THE EFFECT OF RAW HAWTHORN ON BLOOD GLUCOSE AND VASCULAR ENDOTHELIALCELL FUNCTION IN RATS WITH IMPAIRED GLUCOSE TOLERANCE

Xin Zhang^#, Nannan Liu^#, Caiping Zheng^#, Yuhan Wang, Junyao Wang, Xuemei Zhou, Lina Xia^*, Tingting Deng*, Luming Qi^*

Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China 

Objective: To explore the effect of raw hawthorn, which is a homology of Medicine and Food, on blood glucose and vascular endothelial cell function in rats with impaired glucose tolerance.

Methods: Sixty adult Sprague-Dawley(SD) rats were randomly divided into control group (n=10), glucose regulation impaired model group (n=10), metformin group (n=10), high-dose raw hawthorn group (n=10), medium-dose raw hawthorn group (n=10), low-dose raw hawthorn group (n=10). The model was established by high-fat diet and streptoluzoin (STZ), and fasting blood glucose (FBG), insulin (INS), endothelin-1(ET-1), nitric oxide (NO), thrombomodulin (TM), angiotensin II(ANG-II) and C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) were detected after 12 weeks of intervention.

Results: Compared with control group, the contents of NO, CNP and INS in model group were decreased (P<0.01), while the contents of FBG, ET-1, ANG-Ⅱ and TM were increased (P<0.05). Compared withmodel group, the FBG concentration in low-dose raw hawthorn group decreased significantly (P<0.01), while the other indexes did not change significantly; the contents of FBG, ET-1 in medium-dose raw hawthorn groupwere decreased (P<0.05), while the contents of ANG-Ⅱ NO, CNP, TM and INSwere not significantlychanged,the levels of FBG, ET-1 and Ang-Ⅱ inhigh-dose raw hawthorn group were decreased (P<0.05), while the levels of NO, CNP and INS increased (P<0.05). The TM concentration did not change significantly in metformin group, high-dose raw hawthorn group, medium-dose raw hawthorn group and low-dose raw hawthorn group.

Conclusion: Raw hawthorn can regulate blood glucose homeostasis in rats with impaired glucose tolerance, and high-dose of raw hawthorn is significantly more effective than low and medium dose of raw hawthorn. Raw hawthorn can effectively protect the function of vascular endothelial cells in rats, regulate blood glucose homeostasis and reduce the occurrence of impaired glucose tolerance, which is one of the effective ways to prevent and treat diabetes.