMI-5011 enhances insulin release from primary β cells, isolated mouse and human islets and it maintains β cell number. Insulin released by PMI-5011 is associated with the activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), and protein kinase B (PKB). Furthermore, PMI-5011 suppresses LPS/INFγ-induced inflammation and inflammatory mediator(s) in macrophages. PMI-5011 inhibited Nitric oxide (NO) production and expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) at the protein level and also attenuated pro-inflammatory cytokine (IL-6) production in macrophages.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PMI-5011 has potential therapeutic value for diabetes treatment via increasing insulin release from β cells and decreases capacity of macrophages to combat inflammation.
authors.affiliation: William Hansel Cancer Prevention Laboratory, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University System, Baton Rouge, LA, USA. Electronic address: sita.aggarwal@pbrc.edu.
authors.forename: Sita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aggarwal
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
authors.forename: Giri
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shailendra
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology and Pathology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8521, USA.
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Ribnicky
authors.affiliation: Cell Biology and Bio-imaging, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University System, Baton Rouge, LA 70808, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Burk
authors.affiliation: William Hansel Cancer Prevention Laboratory, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University System, Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
authors.forename: Namrata
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Karki
authors.affiliation: William Hansel Cancer Prevention Laboratory, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University System, Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Qingxia Wang
mesh_terms: D055372:AMP-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D018836:Inflammation Mediators / Q000378:metabolism; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism*; D000078790:Insulin Secretion; D050417:Insulin-Secreting Cells / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000378:metabolism; D008264:Macrophages / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D018836:Inflammation Mediators; D007328:Insulin; C541449:PMI-5011; D010936:Plant Extracts; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D055372:AMP-Activated Protein Kinases
keywords: Botanical(s); Diabetes; Inflammation; Insulin secretion; Islets; Pancreatic beta (β) cells