Insulin receptor gene expression and insulin resistance

Effect of Sanguis draxonis (a Chinese traditional herb) on the formation of insulin resistance in rats

Sanguis draxonis (SD) is a Chinese traditional herb that is prescribed for the handling of diabetic disorders. In this study, the effects of an oral administration of SD at dosages of 100, 300, and 500 mg kg(-1) once a day, respectively, on the formation of insulin resistance were investigated in vivo in two models of insulin-resistant rats, HFD rats (high-fat diet-induced insulin-resistant rats) and IILI rats (induced by the intraperitoneal injections of long-acting insulin at dosage of 0.5 U kg(-1) three times daily). The insulin resistance was indicated using the loss of tolbutamide-induced hypoglycemic activity. After the oral administration of SD (300 and 500 mg kg(-1) once a day for 7 days) to HFD rats, both plasma glucose and insulin concentration were decreased significantly, while the hypoglycemic activity of tolbutamide (10 mg kg(-1), i.p.) was significantly enhanced as compared with that of the vehicle-treatment (0.9% saline solution used as vehicle to disperse SD, w/v). Moreover, the formation of insulin resistance in IILI rats had been improved significantly with SD treatment (100, 300, 500 mg kg(-1) once a day for 14 days), but the influence of SD treatment on both plasma glucose and insulin concentration was not observed. For STZ-induced diabetic rats, the action of SD (300 and 500 mg kg(-1) once a day for 14 days) showed more effective on an increase of response to the exogenous short-acting porcine insulin than that of the metformin administrated orally at dosage of 320 mg kg(-1) three times daily. The present studies suggest that an oral administration of SD can increase insulin sensitivity and improve the development of insulin resistance in rats.

Vanadium salts as insulin substitutes: mechanisms of action, a scientific and therapeutic tool in diabetes mellitus research

Vanadium and its compounds exhibit a wide variety of insulin-like effects. In this review, these effects are discussed with respect to the treatment of type I and type II diabetes in animal models, in vitro actions, antineoplastic role, treatment of IDDM and NIDDM patients, toxicity, and the possible mechanism(s) involved. Newly established CytPTK plays a major role in the bioresponses of vanadium. It has a molecular weight of approximately 53 kDa and is active in the presence of Co2+ rather than Mn2+. Among the protein-tyrosine kinase blockers, staurosporine is found to be a potent inhibitor of CytPTK but a poor inhibitor of InsRTK. Vanadium inhibits PTPase activity, and this in turn enhances the activity of protein tyrosine kinases. Our data show that inhibition of PTPase and protein tyrosine kinase activation has a major role in the therapeutic efficacy of vanadium in treating diabetes mellitus.