Liuwei Dihuang exhibits antidiabetic effects through inhibiting α-amylase and α-glucosidase

¹ Department of pharmacy, Lishui People’s Hospital, the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui 323000, China
² Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Lishui People’s Hospital, the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui 323000, China
³ School of Life Science and Technology, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, P.R. China
⁴ Department of Nephrology, Lishui People’s Hospital, the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui 323000, China

^* Corresponding authors: Zhihong Gui and Weihua Chu xialp69@163.com

Abstract

Objective: Liuwei Dihuang (LWDH) is a famous traditional herbal medicine formula in China that may regulate the balance of kidney yin yang and has been used to restore functional insufficiency of the kidney for a long time in China.

Methods: In this study, the water extract of LWDH was tested for its α-Amylase and α-Glucosidase inhibitory activities, and its anti-diabetic property in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic mice was also analyzed.

Results: LWDH extract inhibited α-Glucosidase and α-Amylase activities in a dose- dependent manner. Treatment of streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice with LWDH extract decreased camp, fasting blood glucose, TC, TG, LDL-c, HbA1C, Urine volume levels and Urine sugar, increased HDL-c level when compared to STZ induced diabetic mice.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates that extract of LWDH can inhibit α-amylase and α-glucosidase activities and shows anti-diabetic effect in a mice preclinical model.