Hypoglycemic effects and antioxidative ability of agrimony in diabetic rats

Objective To study the hypoglycemic effects of agrimony and to explore its mechanism.Methods The streptozotocin(STZ) -induced diabetic rats were randomly divided into diabetic model group,low dose agrimony group (60 g/kg),high dose agrimony group(120 g/kg),and a control group was set additionally.After 4 weeks of treatment,the effects of agrimony on weight,blood glucose and insulin levels of diabetic rats were observed and the activities of superoxide dismutase(SOD),glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px),and the contents of maloraldehyde(MDA) in plasma were measured w ith chromatometry,and the pancreas were excised and observed under microscope.Results The serum insulin and glucose levels of diabetic rats were 7.53±2.15 μIU/ml and 17.55±6.08 mmol/L; the activities of GSH-Px and the contents of MDA of diabetic rats were 1 110.75±268.16 μmol/ml and 6.10±0.88 nmol/ml.Administration of agrimony decreased fasting blood glucose and the content of MDA in plasma efficiently and increased insulin level and the activity of GSH-Px in diabetic rats.The serum insulin of agrimony groups (60g/kg,120g/kg) were 16.79±6.81 μIU/ml and 18.29±7.15 μIU/ml(P<0.01); the glucose were 4.71±2.19 mmol/L and 3.92±1.17 mmol/L(P<0.01); the activities of GSH-Px were 1264.50±273.20 μmol/ml (P< 0.05) and 1824.38±240.59 μmol/ml (P< 0.01); the contents of MDA were 4.99±0.90 nmol/ml(P< 0.05) and 4.92±0.50 nmol/ml(P< 0.01).Conclusion Agrimony has anti-diabetes effect,which is probably due to the increase of GSH-Px activity and the decrease of MDA content.