Effect of feeding aqueous extract of Pterocarpus marsupium on glycogen content of tissues and the key enzymes of carbohydrate metabolism

Effect of feeding aqueous extract of Pterocarpus marsupium on glycogen content of tissues and the key enzymes of carbohydrate metabolism

Journal	Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry
Publisher	Springer Netherlands
ISSN	0300-8177 (Print) 1573-4919 (Online)
Issue	Volume 241, Numbers 1-2 / December, 2002
DOI	10.1023/A:1020870526014
Pages	53-59
Subject Collection	Biomedical and Life Sciences
SpringerLink Date	Sunday, October 31, 2004

J.K. Grover¹ , Vikrant Vats¹ and Satayapal Yadav¹

(1)	Department of Pharmacology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, India

Abstract  The Indian traditional system of medicine prescribed plant therapies for diseases including diabetes mellitus called madhumeh in Sanskrit. One such plant mentioned in Ayurveda is Pterocarpus marsupium (PM). In the present study, aqueous extract of PM (1 g/kg PO) was assessed for its effect on glycogen levels of insulin dependent (skeletal muscle and liver), insulin-independent tissues (kidneys and brain) and enzymes such as glucokinase (GK), hexokinase (HK), and phosphofructokinase (PFK). Administration of PM led to decrease in blood glucose levels by 38 and 60% on 15th and 30th day of the experiment. Liver and 2-kidney weight expressed as percentage of body-weight was significantly increased in diabetics (p < 0.0005) vs. normal controls and this alteration in the renal weight (p < 0.0005) but not liver weight was normalized by feeding of PM extract. Renal glycogen content increased by over 10 fold while hepatic and skeletal muscle glycogen content decreased by 75 and 68% in diabetic controls vs. controls and these alteration in glycogen content was partly prevented by PM. Activity of HK, GK and PFK in diabetic controls was 35, 50 and 60% of the controls and PM completely corrected this alteration in PFK and only partly in HK and GK.

Pterocarpus marsupium (PM) - Vijayasar - Indian Kino - Ayurveda - streptozotocin - experimental diabetes