Abstract
In the traditional system ofmedicine, Ayurveda, several spices and herbsare thought to possess medicinal properties. Amongthe spices, turmeric rhizomes (Curcumalonga. Linn.) are used as flavoring and coloringagents in the Indian diet everyday. In this research,we studied the effect of turmeric and itsactive principle, curcumin, on diabetes mellitus in arat model. Alloxan was used to induce diabetes.Administration of turmeric or curcumin to diabeticrats reduced the blood sugar, Hb and glycosylatedhemoglobin levels significantly. Turmeric andcurcumin supplementation also reduced the oxidativestress encountered by the diabetic rats. This wasdemonstrated by the lower levels of TBARS (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances), which mayhave been due to the decreased influx of glucose intothe polyol pathway leading to an increased NADPH/NADPratio and elevated activity of the potent antioxdiantenzyme GPx. Moreover, the activity of SDH (soorbitol dehydrogenase), whichcatalyzes the conversion of sorbitol to fructose, waslowered significantly on treatment with turmeric orcurcumin. These results also appeared to reveal thatcurcumin was more effective in attenuating diabetesmellitus related changes than turmeric.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Harris MI, Hadden WC, Knowler WC, Bennett FH (1987) Prevalence of diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance and plasma glucose levels in U.S. population aged 20-74 yr. Diabetes 36: 523–524.
David MN, James M, Daniel ES (1997) The epidemidogy of cardiovascular disease in type 2 diabetes mellitus: how sweet it is ... or is it? Lancet 350(Suppl 1): SI4–SI9.
Luzi L (1998) Pancreas transplantation and diabetic complications. N Engl J Med.339: 115–117.
Cameron NE, Cotter MA (1997) Metabolic and vascular factors in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy. Diabetes 46(2): S31–S37.
Al-Shamaony LA, Al-Khazraji SM, Twaiji HAA (1994) Hypoglycemic effect of Artemisia herba alba. II. Effect of a valuable extract on some blood parameters in diabetic animals. J Ethno Pharmacol 43: 167–171.
Gupta BL, Nehal M, Baquer NZ (1997) Effect of experimental diabetes on the activities of hexokinase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and catecholamines in rat erythrocytes of different ages. Indian J Exp Biol 35: 792–795.
Inouye M, Hashimoto H, Mio T, Sumino K (1998) Levels of lipid peroxidation product and glycated hemoglobin A1C in the erythrocytes of diabetic patients. Clin Chim Acta 276: 163–172.
Kiso Y, Suzuki Y, Watarable N, Oshima Y, Hekino H (1983) Validity of oriental medicine 53: Antihepatotoxic principles of Curcuma longa rhizome. Planta Med 49: 185.
Srimal RC, Dhawan BN (1973) Pharmacology of diferuloylmethane (curcumin) a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agent. J Pharm Pharamacol 25: 147.
Patil TN, Srinivasan M (1971) Hypocholesteremic effect of curcumin in induced hypercholesteremic rats. Indian J Exp Biol 9: 167.
SubbaRao D, Chandrasekhara N, Satyanarayan MN, Srinivasan M (1970) Effect of curcumin on serum and liver cholesterol levels in the rat. J Nutr 100: 137.
Ramprasad C, SirsiM (1956) Studies on Indian medicinal plants: Curcumina longa Linn-Effect of curcumin and essential oils of C-Longa on bile secretion. J Sci Ind Res 15c: 262
Mukerji B, Zaidi SH, Singh GB (1961) Spices and gastric function: Part I-Effect of curcuma longa on gastric secretion in rabbits. J Sci Ind Res 20C: 25.
Sasaki T, Matsy S, Sonae A (1972) Effect of acetic acid concentration on the colour reaction in the o-toluidine boric acid method for blood glucose estimation. Rinshokagaku 1: 346–353.
Drabkin DL, Austin JM (1932) Spectrophotometric constants for common haemoglobin derivatives in human, dog and rabbit blood. J Biol Chem 98: 719–733.
Sudhakar Nayak S, Pattabiraman TN (1981) A new colorimetric method for the estimation of glycosylated hemoglobin. Clin Chim Acta 109: 267–274.
Ulrich HB (1974) Methods of Enzymatic Analysis. 2, 2nd edn, pp 569–573.
Donnan SK (1950) The thiobtrituic acid test applied to tissues from rats treated in various ways. Biol Chem 182: 415–419.
Rotruck JT, Pope AL, Ganther HE (1973) Selenium: Biochemical role as a component of glutathione peroxidase. Science 179: 588–590.
Ellman GL (1959) Tissue sulphydrylgroups. Arch Biochem Biophys 82: 70–77.
Lowry OH, Roesborough MJ, Fou AL, Randall RJ (1951) Protein measurement with Folin-phenol reagent. J Biol Chem 193: 265–275.
Chou YH (1975) Experimental design and the analysis of variance. In: Statistical Analysis-1. New York: Holt, Reinhart and Winston Publication, pp 340–352.
Rerup CC (1970) Drugs producing diabetes through damage of the insulin secreting cells. Pharmacol Rev 22: 485–520.
Stevens VS, Vlassard H, Abat A, et al. (1977) Non enzymatic glycosylation of hemoglobin. J Biol Chem 252: 2998–3002.
Huisman THJ, Dozy AM (1962) Studies on the heterogenity of hemoglobin V: Binding of hemoglobin with oxidised glutathione. J Lab Clin Med 60: 302–319.
Trivelli LA, Ranney HM, Lai IIT (1971) Hemoglobin components in patients with diabetes mellitus. N Engl J Med 284: 353–357.
Paulson EP (1973) Hemoglobin A1C in childhood diave. Metabolism 22: 269–271.
Gabbay KH (1976) Glycosylated hemoglobin and diabetic control. N Engl J Med 295: 443–444.
Koening RJ, Peterson CM, Jones R, et al. (1978) Correlation of glucose regulation and hemoglobin A1C in diabetes mellitus. N Engl J Med 295: 417–420.
Fredgey K (1995) Ten-year retrospective on the antioxidant hypothesis of arteriosclerosis: Threshold plasma levels of antioxidant micronutrients related to minimum cardiovascular risk. J Nutr Biochem 6: 206–236.
Cameron NE, Cotter MA (1994) The relationship of vascular changes to metabolic factors in diabetes mellitus and their role in the development of peripheral nerve complications. Diabetes Metab Rev 10: 189–224.
Brownlee M (1992) Glycation products and the pathogenesis of diabetic complications. Diabetes Care 15: 1835–1843.
Nagini S, Manoharan S, Ramachandran CR (1998) Lipid peroxidation and antioxidants in oral squamous cell carcinoma. Clin Chim Acta 273: 95–98.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Arun, N., Nalini, N. Efficacy of turmeric on blood sugar and polyol pathway in diabetic albino rats. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 57, 41–52 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013106527829
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013106527829