Chan C M, Chan Y W, Lau C H, Lau T W, Lau K M, Lam F C, Che C T, Leung P C, Fung K P, Lau C B S, Ho Y Y
Department of Biochemistry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong, China.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2007 Jan 3;109(1):10-20. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2006.06.003. Epub 2006 Jun 27.
Complications of diabetes impose major public health burdens worldwide. The positive effect of a Radix Astragali-based herbal preparation on healing diabetic foot ulcers in patients has been reported. Formula 1 is also referred as the 'Herbal drink to strengthen muscle and control swelling'. This formula contains six Chinese medical herbs, including Radix Astragali, Radix Rehmanniae, Rhizoma Smilacis Chinensis, Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae, Radix Polygoni Multiflori Preparata, and Radix Stephania Tetrandrae. Three of these herbs (Radix Astragali, Radix Rehmanniae, Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae) are commonly used in different anti-diabetic formulae of Chinese medicine. The objective of the current study is to use an interdisciplinary approach to test the hypothesis that Formula 1 and its components influence tissue and systemic glucose homeostasis. In vitro and in vivo models have been established including: (1) glucose absorption into intestinal brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV); (2) gluconeogenesis by H4IIE hepatoma cells; (3) glucose uptake by 3T3-L1 adipocytes and Hs68 skin fibroblasts; (4) normalization of glycaemic control in a diabetic rat model. The results of in vitro studies indicated that all herbal extracts can modify cellular glucose homeostasis. Since Formula 1 and Rhizoma Smilacis Chinensis extracts demonstrated potent effects on modifying glucose homeostasis in multiple tissues in vitro, they were further studied for their anti-diabetic activities in vivo using a streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rat model. The results showed that Formula 1 and Rhizoma Smilacis Chinensis extracts did not significantly improve oral glucose tolerance or basal glycaemia in diabetic rats. In conclusion, the anti-diabetic foot ulcer Formula 1 contains ingredients active in modifying tissue glucose homeostasis in vitro but these biological activities could not be associated with improved glycaemic control of diabetes in vivo.
糖尿病并发症在全球范围内给公共卫生带来了重大负担。据报道，一种以黄芪为基础的草药制剂对患者糖尿病足溃疡的愈合具有积极作用。方剂1也被称为“强肌消肿茶饮”。该方剂包含六种中药材，即黄芪、生地黄、菝葜、白术、制何首乌和防己。其中三种草药（黄芪、生地黄、白术）常用于不同的中医抗糖尿病方剂中。本研究的目的是采用跨学科方法来验证方剂1及其成分影响组织和全身葡萄糖稳态的假设。已建立了体外和体内模型，包括：（1）葡萄糖吸收进入肠刷状缘膜囊泡（BBMV）；（2）H4IIE肝癌细胞的糖异生；（3）3T3-L1脂肪细胞和Hs68皮肤成纤维细胞对葡萄糖的摄取；（4）糖尿病大鼠模型中血糖控制的正常化。体外研究结果表明，所有草药提取物均可改变细胞葡萄糖稳态。由于方剂1和菝葜提取物在体外对多种组织的葡萄糖稳态调节具有显著作用，因此使用链脲佐菌素（STZ）诱导的糖尿病大鼠模型对它们的体内抗糖尿病活性进行了进一步研究。结果表明，方剂1和菝葜提取物并未显著改善糖尿病大鼠的口服葡萄糖耐量或基础血糖水平。总之，抗糖尿病足溃疡方剂1含有在体外能改变组织葡萄糖稳态的活性成分，但这些生物学活性与体内糖尿病患者血糖控制的改善并无关联。
