RESUMO
Objective: To study the blood glucose lowering activity of aqueous extract from Pulsatilla chinensis (AEPC) on Streptozocin (STZ)-induced type-2 diabetic rats. Methods: AEPC was obtained through traditional aqueous extraction procedure; Oral glucose tolerance test was employed for the preliminary study of AEPC's blood glucose lowering activity; For further study, STZ-induced neonatal diabetic rat model was used, and the serum SGPT, SGOT, ALP, serum urea, triglycerides, total cholesterol, HDLC, total protein, and serum insulin were tested; The Kunming rats were used for acute toxicity experiments, with the highest dose of 1 000 mg/kg body weight; Insulin release from RIN 5F cells was performed to study the mechanism of AEPC on antidiabetes effect. Results: Oral glucose tolerance test showed AEPC could lower the blood sugar, and the optimal activity was observed at a dose of 20 mg/kg body weight; In neonatal STZ-induced type-2 diabetic rats, treatement with 20 mg/kg AEPC for 20 d resulted in significant blood glucose lowering activity, liver glycogen and serum biological parameters back to normal; The acute toxicity results showed that no obvious toxicity was observed even at 1 000 mg/kg dose; At last, AEPC could promote the secretion of insulin from RIN 5F cells. Conclusion: AEPC shows the anti-diabetes activity on STZ-induced type-2 diabetic rats, which may be the result of its effect on promoting insulin release from pancreatic α-cells.