lpomoea batatas and Agarics blazei ameliorate diabetic disorders with therapeutic antioxidant potential in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

lpomoea batatas, Agaricus blaze! and Smallanthus sonchifolius are known to favorably influence diabetes mellitus. To clarify their antidiabetic efficacy and hypoglycemic mechanisms, we treated streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats with daily oral feeding of powdered Ipomoea batatas (5 g kg(-1) d(-1)), Agaricus blazei (1 g kg(-1) d(-1)) or Smallanthus sonchifolius (4 g kg(-1) d(-1)) for 2 months. Treatments with Ipomoea batatas or Agaricus blazei, but not Smallanthus sonchifolius, significantly suppressed the increases of fasting plasma glucose and hemoglobin A1c levels, and restored body weight loss during diabetes. Serum insulin levels after oral glucose administration tests increased along the treatments of lpomoea batatas or Agaricus blazei. Moreover, lpomoea batatas and Agaricus blazei reduced superoxide production from leukocytes and vascular homogenates, serum 8-oxo-2'deoxyguanosine, and vascular nitrotyrosine formation of diabetic rats to comparable levels of normal control animals. Stress-and inflammation-related p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase activity and tumor necrosis factor-alpha production of diabetic rats were significantly depressed by Ipomoea batatas administration. Histological examination also exhibited improvement of pancreatic beta-cells mass after treatments with Ipomoea batatas or Agaricus blazei. These results suggest that hypoglycemic effects of Ipomoea batatas or Agaricus blazei result from their suppression of oxidative stress and proinflammatory cytokine production followed by improvement of pancreatic beta-cells mass.