Potential Roles of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni in Abrogating Insulin Resistance and Diabetes: A Review
12 Nov 2013-Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (Hindawi Publishing Corporation)-Vol. 2013, pp 718049-718049
TL;DR: In this paper, a review of mechanisms involving free fatty acids, adipocytokines such as TNFα and PPARγ and serine kinases like JNK and IKKβ, asserted to be responsible in the development of insulin resistance, are discussed.
Abstract: Insulin resistance is a key factor in metabolic disorders like hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia, which are promoted by obesity and may later lead to Type II diabetes mellitus. In recent years, researchers have identified links between insulin resistance and many noncommunicable illnesses other than diabetes. Hence, studying insulin resistance is of particular importance in unravelling the pathways employed by such diseases. In this review, mechanisms involving free fatty acids, adipocytokines such as TNFα and PPARγ and serine kinases like JNK and IKKβ, asserted to be responsible in the development of insulin resistance, will be discussed. Suggested mechanisms for actions in normal and disrupted states were also visualised in several manually constructed diagrams to capture an overall view of the insulin-signalling pathway and its related components. The underlying constituents of medicinal significance found in the Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni plant (among other plants that potentiate antihyperglycemic activities) were explored in further depth. Understanding these factors and their mechanisms may be essential for comprehending the progression of insulin resistance towards the development of diabetes mellitus.
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TL;DR: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one, which seems an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.
Abstract: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.
Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …
33,785 citations
TL;DR: The present work unravels the insulin-mimetic effect and the antioxidant property exerted by steviol glycosides, suggesting their potential beneficial role in the cotreatment of diabetes and in health maintenance.
Abstract: Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni is a shrub having a high content of sweet diterpenoid glycosides in its leaves, mainly stevioside and rebaudioside A, which are used as noncaloric, natural sweeteners. The aim of this study was to deepen the knowledge about the insulin-mimetic effect exerted by four different mixtures of steviol glycosides, rich in stevioside and rebaudioside A, in neonatal rat cardiac fibroblasts. The potential antioxidant activity of these steviol glycosides was also assessed, as oxidative stress is associated with diabetes. Likewise the insulin effect, steviol glycosides caused an increase in glucose uptake into rat fibroblasts by activating the PI3K/Akt pathway, thus inducing Glut4 translocation to the plasma membrane. The presence of S961, an insulin antagonist, completely abolished these effects, allowing to hypothesize that steviol glycosides could act as ligands of the same receptor engaged by insulin. Moreover, steviol glycosides counteracted oxidative stress by increasing reduced glutathione intracellular levels and upregulating expression and activity of the two antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase and catalase. The present work unravels the insulin-mimetic effect and the antioxidant property exerted by steviol glycosides, suggesting their potential beneficial role in the cotreatment of diabetes and in health maintenance.
517 citations
Cites background from "Potential Roles of Stevia rebaudian..."
...The mechanisms by which Stevia leaves and its steviol glycosides exert a marked antidiabetic effect have been intensively studied [16]....
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TL;DR: In order to identify noxious synthetic compounds in the environment out of the thousands of chemicals that are currently in use, tools and models from toxicology should be adopted (e.g., functional high throughput screening methods, zebrafish-based assays).
Abstract: The “chemical obesogen” hypothesis conjectures that synthetic, environmental contaminants are contributing to the global epidemic of obesity. In fact, intentional food additives (e.g., artificial sweeteners and colors, emulsifiers) and unintentional compounds (e.g., bisphenol A, pesticides) are largely unstudied in regard to their effects on overall metabolic homeostasis. With that said, many of these contaminants have been found to dysregulate endocrine function, insulin signaling, and/or adipocyte function. Although momentum for the chemical obesogen hypothesis is growing, supportive, evidence-based research is lacking. In order to identify noxious synthetic compounds in the environment out of the thousands of chemicals that are currently in use, tools and models from toxicology should be adopted (e.g., functional high throughput screening methods, zebrafish-based assays). Finally, mechanistic insight into obesogen-induced effects will be helpful in elucidating their role in the obesity epidemic as well as preventing and reversing their effects.
49 citations
03 Jul 2015
TL;DR: The journal policy is to publish work deemed by peer reviewers to be a coherent and sound addition to scientific knowledge and to put less emphasis on interest levels, provided that the research constitutes a useful contribution to the field.
Abstract: Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biological Sciences (An international peer-reviewed Bi-monthly journal) is a peer-reviewed journal of high quality devoted to provide a platform to scientists and researchers all over the world, for the dissemination of knowledge in the field of Pharmaceutical, Biological and other allied sciences. The journal policy is to publish work deemed by peer reviewers to be a coherent and sound addition to scientific knowledge and to put less emphasis on interest levels, provided that the research constitutes a useful contribution to the field. The Journal publishes original research papers, review articles, and short communications in all aspects of Pharmacy, Biology and other allied sciences.
48 citations
TL;DR: The antiobesity, antihyperglycemic, antihypertensive, and antihyperlipidemic effects of the majority of glycosides and aqueous/alcoholic extracts from the leaves, flowers, and roots of the SR can serve as a natural and alternative treatment for diseases that are associated with metabolic syndrome, thus contributing to health promotion.
Abstract: Stevia rebaudiana (SR) is often used by the food industry due to its steviol glycoside content, which is a suitable calorie-free sweetener. Further, both in vitro and in vivo studies indicate that these glycosides and the extracts from SR have pharmacological and therapeutic properties, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, antihypertensive, antidiabetic, and anticancer. This work reviews the antiobesity, antihyperglycemic, antihypertensive, and antihyperlipidemic effects of the majority of glycosides and aqueous/alcoholic extracts from the leaves, flowers, and roots of the SR. These compounds can serve as a natural and alternative treatment for diseases that are associated with metabolic syndrome, thus contributing to health promotion.
43 citations
References
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TL;DR: Evaluating the antihyperglycemic potential of methanolic extract of leaves of the plants in oral glucose tolerance tests carried out with glucose-loaded mice validates the folk medicinal uses of A. carambola and F. hispida in the treatment of diabetes, and indicates that the leaves of S. samarangense can also possibly be used for amelioration of diabetes-induced hyperglycemia.
Abstract: Averrhoa carambola L. (Oxalidaceae), Ficus hispida L.f. (Moraceae), and Syzygium samarangense (Blume) Merr. & L.M. Perry (Myrtaceae) are three common plants in Bangladesh, the fruits of which are edible. The leaves and fruits of A. carambola and F. hispida are used by folk medicinal practitioners for treatment of diabetes, while the leaves of S. samarangense are used for treatment of cold, itches, and waist pain. Since scientific studies are absent on the antihyperglycemic effects of the leaves of the three plants, it was the objective of the present study to evaluate the antihyperglycemic potential of methanolic extract of leaves of the plants in oral glucose tolerance tests carried out with glucose-loaded mice. The extracts at different doses were administered one hour prior to glucose administration and blood glucose level was measured after two hours of glucose administration (p.o.) using glucose oxidase method. Significant oral hypoglycemic activity was found with the extracts of leaves of all three plants tested. The fall in serum glucose levels were dose-dependent for every individual plant, being highest at the highest dose tested of 400 mg extract per kg body weight. At this dose, the extracts of A. carambola, F. hispida, and S. samarangense caused, respectively, 34.1, 22.7, and 59.3% reductions in serum glucose levels when compared to control animals. The standard antihyperglycemic drug, glibenclamide, caused a 57.3% reduction in serum glucose levels versus control. Among the three plants evaluated, the methanolic extract of leaves of S. samarangense proved to be the most potent in demonstrating antihyperglycemic effects. The result validates the folk medicinal uses of A. carambola and F. hispida in the treatment of diabetes, and indicates that the leaves of S. samarangense can also possibly be used for amelioration of diabetes-induced hyperglycemia.
58 citations
TL;DR: The results suggest that stevioside and mogroside V might be valuable as chemopreventive agents for chemical carcinogenesis.
Abstract: To search for possible cancer-chemopreventive agents from natural resources, sev- eral natural sweeteners were screened by the in vitro assay indicated by the inhibitory effects of Epstein-Barr virus early antigen (EBV-EA) induction. Of active compounds that showed the remarkable inhibitory effects on the EBV-EA induction, stevioside, from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana, and mogroside V, from the fruits of Momordica grosvenori, exhibited significant inhibitory effects on the two-stage mouse skin carcinogenesis in vivo induced by 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). The inhibitory effect of stevioside is stronger than that of glycyrrhizin, which had been known as an antitumor-promoter in chemical carcinogenesis. Furthermore, stevioside also inhibited mouse skin carcinogenesis initiated by peroxynitrite. These results suggest that stevioside and mogroside V might be valuable as chemopreventive agents for chemical carcinogenesis.
49 citations
"Potential Roles of Stevia rebaudian..." refers background in this paper
...Even though the plant’s leaves give out a distinctly sweet taste, they contain no calories [40], though they are rich in metabolites such as βcarotene, thiamine, austroinulin, riboflavin, diverse terpenes, and flavonoids, which give the plant its medicinal advantages [41]....
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TL;DR: Data suggest that TNF alpha plays an important role in the control of lipid metabolism in rainbow trout by stimulating lipolysis in vitro and in vivo and by down-regulating LPL activity of adipose tissue in vivo.
Abstract: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF alpha) is a cytokine with multiple biological functions which, in mammals, has been shown to modulate muscle and adipose tissue metabolism. In fish, TNF alpha has been identified in several species. However, few studies have examined the role of TNF alpha in fish outside the immune system. In this study, we assessed the effects of human recombinant TNF alpha and conditioned media from rainbow trout lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophages (LPS-MCM) on lipolysis in isolated rainbow trout adipocytes. Furthermore, we studied the effects of an LPS injection in vivo on lipid metabolism. In our study, human recombinant TNF alpha stimulated lipolysis in trout adipocytes in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Similarly, LPS-MCM stimulated lipolysis in trout adipocytes when compared with control conditioned medium. Experiments using specific inhibitors of the MAP kinase pathway showed that p44/42 and p38 are partially involved in the lipolytic effects of TNF alpha. On the other hand, adipocytes from LPS-injected rainbow trout showed higher basal lipolysis than adipocytes from control fish after 24 h, while this effect was not seen at 72 h. Furthermore, lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity in adipose tissue of LPS-injected fish was lower than in the controls at 24 h. These data suggest that TNF alpha plays an important role in the control of lipid metabolism in rainbow trout by stimulating lipolysis in vitro and in vivo and by down-regulating LPL activity of adipose tissue in vivo.
49 citations
TL;DR: Results suggested that SVS may ameliorate insulin resistance in HFD-fed mice by attenuating adipose tissue inflammation and inhibiting the NF-κB pathway.
48 citations
TL;DR: A novel system for measuring endogenous PPAR gamma transcriptional activity in 3T3-L1 adipocytes is established with a transcription reporter assay using recombinant adenovirus vectors expressing PPRE (PPAR responsive elements)-reporter genes, indicating that this system can measurePPAR gamma activity accurately.
48 citations