In-vitro evaluation of the anti-diabetic potential of plants identified through an ethnobotanical survey of the Cree Nation of Mistissini in Northern Quebec

Haddad PS^1,3,4, Martineau LC^1,3,4, Spoor D^1,3,4, Leduc C^1,3,4, Benhaddou-Andaloussi A^1,3,4, Joly E^2,4, Prentki M^2,4, Harris C^5,6, Bennett S⁶, Burt A⁵, Arnason JT⁵

¹Department of Pharmacology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada

²Department of Nutrition, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada

³Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods Institute, Université Laval, Quebec, Canada

⁴Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada

⁵Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

⁶Department of Biochemistry, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

Objective

The anti-diabetic potential of the eight most promising medicinal plants, as ranked by the frequency of citation by healers and elders, and the number and importance of symptoms for which they were cited, was assessed in vitro. Type 2 diabetes is a major health problem worldwide, with aboriginal populations being particularly affected. In the Cree nation of Canada, prevalence in adults is approaching 20% and this problem is compounded by lack of compliance with modern medication. In 2003, we conducted an ethnobotanical study of Cree traditional medicine used for the treatment of diabetes. This served as the first phase of a project designed to identify efficacious treatment options more readily accepted by this population.

Materials and methods

We employed cell-based bioassays for: (i) the potentiation of glucose uptake by skeletal muscle cells (C2C12) and adipocytes (3T3-L1); (ii) the potentiation of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion by pancreatic beta cells (INS 832/13); (iii) the potentiation of lipid accumulation in differentiating 3T3-L1; (iv) protection against glucose toxicity in pre-neuronal cells (PC12); (v) protection against glucolipotoxicty in INS 832/13.

Results

All plants potentiated basal or insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in muscle cells or adipocytes. Adipocyte differentiation was accelerated by three plants. One plant conferred protection in PC12 cells. No plant affected beta cell function.

Conclusion

The most important plants used to treat symptoms of diabetes in Cree traditional medicine possess significant in vitro anti-diabetic activity realised through a variety of physiological mechanisms.

Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and the Natural Health Products Directorate.

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