Skip to main content
Log in

Fenugreek potent activity against nitrate-induced diabetes in young and adult male rats

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Cytotechnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Nitrate has described as an endocrine disruptor that promotes onset of diabetes. This study was undertaken to evaluate diabetic effect of high nitrate intake in young and adult male rats and its amelioration by fenugreek administration. The study revealed significant increase in serum glucose and blood glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c%), while serum insulin and liver glycogen were decreased among nitrate exposed animals, in particular the young group. A significant reduction in the body weight gain and serum thyroid hormones (T4 & T3) was also recorded. Further reduction in serum levels of urea and creatinine, as well as total protein in serum, liver and pancreas was demonstrated, with elevation in their levels in the urine of all nitrate exposed groups. Meanwhile, the activity of serum transaminases (ALT and AST) was increased, with decline in their activity in the liver tissue. In addition, an elevation in serum total bilirubin, tissues (liver and pancreas) nitric oxide and lipid profile, as well as liver activity of glucose-6-phosphatase was recorded. Fenugreek administration to nitrate exposed rats was found to be effective in alleviating hyperglycemia and other biochemical changes characterizing nitrate-induced diabetes. So, fenugreek can be considered to possess potent activity against onset of nitrate induced-diabetes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

NC:

Normal control

FG:

Fenugreek

NT:

Nitrate

NT + FG:

Nitrate + fenugreek

NaNO3 :

Sodium nitrate

HbA1c%:

Glycosylated Hb

T3:

Triiodothyronine

T4:

Thyroxin

ALT:

Alanine aminotransferase

AST:

Aspartate aminotransferase

TL:

Total lipids

TC:

Total cholesterol

TG:

Triglycerides

PLs:

Phospholipids

HDL-C:

High density lipoprotein cholesterol

LDL-C:

Low density lipoprotein cholesterol

VLDL-C:

Very low density lipoprotein cholesterol

NO:

Nitric oxide

G-6-Pase:

Glucose-6-phosphatase

TCA:

Trichloroacetic acid

References

  • Abd-El Mawla AMA, Osman HEH (2011) Elicitation of trigonelline and 4-hydroxy-isoleucine with hypoglycemic activity in cell suspension cultures of Trigonella foenum graecum L. Open Conf Proc J 2:80–87

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Abou-Seif MA, Youssef A (2004) Evaluation of some biochemical changes in diabetic patients. Clin Chem Acta 346:161–170

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ahamed MM, Banji O (2012) A review on diabetic neuropathy and nephropathy. Inter J Pharmaceut Sci Res 3:300–304

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • AI-Shamaony L, Shahba M, Al-Khazraji, Twaij HAA (1994) Hypoglycaemic effect of Artemisia herba alba. II. Effect of a valuable extract on some blood parameters in diabetic animals. J Ethnopharmacol 43:167–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Ayed MI (2000) Toxicity of drinking water with different nitrate levels. J Egy Ger Soc Zool 31:197–209

    Google Scholar 

  • Ananda PK, Kumarappan CT, Christudas S, Kalaichelvan VK (2012) Effect of biophytum sensitivum on streptozotocin and nicotinamide induced diabetic rats. Asia Pac J Tropical Biomed 2:31–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Basch E, Ulbricht C, Kuo G, Szapary P, Smith M (2003) Therapeutic applications of fenugreek. Altern Med Rev 8:20–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Beckman JS, Koppenol WH (1996) Nitric oxide, superoxide, and peroxynitrite: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Am J Physiol 271:C1424–C1427

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Buyken AE, Toeller M, Heitkamp G, Vitelli F, Stehle P, Scherbaum WA, Fuller JH, Group E ICS (1998) Relation of fiber intake to HbA1c and the prevalence of severe ketoacidosis and severe hypoglycemia. Diabetologia 41:882–890

    Google Scholar 

  • Costamagna ME, Cabanillas AM, Coleoni AH, Pellizas CG, Masini-Repiso AM (1998) Nitric oxide donors inhibit iodide transport and organification and induce morphological changes in cultured bovine thyroid cells. Thyroid 8:1127–1135

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Devi BA, Kamalakkannan N, Prince PS (2003) Supplementation of fenugreek leaves to diabetic rats. Effect on carbohydrate metabolic enzymes in diabetic liver and kidney. Phytother Res 17:1231–1233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duncan C, Dougall H, Johnston P, Green S, Brogan R, Leifert C, Smith L, Golden M, Benjamin N (1995) Chemical generation of nitric oxide in the mouth from enterosalivary circulation of dietary nitrate. Nat Med 1:546–551

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Eidi A, Eidi M, Sokhteh M (2007) Effect of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecum L) seeds on serum parameters in normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Nutr Res 27:728–733

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • El-Wakf AM, Hassan HA, El-Said FG, El-Said A (2009) Hypothyroidism in male rats of different ages exposed to nitrate polluted drinking water. Res J Medic Med Sci 4:160–164

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • El-Wakf AM, Elhabiby EM, El-kholy WM, Abd El-Ghany E (2011) Use of tumeric and curcumin to alleviate adverse reproductive outcomes of water nitrate pollution in male rats. Nat Sci 9:229–239

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedewald WT, Levy RI, Fredrickson DS (1972) Estimation of the concentration of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in plasma, without use of the preparative ultracentrifuge. Clin Chem 18:499–502

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gatseva P, Lasarova A, Maximova S, Pavlova K (1996) Experimental data on the effect of nitrates entering the organism with the drinking water. Folia Medica 37:75–83

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghasemi A, Zahediasl S (2013) Potential therapeutic effects of nitrate/nitrite and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Int J Endocrinol Metab 11(2):63–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Gonen B, Rubenstein AH (1978) Heamoglobin A1 and diabetes mellitus. Diabetologia 15:1–8

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson D (2005) Evaluation of renal function guidelines. Nephrology (Carlton) 10:S133–S176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaur J, Singh H, Khan M (2011) Multifarious therapeutic potential of fenugreek: a comprehensive review. Inter J Res Pharmac Biomed Sci 2:863–871

    Google Scholar 

  • Klee GG (1996) Clinical usage recommendation and analytic performance goals for total and free triiodothyronine measurements. Clin Chem 42:155–159

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Longnecker MP, Michalek JE (2000) Serum dioxin level in relation to diabetes mellitus among air force veterans with back ground levels of exposure. Epidemiol 11:44–48

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Marienfeld S, Hummel S, Ziegler A, Hummel M (2007) Infant nutrition and type 1 diabetes. Med 104:A 570–A 575

    Google Scholar 

  • Moosa AM, Rashid MU, Asadi AZS, Ara N, Uddin MM, Ferdaus A (2006) Hypolipidemic effects of fenugreek seed powder. Bangladesh J Pharmacol 1:64–67

    Google Scholar 

  • National Research Council, Committee on Animal Nutrition (1995) Nutrient requirements of the laboratory rat, in Nutrient Requirements of Laboratory Animals. National Academy Press, Washington, DC, USA

  • National Toxicology Program Technical Report Series (2001) Toxicology and carcinogenesis studies of sodium nitrite (CAS NO. 7632-00-0) in F344/N rats and B6C3F1 mice (drinking water studies)

  • Nicholas VC, Robert WL, Joseph R (1956) The determination of glycogen in liver and muscle by use of anthrone reagent. J Biol Chem 220:583–593

    Google Scholar 

  • Olubunmi BO, Adewumi TA, Oladayo AJ (2011) Antihepatotoxic effects of aqueous extract of the leaves of Morinda lucida, Benth on ethanol-induced hepatotoxicity in rabbit. Aust J Basic Appl Sci 5:285–291

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oyadomari S, Takeda K, Takiguchi M, Gotoh T, Matsumoto M, Wada I, Akira S, Araki E, Mori M (2001) Nitric oxide-induced apoptosis in pancreatic beta cells is mediated by the endoplasmic reticulum stress pathway. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98:10845–10850

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ragab EA, Ashry OM (2004) Lipid and carbohydrate metabolism in rats. Egypt J Rad Sci Appl 17:403–414

    Google Scholar 

  • Raju J, Gupta D, Rao AR, Yadava PK, Baquer NZ (2001) Trigonella foenum-graecum (fenugreek) seed powder improves glucose homeostasis in alloxan diabetic rat tissues by reversing the altered glycolytic, gluconeogenic and lipogenic enzymes. Mol Cell Biochem 224:45–51

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Renuka C, Ramesh N, Saravanan K (2009) Evaluation of the antidiabetic effect of Trigonella foenum graecum seed powder on alloxan induced diabetic albino rats. Inter J Pharm Tech Res 1:1580–1584

    Google Scholar 

  • Rossetti L, Lee YT, Ruiz J, Aldridge S, Shamoon H, Boden G (1993) Quantitation of glycolysis and skeletal muscle glycogen synthesis in humans. Am J Physiol 295:E761–E769

    Google Scholar 

  • Schaftingen EV, Gerin I (2002) The glucose-6-phosphatase system. Biochem J 362:513–532

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shirani G, Ganesharanee R (2009) Extruded products with fenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecium), chickpea and rice: physical properties, sensory acceptability and glycaemic index. J Food Engin 90:44–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snedecor CW, Cochran WC (1980) Statistical methods, 7th ed. The State University Press American, Iowa

  • Stark A, Madar Z (1993) The effect of an ethanol extract derived from fenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecum) on bile acid absorption and cholesterol levels in rats. Br J Nutr 69:277–287

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Temple R, Clark PMS, Hales CN (1992) Measurement of insulin secretion in type 2 diabetes: problems and pitfalls. Diabet Med 9:503–512

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Van Maanen JM, Albering HJ, de Kok TM, van Breda SG, Curfs DM, Vermeer IT, Ambergen AW, Wolffenbuttel BH, Kleinjans JC, Reeser HM (2000) Does the risk of childhood diabetes mellitus require revision of the guideline values for nitrate in drinking water? Environ Health Perspect 108:457–461

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wada N, Chiba H, Shimizu C, Kijima H, Kubo M, Koike T (1997) A novel missense mutation in codon 218 of the albumin gene in a distinct phenotype of familial dysalbuminemic hyperthyroxinemia in Japanese kindered. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 82:3246–3250

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xue WL, Li XS, Zhang J, Liu YH, Wang ZL, Zhang RJ (2007) Effect of Trigonella foenum-graecum (fenugreek) extracts on blood glucose, blood lipid and hemorheological properties in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr 16:422–426

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yoshikawa M, Murakami T, Komatsu H (1997) Medicinal food stuffs. IV. Fenugreek seed. (1): structures of trigoneosides Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa and IIIb, new furostanol saponins from the seeds of Indian Trigonella foenum graecum L. Chem Pharmaceut Bull (Tokyo) 45:81–87

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zaki A, Chaoui AA, Chait A, Aboussaouira T, Zarrouk K, Himmi T (2005) Effect of inorganic nitrates on the morphofunctional condition of the kidney in the rat. Therapie 60:75–79

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors appreciate the financial support from Faculty of Science; Mansoura University; Egypt.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hanaa A. Hassan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

El-Wakf, A.M., Hassan, H.A., Mahmoud, A.Z. et al. Fenugreek potent activity against nitrate-induced diabetes in young and adult male rats. Cytotechnology 67, 437–447 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10616-014-9702-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10616-014-9702-7

Keywords

Navigation