Biol Pharm Bull. 1993 Nov; 16(11): 1118-20.

Hypoglycemic activity of polygonati rhizoma in normal and diabetic mice.

Kato A, Miura T.

Kobe Women's College of Pharmacy, Hyogo, Japan.

The hypoglycemic effect of different dose of Polygonati Rhizoma, i.e., "Ousei", was investigated in both normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice. The methanol extract of Polygonati Rhizoma (OM) (800 mg/kg) reduced the blood glucose of normal mice from 202 +/- 7 to 144 +/- 13 mg/100 ml 4 h after intraperitoneal administration (p < 0.01), and also lowered significantly the blood glucose of streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice from 589 +/- 34 to 396 +/- 15 mg/100 ml under similar conditions (p < 0.001). However, the hypoglycemic effects were not accompanied by any alteration in the serum insulin in these mice. OM also suppressed epinephrine-induced hyperglycemia in mice. These results support, therefore, the use of Polygonati Rhizoma in patients with diabetes and confirm its role as a traditional medicine. In addition, one of the active components of OM was identified as a spirostanol glycoside (PO-2).