Study of the Antidiabetic Activity of Punica granatum L. Fruits Aqueous Extract on the Alloxan-Diabetic Wistar Rats

Pancreatic β-cells dysfunction and impairment of insulin action usually leads to hyperglycemia. punica granatum l. is a well-known traditional herbal remedy in iran due to its positive effects on ameliorating blood glucose homeostasis. in this study, alloxan-diabetic male wistar rats were administrated with pomegranate fruits aqueous extract (pe) in different doses of 100, 200, and 350 mg/kg bw (pe+da, pe+db and pe+dc, respectively), and the effects of pe polyphenols content on glucose metabolism in treated groups were examined using oral glucose tolerance test (ogtt), short-term and long-term pe consumption periods models followed by evaluation of plasma insulin, free fatty acids, and triglycerides levels and tissues contents of glycogen and triglycerides; compared with diabetic control (dc) and healthy control (nc) groups. by using real-time pcr, the possibility of modulations of the insulin receptor substrate 1 (irs-1), protein kinase b (akt), glucose transporter 2 and 4 (glut-2, 4) mrnas expression levels in pe treated rats were investigated. the obtained data showed noticeable reduction in fasting blood glucose (fbg) by 28.1% and 67.9% in short-term and long-term treatment models, respectively, in pe + dc group. also, there existed marked increase in the mrnas expression levels of irs-1, akt, glut-2, and glut-4, which results in improvement of glucose uptake and promotes its storage. taking together, it is suggested that pe administration contributes to the modulation of both hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia in alloxan-diabetic wistar rats.