• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.433-443
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• 2006

The effects of Allium vegetables on blood glucose levels and lipid metabolism in streptozotocin (S12) induced diabetic rats were investigated. Diabetes mellitus was induced by S1'2 injection (45 mg/kg 5.w.) into the tail vein. Sprague-Dawley rats weighing $220\;{\pm}\;10\;g$ were randomly assigned to 7 groups: normal, S1'2-control and five Allium groups (Allium cepa, Allium fistulosum, Allium sativum, Allium tuberosum and Allium victorialisL Normal and S12control groups were fed an AIN-93 diet and five Allium groups were fed a modified diet containing. 10% Allium powder each for 4 weeks. Body weight, diet intake, food efficiency ratio (FER) and organ weights- were monitored. Activities of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) & alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were observed: Plasma lev~ls of glucose, free fatty acid, triglyceride and HDL-cholesterol were analyzed. Levels of glycogen, cholesterol and triglyceride in liver were determined. Levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) in liver, lung, kidney, and pancreas were assayed. The hepatic contents of chromium (Cr) , iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and manganese (Mu) were measured. The Allium sativum group had weight gain and suppressed a hypertrophy of the kidney significantly. The activity of ALT was significantly lowered in the diabetic groups except Allium sativum group compared to STZ-control group. The Allium sativum and Allium tuberosum groups showed the hypoglycemic effects at 4 weeks. There were no significant differences between the control and all the other diabetic groups in the plasma levels of cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides and free fatty acids. Most of the Allium groups except Allium fistulosum were observed significantly lowered level of MDA in the lung compared to STZ-control group. The diabetic rats fed the Allium cepa and Allium sativum have shown significantly lowered hepatic Zn contents. The results suggested that the intake of the Allium vegetables may be effective in the antihyperglycemia by lowering blood glucose levels.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.289-294
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• 2017

Diabetes mellitus is associated with insulin resistance, which leads to down-regulation of insulin signaling and the decreased glucose uptake. Adipocytes are sensitive to insulin, and closely implicated in insulin resistance and diabetes. Insulin stimulates differentiation of preadipocytes to adipocytes, and increases glucose transport. Allium species have been used as traditional medicine and health-promoting foods. Allium hookeri (A. hookeri) is reported to improve the pancreatic ${\beta}-cell$ damage and exhibit pancreatic anti-inflammatory activity in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. We investigated whether A. hookeri extract (AHE) may stimulate glucose uptake in adipocytes through increasing insulin sensitivity. AHE enhanced fat accumulation, a differentiation biomarker, under the partial induction of differentiation by insulin. $PPAR{\gamma}$, a transcription factor highly expressed in adipocytes, promotes adipocyte differentiation and insulin sensitivity. AHE increased the differentiation of preadipocytes through up-regulation of $PPAR{\gamma}$. The activation of $PPAR{\gamma}$ increases the GLUT4 expression during adipocyte differentiation. GLUT4 is responsible for glucose uptake into the adipocytes. AHE increased the expression of GLUT4 in adipocytes, and subsequently enhanced the insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. These results suggest that AHE promotes adipocyte differentiation through activation of $PPAR{\gamma}$, and leads to enhance glucose uptake in adipocytes along with GLUT4 up-regulation. Thus, AHE may be effective for the insulin-sensitizing and anti-diabetic activities.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.759-767
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• 2014

This study examined the effect of Momordica charantia L. (bitter melon: BM) on lipid and hepatic antioxidative enzyme levels in diabetic rats. Diabetes mellitus was induced in male Sprague-Dawley rats by injection of streptozotocin (STZ), and rats were fed for 4 weeks with experimental groups divided into four groups: a normal control group, STZ-control and STZ-BM 5% & STZ-BM 10% treated groups. Levels of free fatty acids (FFA), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-chol), triglycerides (TG) in plasma and malondialdehyde (MDA) & protein in liver, catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), and xanthine oxidase (XOD) were measured in liver cytosol. Level of HDL-chol significantly increased in the STZ-BM 5% diabetic group. TG & FFA levels were significantly higher in all diabetic groups compared to the control group. MDA and protein levels were significantly higher in the STZ-BM 5% group compared to all other experimental group. CAT level was higher in the supplementary group with BM compared to the STZ-control group, although the difference was not significantly different. SOD level was not significant in any experimental groups. GST level was significantly higher in the BM-treated groups compared to the STZ-control group. XOD level was significantly lower in the BM 5% group and significantly decreased in all experimental groups. These results show that supplementation of BM fruit powder may have beneficial effects on diabetic complications and damage caused by oxidative stress.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.682-688
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to measure the blood glucose level and glycemic index (GI) in response to persimmon (Diospyros kaki Thunb) syrup extracted from persimmon and extract of persimmon by-products. Major component analyses of persimmon syrup I (PSI, 95:5 mixture of purified persimmon syrup and non-purified persimmon syrup) and persimmon syrup II (PSII, 50:50 mixture ratio of purified persimmon syrup and non-purified persimmon syrup) were $0.3{\pm}0.1$ and $0.6{\pm}0.2$ mg/g for total polyphenolic compounds and $70.6{\pm}0.6$ and $66.6{\pm}1.6%$ for total carbohydrates, respectively. Blood glucose responses of PSI and PSII were determined using both normal ICR mice and streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Further, oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed on diabetic rats to assess the effects of the experimental diets. Blood glucose response and OGTT showed that blood glucose levels were significantly lower in mice and diabetic rats fed PSI and PSII compared to those fed diets of sugar, maple syrup, or honey. The GIs of healthy volunteers in response to PSI and PSII were calculated to be 51.9 and 35.7, respectively. On the contrary, the GIs of healthy volunteers fed diets including sugar, maple syrup, or honey were 52.6, 20.0, and 93.0, respectively. These results suggest that persimmon syrup can be used for both the treatment of diabetics and healthy people due to its beneficial effects on blood glucose level.