Litchi seeds have a wide range of benefits in insulin resistant rats with type 2 diabetes. - GreenMedInfo Summary

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the pharmacological mechanism of Semen Litchi water extract (SL) on enhancing insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetic rats (T2DR) with insulin resistance (IR). METHODS: The effects of SL were observed on serum contents of fasting glucose (FSG), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatine (Cr), total proteins (TP), albumin (A), malondialdehyde (MDA), total cholesterols (TC), triacylglycerol (TG), free fatty acid (FFA), leptin, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), fasting insulin (Fins) and index of insulin sensitivity (ISI), and activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in T2DR-IR. RESULTS: In T2DR-IR, SL could lower concentrations of FSG, TC, TG, FFA, leptin, TNF-alpha and Fins (P<0.05-0.01), increase ISI (P<0.01), reform the hyperinsulinemia and insulin sensitivity, decrease the levels of BUN, Cr and the activities of ALT, AST, increase concentration of TP, A (P<0.05-0.01), recover the hepatic and nephric functions, increase the activity of SOD and decrease content of MDA (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: SL could reduce the levels of TNF-alpha, hyper-leptinemia and hyperinsulinemia, antagonize insulin resistance, fortify insulin sensitivity, readjust lipodystrophy and maladjustment of glycometabolism, enhance antioxidation,and improve functions of liver and kidney in T2DR-IR.