Application of modified in vitro screening procedure for identifying herbals possessing sulfonylurea-like activity

• Published in: Journal of ethnopharmacology Vol. 93; no. 2; pp. 337 - 344
• Main Authors: Rotshteyn, Y, Zito, S.W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shannon Elsevier Ireland Ltd 01.08.2004; Elsevier
• Subjects: ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters; Biological and medical sciences; Bitter melon; Cells, Cultured - drug effects; Cerasse; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - drug therapy; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical - methods; General pharmacology; Ginseng; glycemic effect; Humans; Hypoglycemic Agents - chemistry; Hypoglycemic Agents - pharmacology; Hypoglycemic herbs; In vitro screening; Insulin - biosynthesis; Medical sciences; medicinal plants; Momordica charantia; noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus; Panax; Panax quinquefolius; Pharmacognosy. Homeopathy. Health food; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Phytotherapy; Plants, Medicinal; Potassium Channels; Potassium Channels, Inwardly Rectifying; Receptors, Drug; screening; Structure-Activity Relationship; Sulfonylurea; Sulfonylurea Compounds - chemistry; Sulfonylurea Compounds - pharmacology; Sulfonylurea Receptors; sulfonylureas; SUR; Hypoglycemic herbs; Sulfonylurea; Momordica charantia; HBSS; Cerasse; Ginseng; Bitter melon; In vitro screening; Panax quinquefolius; ELISA; Pharmacognosy; Cucurbitaceae; Screening test; In vitro; Panax ginseng; Medicinal plant; Screening; Hypoglycemic agent; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Plant origin; Spermatophyta; Araliaceae
• ISSN: 0378-8741; 1872-7573
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2004.04.007

We describe here the application of a modified in vitro procedure for identifying herbs potentially possessing sulfonylurea-like activity. The procedure consists of the combination of an SUR1 receptor binding assay and an insulin secretion assay in cultures of HIT-T15 cells. This procedure could be used as an initial step in identifying new safe and efficacious agents for the management of Type II diabetes. The application of this screening procedure to a set of selected herbs produced results that were consistent with the previously reported properties of those herbs. The collected data suggest that the hypoglycemic properties of bitter melon ( Momordica charantia, Linn. Family, Cucurbitacea), cerasse ( Momordica charantia, Linn. wild variety, Family, Cucurbitacea) and American ginseng ( Panax quinquefolius, Linn., Family Araliacea) are at least partially due to their sulfonylurea-like activity.