Insulin sensitizing activity of ethyl acetate fraction of Acorus calamus L. in vitro and in vivo.

Acorus calamus L. (AC), family Araceae, have been used in the Indian and Chinese systems of medicine for hundreds of years. The radix of AC is widely used in the therapy of diabetes in traditional folk medicine of America and Indonesia.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the insulin sensitizing activity and antidiabetic effects of the ethyl acetate fraction of AC (ACE).

METHODS

Glucose consumption mediated by insulin was detected in L6 rat skeletal muscle cells. Diabetes and its complications related indexes were monitored after orally administrating to genetically obese diabetic C57BL/Ks db/db mice daily for 3 weeks.

RESULTS

ACE (12.5 and 25 microg/ml) increased glucose consumption mediated by insulin in L6 cells (p<0.05 and p<0.01). In db/db mice, ACE (100 mg/kg) significantly reduced serum glucose, triglyceride, reinforce the decrease of total cholesterol caused by rosiglitazone (at least p<0.05), and markedly reduced free fatty acid (FFA) levels and increased adiponectin levels (p<0.01 and p<0.05) as rosiglitazone did (p<0.05 and p<0.001). Serum insulin was decreased but not significantly. In addition, ACE decreased the intake of food and water, and did not increase body weight gain whereas rosiglitazone did.

CONCLUSIONS

Owing to the ability of insulin sensitizing, ACE has the potential to be useful for the treatment of diabetes and cardiovascular complications without body weight gain.