title: Hypoglycemic and pancreatic protective effects of Portulaca oleracea extract in alloxan induced diabetic rats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Diabetes is a major public health concern. In spite of continuous new drug development to treat diabetes, herbal remedies remain a potential adjunct therapy to maintain better glycemic control while also imparting few side-effects. Portulaca oleracea has been traditionally used to manage several diseases due to the anti-oxidant and anti-atherogenic effects it imparts. To better understand the mechanisms associated with potential protective effect of P. oleracea extract against diabetes, alloxan-induced diabetic rats were used in this study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty Wistar rats (male, 7-8-wk-old, 140-160 g) were divided into four groups (n = 10/group): Group I (control), Group II (P. oleracea-treated; gavaged with P. oleracea extract daily [at 250 mg/kg] for 4 weeks), Group III (diabetic control; daily IP injection of alloxan [at 75 mg/kg] for 5 days) and Group IV (P. oleracea-pre-treated diabetic; gavaged with P. oleracea extract daily [at 250 mg/kg] for 4 weeks and then daily IP injection of alloxan [at 75 mg/kg] for 5 days). Body weight, food consumption, blood (serum) levels of glucose, C peptide, Hb A1C, insulin, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-6 were determined for all groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results indicated that while Hb A1C, serum levels of glucose, TNF-α and IL-6 were all significantly decreased in the P. oleracea-pre-treated diabetic rats, these hosts also had significant increases in C peptide and insulin compared to levels in the counterpart diabetic rats. These results were confirmed by the histopathological assessments which showed marked improvement of the destructive effect on pancreatic islet cells induced by alloxan.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  P. oleracea extract is a general tissue protective and regeneartive agent, as evidenced by increasing β-cell mass and therefore improved the glucose metabolism. Thus, stimulation of Portulaca oleracea signaling in β- cells may be a novel therapeutic strategy for diabetes prevention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine for Girls (Cairo), Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Basma K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Ramadan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry Faculty of Pharmacy, Misr International University, Km 28, Cairo-Ismailia road, Cairo PO Box 1, Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt. Mona.Schaalan@miuegypt.edu.eg.
authors.forename: Mona F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Schaalan
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine for Girls (Cairo), Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Amina M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Tolba
mesh_terms: D000496:Alloxan; D000818:Animals; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D010179:Pancreas / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D031822:Portulaca / Q000737:chemistry*; D020011:Protective Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D000496:Alloxan; D001786:Blood Glucose; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D007328:Insulin; D015850:Interleukin-6; D010936:Plant Extracts; D020011:Protective Agents; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
keywords: B-cell mass; Diabetes; IL-6; Portulaca oleracea; TNF-α