Red Liriope platyphylla stimulated the insulin secretion through the regulation of calcium concentration in rat insulinoma cells and animal models.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Red L. platyphylla (RLP) on calcium and glucose levels during insulin secretion. To achieve this, alteration of insulin and calcium concentrations was measured in rat insulinoma-1 (INS-1) cells and animal models in response to RLP treatment. In INS-1 cells, maximum secretion of insulin was detected upon treatment with 200 µg/mL of RLP for 20 min. Nifedipine, an L-type calcium channel blocker, effectively inhibited insulin secretion from INS-1 cells. Regarding calcium levels, the maximum concentration of intracellular calcium in INS-1 cells was obtained by treatment with 100 µg/mL of RLP, whereas this level was reduced under conditions of 200 µg/mL of RLP. Further, RLP-treated INS-1 cells showed a higher level of intracellular calcium than that of L. platyphylla (LP), Korea White Ginseng (KWG), or Korea Red Ginseng (KRG)-treated cells. This RLP-induced increase in intracellular calcium was abrogated but not completely abolished upon treatment with 40 µM nifedipine in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, the insulin level was dramatically elevated upon co-treatment with high concentrations of glucose and RLP, whereas it was maintained at a low level in response to glucose and RLP co-treatment at low concentrations. In an animal experiment, the serum concentration of calcium increased or decreased upon RLP treatment according to glucose level compared to vehicle treatment. Therefore, these results suggest that insulin secretion induced by RLP treatment may be tightly correlated with calcium regulation, which suggests RLP is an excellent candidate for diabetes treatment.