Journal
PHYTOTHERAPY RESEARCH
Volume 24, Issue -, Pages S175-S182Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/ptr.3062
Keywords
Urtica dioica; diabetes mellitus; alternative medicine; herbal medicine; glucose uptake; Insulin mimetic
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Funding
- Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA)
- Banting and Best Diabetes Centre (BBDC)
- CIHR
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Urtica Dioica (UD) is a plant shown to reduce blood glucose levels upon oral ingestion; however, neither its active component nor its mechanism of action has been identified. One active fraction of this extract, termed UD-1, was separated by molecular sieve column chromatography and purified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). While UD-1 did not stimulate insulin secretion in glucose-responsive MIN6 clonal beta-cells, chronic exposure (24 h) significantly enhanced glucose uptake (similar to 1.5-fold) in L6-GLUT4myc myoblast cells. Using HPLC and MALDI-TOF, we further purified the UD-1 fraction into two fractions termed UD-1A and UD-1B. Computational and structural analyses strongly suggested that the antidiabetic component of UD-1 was due to one or more structurally related cyclical peptides that facilitate glucose uptake by forming unique glucose permeable pores. The structure and function of these glucose-conducting pores are discussed herein. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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