Phytochemical | Target Tissue/Cells | Effects | Involved Molecular Mechanism | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|
Curcumin | Skeletal muscle of diabetic rats | Improve insulin resistance | Mediated through LKB1-AMPK | Na et al. (2011) |
Epicatechin gallate | db/db mice | Reduce the number of pathologically changed islets of Langerhans and increase the number and the size of islets | Enhanced glucose tolerance and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion | Ortsäter et al. (2012) |
db/db mice | Increase glucokinase mRNA expression in the liver | Enhanced glucose tolerance and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion | Wolfram et al. (2006) | |
Quecitrin and quercetin | Diabetic rats | Exhibit a protective role on the pancreatic islets | Increased insulin sensitivity | Babujanarthanam et al. (2010) |
Diabetic mice | Improve liver and pancreas functions by enabling the recovery of cell proliferation | Increased insulin sensitivity through the inhibition of Cdkn1a expression | Kobori et al. (2009) | |
Genistein | Diabetic mice | Increase blood glucose, antioxidant enzyme activities, and lipid profile | Increased insulin sensitivity | Lee (2006) |
Resveratrol | Caucasian (blood) | Improve insulin sensitivity and decrease insulin resistance | Decreased oxidative stress and more efficient insulin signaling via the Akt pathway | Brasnyó et al. (2011) |
Piceatannol | db/db mice | Antidiabetic effect | Improved glucose tolerance | Minakawa et al. (2012) |
Bilberry anthocyanins | Enhance insulin sensitivity | Increased AMPK phosphorylation | Takikawa et al. (2010) | |
Hesperidin and naringin | db/db mice | PEPCK and G6Pase expression | Increased plasma insulin | Jung et al. (2004) |
Epicatechin gallate | C2C12 mouse skeletal muscle cell | Antiobesity and anti-type 2 diabetes mellitus | Attenuated insulin resistance | Deng et al. (2012) |
Flavonoid composition of cranberry extract | Liver and muscle (mice) | Downregulation of the hepatic cholesterol synthesis pathway | Amelioration of insulin resistance | Shabrova et al. (2011) |
Troxerutin | Hippocampus (mice) | A possible candidate for the prevention and therapy of cognitive deficits in T2D | Enhanced insulin signaling pathway | Lu et al. (2011) |
Resveratrol | High-fat diet–fed mice | Protect islets from abnormal insulin secretion | Promoted the expression of SIRT1 in islets and Bcl-2/Bax and levels of malondialdehyde/glutathione peroxidase | Zhang et al. (2012b) |
Fructose-fed rats | Increase nuclear level of NRF2 | Attenuated insulin resistance | Bagul et al. (2012) | |
High-fat diet–fed mice | Produce changes associated with longer lifespan | Increased insulin sensitivity, reduced insulin-like growth factor-1 | Baur et al. (2006) | |
Gray mouse lemurs | Beneficial effects on metabolic alterations | Increased insulin sensitivity by improving the glucose tolerance | Marchal et al. (2012) | |
Curcumin | High-fat diet–fed mice | Inhibit lipogenic gene expression in the liver and blocked and the inflammatory response in the adipose tissue | Induced insulin resistance | Shao et al. (2012) |
Epicatechin gallate | High-fat diet–fed mice | Attenuate levels of plasma cholesterol, MCP-1, CRP, IL-6, and GCSF | Improved glucose tolerance Insulin resistance | Chen et al. (2011b) |
High-fat diet–fed rats | Increase markers of thermogenesis and differentiation in adipose tissue | Increased glucose tolerance | Chen et al. (2009b) | |
High-fat diet–fed rats | Decrease liver weight, liver triglycerides, and mesenteric fat weight and blood glucose compared with high-fat–fed control mice | Attenuated insulin resistance | Bose et al. (2008) | |
Cinnamon | Mouse 3T3-L1 preadipocyte | Regulate the expression of multiple genes in adipocytes | Increased insulin signaling | Cao et al. (2010) |
Resveratrol | HC-fed mice | Reduce IGF-I levels/increased AMPK, PGC-1α activity, and mitochondrial number | Increased insulin sensitivity, reduced IGF-1 | Baur et al. (2006) |
Adipocyte (HF-rat) | Improve the metabolic profile of HF-fed offspring born from pregnancies complicated by IUGR | Ameliorated insulin resistance and glucose intolerance | Dolinsky et al. (2011) | |
Flavonoid compounds isolated from Hyphaene thebaica epicarp | Rat | Antidiabetic effects | Improved glucose and insulin tolerance | Salib et al. (2013) |
Tetrahydro iso-α acids | High-fat diet–fed mice | Antidiabetic effects | Increased insulin sensitivity | Everard et al. (2012) |
Purple corn color anthocyanidin | T2D mice | Lipogenic gene expression | Increased serum insulin level | Roy et al. (2008) |
Cyanidin-3-glucoside | db/db mice and HF-fed obese mice | Phosphorylation of Akt, FOXO1 | Improved insulin sensitivity | Guo et al. (2012) |
AMPK, AMP-activated protein kinase; GCSF, granulocyte cell-stimulating factor; HC, high calorie; HF, high fat; IL, interleukin; IUGR, intrauterine growth restriction; LKB-1, liver kinase B1; MCP, monocyte chemotactic protein; PEPCK, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase; PGC-1α, PPARγ coactivator 1α; T2D, type 2 diabetes mellitus.