ABSTRACT
Background: In South Asian countries, stems of the plant, Tinnospora crispa, Linn (TC) are often used as a folk medicine in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Though TC’s antiglycemic activity has been demonstrated in diabetic rats, the mechanism for its action has not yet been elucidated. Objective: To investigate the effect of TC’s aqueous extract (TCA) on glucose transport activity in skeletal muscle cell line. Materials and methods: A skeletal muscle cell line, L6 myoblasts, was used for this study. The myoblasts grown to the stage of fused myotubes were pre-incubated with and without TCA for 24 hours. Then, a 2-[³H]-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) uptake test was made in a 24-well plate for 10 minutes. In the downstream transport regulation studies, the TCA pre-incubated cells was either treated or untreated with specific inhibitors of the PI3-Kinase (wortmannin) and p38 MAP-Kinase (SB203580) pathways prior to the uptake test. All studies were carried out in triplicate with a minimum of three independent experiments. Results were expressed as mean±SE and compared with student’s t test for a level of significance at p \< 0.05. Results: TCA at 4 mg/mL significantly enhances glucose uptake of L6 myotubes in dose and time dependent manner with the half maximum effects at 24 hours (196.60±11.09%, p \< 0.05). The effect was completely abolished by a cytoskeletal blockade (10 μM of cytochalasin B), supportive of active glucose transport activity. Both wortmannin and SB203580 have no effect on the TCA-stimulated glucose uptake. Conclusion: Tinospora crispa enhances glucose transport of L6 myotubes in an insulin-independent pathway in a time- and dose-dependent manner.