Effects of Medicinal Plant Water Extracts on Expression of Anti-diabetic Enzymes mRNA

This study evaluated the anti-diabetic effects of medicinal plant water extracts on expression of hepatic glucokinase (GCK), pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) mRNA. GCK, PDH and ACC mRNA expression levels were measured by RT-PCR. The medicinal plants used in our study were Cordyceps militaris (CM), Perilla sikokiana (PS), Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (SMB), Panax notoginseng (PN) and Angelica utilis Makino (AUM). We found that GCK mRNA expression was increased to about 181% at the 250 ppm of CM water extract. Furthermore, we also found that CM and AUM water extracts stimulated PDH mRNA expression level related to glucose metabolism, however, PS, SMB and PN did not stimulate PDH mRNA expression as expected. Expression of ACC mRNA was also significantly higher in both CM and AUM water extracts. Overall, the results of our study suggest that CM and AUM water extracts stimulate expression of hepatic GCK, PDH and ACC mRNA.