Attenuation of Helicteres isora L. bark extracts on streptozotocin-induced alterations in glycogen and carbohydrate metabolism in albino rats.

The present study was undertaken to assess the effect of Helicteres isora L. on four important enzymes of carbohydrate metabolism (glucokinase [GK], hexokinase [HK] phosphofructokinase [PFK] and fructose-1, 6-bisphosphatase [FBP]) along with glycogen content of insulin-dependent (skeletal muscle and liver) and insulin-independent tissues (kidneys and brain) in streptozotocin (STZ; 60 mg/kg)-induced model of diabetes for 30 days. Administration of bark extracts (100, 200 mg/kg) for 30 days led to decrease in plasma glucose levels by approximately 9.60% and 22.04% and 19.18% and 33.93% on 15th and 30th day, respectively, of the experiment. Liver and two-kidney weight expressed as percentage of body weight significantly increased in diabetics (P < 0.05) versus normal controls. Renal glycogen content increased by 10 folds while hepatic and skeletal muscle glycogen content decreased by 75% and 68% in diabetic controls versus controls. H. isora did not affect glycogen content in any tissue. The decreased activities of PFK, GK, FBP and HK in diabetic controls were 40%, 50%, 50% and 60% and bark extract of H. isora partially corrected this alteration. The efficacy of the bark extract was comparable with Tolbutamide, a well-known hypoglycemic drug.