Herbal Cascara Sagrada (Rhamnus purshiana) and type 2 diabetes

Herbal Cascara sagrada may process a strong and positive effect on reducing the risk and treatment of type 2 diabetes, according to studies.

Diabetes is a condition characterized by insulin resistance and abnormally high blood glucose. Most cases of type 2 diabetes are associated with the insufficient insulin entering the bloodstream to regulate the glucose, caused by either cell in pancreas died off or receptor sites clogged up by fat and cholesterol.

Family history, ethnicity, impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting glucose, high blood cholesterol and fasting glucose overweight or obese are some prevalent risk factors of the disease, according to the epidemiological studies.


Women, having gestational diabetes and polycystic ovary syndrome are also at a higher risk of diabetes.

Some researchers also suggested that aging also plays a critical role in inducing the onset of the disease, therefore, anyone over the age of 40 should be tested for diabetes every three years.

The Diabetes Society of Canada went one step further to suggest that anyone who has one or more risk factors should be tested more frequently and/or start regular screening earlier.


Truly, the clinical features of elderly diabetes are significant differences, compared to that of younger age population. Dr. Katarzyna Mordarska, the lead scientist said, "The prevalence of both type 2 diabetes and prediabetes increases with advancing age. The most important factors leading to hyperglycemia as follows deficiency of insulin secretion developing with age, and growing insulin resistance caused by a change in body composition and sarcopenia".


And, "Diabetes in elderly people is often diagnosed with a delay due to atypical symptoms (dementia, urinary incontinence) and occurrence of mainly postprandial hyperglycemia. Elderly people are more exposed to diabetes complications, have more risk of myocardial infarction and end-stage renal disease, and are hospitalized more often due to hypoglycemia than are younger patients"

Cascara sagrada is a species of buckthorn, genus Rhamnus, belonging to the family Rhamnaceae, native to western North America, it's bark has been used in traditional medicine for gastrointestinal support. and it is thought to have a laxative and natural cleansing, etc.,

The chemical constituents of Cascara Sagrada include Aloe-emodin, Anthrquinone glycosides (Barbaloin Cascarosides A, B, C and D ChrysaloinFrangul), Chrysophanol, Emodin, Heterodianthrones palmidin A, B, and C, dianthrones, Oxanthrone, Rhein, Tannins, etc.

Researchers on finding natural products for the treatment of type 2 diabetes investigated the effect of emodin, a bioactive ingredient isolated from herbal Cascara Sagrada.

Emodin enhanced GLUT4 translocation and [(14)C] function in facilitating the transport of glucose across the plasma membrane of the myotube in an AMPK-dependent manner.


Where 5' AMP-activated protein kinase or AMPK is an enzyme (EC 2.7.11.31) which plays a role in activating the glucose and fatty acid uptake.

Futhermore, emodin also inhibited glucose production by suppressing the expression genes associated with key gluconeogenesis in generating glucose through sources other than carbohydrates, such as lactate, glycerol, and glucogenic amino acids.

In C57Bl/6J mice, a single dose of emodin significantly decreased the fasting plasma glucose levels and improved glucose tolerance.


According to the insulin tolerance test, administration of emodin also increased insulin sensitivity after daily injection for 8 days.


Dr. the lead scientists said, "emodin regulates glucose homeostasis in vivo by AMPK activation and that this may represent a novel therapeutic principle in the treatment of type 2 diabetic models".

In order to reveal more information about the anti-diabetes of emodin, researchers investigated the effects of emodin on 11beta-HSD1 and its ability to ameliorate metabolic disorders in diet-induced obese (DIO) mice.

Where 11beta-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11beta-HSD1) is an attractive therapeutic target of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

Emodin exerted its potency as an 11beta-HSD1 inhibitor with the IC(50) of 186 and 86 nM for human and mouse 11beta-HSD1, respectively.

Single oral administration of emodin inhibited the 11beta-HSD1 activity of liver and fat significantly in mice.
Emodin reversed prednisone-induced insulin resistance in mice, without affecting the effect of dexamethasone-induced insulin resistance, by inhibiting the 11beta-HSD1 in vivo.


In DIO mice, oral administration of emodin improved insulin sensitivity and lipid metabolism and lowered blood glucose.

The findings suggested that emodin processes the potential value for the treatment of metabolic syndrome or type 2 diabetes.

Taken altogether, herbal Cascara Sagrada with a high amount of emodin may be considered a functional remedy for the prevention and combined with primary medicine for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Natural Medicine for Fatty Liver And Obesity Reversal - The Revolutionary Findings To Achieve Optimal Health And Lose Weight

How To Get Rid Of Eye Floaters
Contrary To Professionals Prediction, Floaters Can Be Cured Naturally

Ovarian Cysts And PCOS Elimination
Holistic System In Existence That Will Show You How To
Permanently Eliminate All Types of Ovarian Cysts Within 2 Months

Back to Kyle J. Norton Homepage http://kylejnorton.blogspot.ca


Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299

References
(1) Emodin regulates glucose utilization by activating AMP-activated protein kinase by Song P, Kim JH, Ghim J, Yoon JH, Lee A, Kwon Y, Hyun H, Moon HY, Choi HS, Berggren PO, Suh PG, Ryu SH.(PubMed)
(2) Promotion of adiponectin multimerization by emodin: a novel AMPK activator with PPARγ-agonist activity by Chen Z, Zhang L, Yi J, Yang Z, Zhang Z, Li Z. (PubMed)
(3) Emodin, a natural product, selectively inhibits 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 and ameliorates metabolic disorder in diet-induced obese mice by Feng Y, Huang SL, Dou W, Zhang S, Chen JH, Shen Y, Shen JH, Leng Y. (PubMed)
(4) Diabetes in the elderly by Katarzyna Mordarska1 and Małgorzata Godziejewska-Zawada. (PMC)