Modernhcp.com

Kohji Murata, MD, Kazuhisa Yatsunami, PhD, Eiichi Fukuda, Satoshi Onodera, PhD, Osamu Mizukami, MD, PhD, Gen Hoshino, MD, Tsutomu Kamei, MD, PhD Kohji Murata, MD, is at the Shimane Institute of Health
did not improve when conventional treatments such as sulfony- Science in Izumo, Japan, and in the department of comple-
lureas and/or α-glucosidase inhibitors were added to their diet mentary and alternative medicine at the Kanazawa
therapy, were given Quapolis 3 times a day for 30 days. Blood University Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa,
samples were taken before and after the test period. Each patient Japan. Kazuhisa Yatsunami, PhD, and Eiichi Fukuda are in
was given 0.7 ml of Quapolis per meal, which is approximately the department of applied biological chemistry, faculty of
0.705 mg of acarbose per day (the estimate of which, is based on agriculture, at Tamagawa University in Tokyo, Japan.
the known 50% of inhibitory functions of α-glucosidase). There Satoshi Onodera, PhD, is in the department of clinical and
were no further restrictions except the previously indicated diet biological science at Showa Pharmaceutical University in
therapy and drug treatments, and there were no further changes Tokyo, Japan. Osamu Mizukami, MD, PhD, is at the Tokyo
Adventist Hospital. Gen Hoshino, MD, is in the department
Fasting blood sugar (FBS) and glycosylated hemoglobin of environmental physiology at the Shimane Medical
(HbA1c) were examined as parameters of this study, and all 12 University School of Medicine in Izumo, Japan. Tsutomu
subjects took the indicated amount of Quapolis. Compared with Kamei, MD, PhD, is in the department of Complementary
the baseline level, FBS decreased significantly from 202.8±64.0 and Alternative Medicine, Graduate School of Medical
mg/dl to 129.2±40.5 mg/dl (P= 0.0019, Figure 1). HbA1c also Science at Kanazawa University and at the Shimane Institute
decreased significantly from 7.8±1.2% to 7.0±1.0% (P= 0.0063, of Health Science in Izumo, Japan.
Figure 2) at 30 days. During the test period, no patient experi-enced a greater number of hypoglycemic episodes or any Mulberry leaf (Morus alba L.), a traditional episodes related to gastrointestinal side effects. Significant dif- Chinese herb, has been used to treat diabetes ferences between the mean values of the data before and after mellitus and to alleviate thirst.1 From mulber- the test period were statistically analyzed by t tests (P<.05).
ry leaf extract, 6 N-containing sugars, such as A report from the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes N-methyl–1-deoxynojirimycin, 2-O-α-D-galac- topyranosyl-DNJ, and fagomine, have recently been identifiedand may have antihyperglycemic effects.2,3 Bees make propolis bycollecting balsam or nectar from various trees and plants. Theythen mix this with saliva and various active flavonols such asquercetin,4 which also has demonstrated antihyperglycemiceffects.5 Hot water extract from mulberry leaves was mixed withan ethanol extract from propolis named Quapolis. We investigated the effects of propolis mixed with mulber- ry leaf extract on type 2 diabetic patients. All patients hadblood-glucose control problems for which conventional treat-ments such as sulfonylureas and/or α-glucosidase inhibitorswere ineffective. Twelve type 2 diabetic patients (8 men and 4 women with ages ranging from 44 to 74 years), whose blood glucose control FIGURE 1 Changes in fasting blood sugar (FBS) before
Reprint requests: InnoVision Communications, 169 Saxony Road, Suite 103, Encinitas, CA 92024; phone, (866) 828-2962 or (760) 633-3910; e-mail, [email protected]. ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES, MAy/june 2004, VOL. 10, NO. 3 Effect of Mulberry Leaf Extract on Type 2 Diabetes FIGURE 2 Changes in glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c)
Study (UKPDS), the largest study to date on type 2 diabetespatients, demonstrated that the risk of micro- and macrovascu-lar complications can be reduced by intensive therapy using oralantihyperglycemic agents and/or insulin.6 The UKPDS docu-mented a reduction in vascular complications directly related toreductions in HbA1c levels with a 1% reduction of HbA1c associ-ated with an average 21% reduction in all complications.7 Quapolis shows an average reduction in FBS of 73 mg/dl and in HbA1c of 0.8%. The effectiveness of Quapolis as an antihy-perglycemic agent, therefore, will be close to that of acarbose,8when compared for HbA1c. Based on the results from theUKPDS, the approximately 1% reduction of HbA1c by Quapolissuggests that Quapolis would be effective in the reduction andprevention of the risk of micro- and macrovascular complica-tions, without increasing the frequency of hypoglycemic episodes.
References
1. Li SZ. Compendium of Materia Medica. Beijing: People’s Medical Publishing House; 2. Chen FJ, Nakashima N, Kimura I, Kimura M, Asano N, Koya S. Potentiating effects on pilocarpine-induced saliva secretion, by extracts and N-containing sugars derived frommulberry leaves, in Streptozocin-diabetic mice. Biol Pharm Bull. 1995;18(12):1676-1680.
3. Yoshikuni Y, Ezure Y, Aoyagi Y, Enomoto H. Inhibition of intestinal alpha-glucosidase and postprandial hyperglycemia by N-substituted moranoline derivatives. JPharmacobiodynamics. 1988;11(5):356-362.
4. Koo MH, Park YK. Investigation of flavonoid aglycones in propolis collected by two dif- ferent varieties of bees in the same region. Biosci Biotech Biochem. 1997;61(2):367-369.
5. Kim JS, Kwon CS, Son KH. Inhibition of alpha-glucosidase and amylase by luteolin, a flavonoid. Biosci Biotech Biochem. 2000;64(11):2458-2461 6. UK Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) Group. Intensive blood-glucose control with sulphonylureas or insulin compared with conventional treatment and risk ofcomplications in patients with type 2 diabetes (UKPDS 33). UK Prospective DiabetesStudy (UKPDS) Group. Lancet.1998;352 (9131):837-853 7. Bretzel RG, Voigt K, Schatz H. The United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) implications for the pharmacotherapy of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Exp ClinEndocrinol Diabetes. 1998;106(5):369-372 8. Lebovitz HE. Oral Antidiabetic Agents. In: Kahan CR, Weir GC, ed. Joslin’s Diabetes Mellitus. 13th ed. New York, NY: Williams & Wilkins; 1994:508-529.

Source: http://www.modernhcp.com/AT-PDFS/0504_murata.pdf