Effects of Pterostilbene isolated from Pterocarpus marsupium on High Fat Diet induced Diabetic Rats

Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic diseases characterized by hyperglycemia resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action or both. The present study tested the anti-diabetic and hypolipidemic potential of pterostilbene isolated from Pterocarpus marsupium plants on high fat diet-induced diabetic rats. The high-fat diet-fed rats showed increased serum glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides and insulin resistance (p is less than  0.05). However, treating the animals with pterostilbene different biochemical parameters like glucose tolerance, glycogen content, glucose homeostatic enzymes like glucose-6-phosphatase and hexokinase, adipocytes differentiation, and the expression profiles of different genes regulating carbohydrate and lipid metabolism were improved significantly (p is less than  0.05). Further, pterostilbene was found to demonstrate dual regulation activities for peroxisome proliferators-activated receptors (PPAR) (both PPARα and PPARγ). In conclusion, these results show that pterostilbene acts as a potent antidiabetic molecule. Hence further in-depth mechanistic studies are warranted to use this phytochemical as a medicine.