Fenugreek is an annual crop belonging to the legume family grown in
most parts of the world. It is known to possess a number of medicinal
properties, but a little phytochemical research has been carried out on the
seeds of species; Trigonella hamosa Leguminosae. Previously we reported
that Trigonella seeds extract are shown to have hypoglycemic effects on
experimental diabetic rats. The aim of the current study is to understand the
molecular mechanism of antidiabetic actions of Trigonella. Therefore, we
examined the expressions levels of genes involved in glucose metabolism in
liver of diabetic rats. Upon this basis, streptozotocin (STZ)-diabetic rats are
used to assess hepatic glucokinase (GCK), insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-
1), and glucose transporters (GLUT-2) genes expressions after Trigonella
administration by oral intragastric intubation for two months, using RT-PCR
assay. The current findings demonstrated that Trigonella reduced
significantly glucose level in diabetic rats, while significantly increases
insulin serum level. GCK expression levels in hepatic tissue of diabetic-rats
are found to be suppressed, while Trigonella treatment induces an increase in
hepatic GCK activity. Diabetes due to STZ has a little effect on IGF-1 gene
expression, while Trigonella administration elevates mRNA expression
significantly. On the other hand, Trigonella reduce and normalize the elevation of GLUT-2 gene expression, which increased due to STZ
treatment. These results indicated that Trigonella are powerful antidiabetic
agent, induce hypoglycemia by up-regulation of CGK and IGF-1 genes
expression and induce an insulin mimetic activity. |
