Chaste Tree Berry May Cure Type I and II Diabetes, Revealed by Model Studies

Chaste tree berry may have a potential in the improving pancreatic islet regeneration and hepatic insulin sensitivity for the cure of Type I and II diabetes, some scientists suggested.

Diabetes is a condition caused by insufficient insulin entering the bloodstream in the regulation of glucose.

The diseases are either caused by cells in pancreas dying off or receptor sites clogged up by fat and cholesterol. In some cases, diabetes is also caused by the allergic reaction of cells in the immune system.

The cause of type 1 diabetes is unknown, however, it is the result of the immune system mistakenly destroys the insulin-producing (islet, or islets of Langerhans) cells in the pancreas.

The mystery is why the immune system attached the specific insulin-producing cells in the pancreas?

A recent study suggested that the immune system does not destroy the entire colony of the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas but reduced numbers of existence and function in the production of insulin.

In other words, according to the Exeter Clinical Research Facility in the study of 74 volunteers. by measurement of how much natural insulin of tested subjects produced, as responded to meals, researchers found that 73 percent of islet produced very low levels of insulin.

Chaste tree berry is a species of Vitex agnus-castus, genus Vitex, belongings to the family Lamiaceae, native to the Mediterranean region.

The herbal medicine has been used for thousands of year as an aphrodisiac herb and considered as Queen herb in treating menstrual problems and discomforts.

In the study to test two water-soluble extracts (aqueous and ethanolic) obtained from the leaves of Vitex doniana, researchers at the Ahmadu Bello University, launched an investigation to test whether these extracts exerting any protection of pancreas against normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

According to the results of the experiment, application of extracts of chaste tree berry displayed significant effects in increased volume density of pancreatic islet as well as the percentage of β-cells and size of the islet in compared to the non-treated diabetic control which showed complete degeneration of the islet cells.

Treated rats also showed a reduction (P<0.05) in the serum activities of marker enzymes, alanine aminotransferase(ALT), aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase in diabetes treated rats,

In healthy individuals, the ALT levels in the blood are low but the serum increase substantially in patients with diabetes caused by liver damage in decreased hepatic insulin sensitivity.

High levels of alanine aminotransferase is a marker of decreased hepatic insulin sensitivity and predictor of onset of type 2 diabetes.

In compared to healthy individuals, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), an enzyme, has been found to elevate in diabetes patients.

Furthermore, injection of an extract of chaste tree berry also lowered the serum of total bilirubin and unconjugated bilirubin which were found to associate negatively to the onset of diabetes.

These results of differentiation indicated that extracts of chaste tree berry exert a liver protective effect of treatment group against diabetics in the induction of decreased hepatic insulin sensitivity and normalized the pancreas function in the production of insulin through restoring the numbers of scattering islet cells.

Application of the extracts also induced regeneration and repairing of damaged islet cells in the pancreas.

Dr. Oche O, the lead researcher said, "plant extracts, (exhibited) regeneration of β-cells along with β-cells repairs, in compared to the non-treated diabetic control which showed complete degeneration of the islet cells".

More important, in D-galactose induced pancreatic disorder in an aging mouse model, treatment of Vitex agnus-castus (VAC) demonstrated potential pancreatic protective and hypoglycemic effects through improved the size of pancreatic islets decreased in aged and D-galactose groups.

In a total of 72 adult female Naval Medical Research Institute (NMRI) mice (weighing 30-35 g) divided into 6 groups of control, VAC hydroalcoholic extract, D-galactose, D-galactose + VAC hydroalcoholic extract, aged, aged + VAC hydroalcoholic extract through subcutaneous injection of D-galactose for 45 days and, VAC hydroalcoholic extract gavaged twice a day in the last 7 days. 24 h after the last drug and extract administrations, group treated with Chaste tree berry extract or combinations of the extract showed increased levels of insulin and decreased serum glucose and D-galactose level in compared to other treatment groups.

The study also found, "Despite the size of pancreatic islets decreased in aged and D-galactose groups, ........... VAC hydroalcoholic extract has hypoglycemic and pancreatic protective effects in natural aged and aging model mice".


In fact, there is also a report indicated that oral administration of once daily to diabetic rats for the period of 30 days of iridoid glucoside isolated from chaste tree berry may be effective as glibenclamide, a known hypoglycemic drug, at a concentration of 50 mg/kg b.w.

Promisingly, iridoid glucoside reversed hyperglycemia-induced biochemical changes to near normal levels.

Collectively, Chaste tree berry may be used as functional food for curing Type I and Type II diabetes through its hypoglycemic and pancreatic and hepatic protective effects.

However, further data collection on studies performed with human consumption during the course of the disease will be necessary to complete the picture of its antidiabetes possibilities.
Intake of chaste tree berry extracts should be taken with extreme care, as overdoses may cause acute liver toxicity.


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Author Biography

Kyle J. Norton, Master of Nutrients
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Pancreatic islet regeneration and some liver biochemical parameters of leaf extracts of Vitex doniana in normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic albino rats by Oche O1, Sani I1, Chilaka NG1, Samuel NU1, Samuel A1. (PubMed)
(2) Pancreatic protective and hypoglycemic effects of Vitex agnus-castus L. fruit hydroalcoholic extract in D-galactose-induced aging mouse model by Ahangarpour A1, Oroojan AA2, Khorsandi L3, Najimi SA4.(PubMed)
(3) Antihyperglycemic effect of iridoid glucoside, isolated from the leaves of Vitex negundo in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats with special reference to glycoprotein components by Sundaram R1, Naresh R, Shanthi P, Sachdanandam P.(PubMed)
(4) Insulin 'still produced' in most people with type 1 diabetes(Science News)