Planta Med. 1997 Aug; 63(4): 320-2.

Antidiabetic effect of seishin-kanro-to in KK-Ay mice.

Miura T, Kako M, Ishihara E, Usami M, Yano H, Tanigawa K, Sudo K, Seino Y.

Suzuka University of Medical Science and Technology, Mie, Japan.

The hypoglycemic effect of Seishin-kanro-to (SK) was investigated in KK-Ay mice, one of the non-insulin dependent diabetic mellitus types. SK (1700 mg/kg) reduced the blood glucose of KK-Ay mice from 557 +/- 17 to 383 +/- 36 mg/100 ml 7 hours after single oral administration (P < 0.001). SK also decreased the blood glucose and improved glucose tolerance 5 weeks after repeated administration in KK-Ay mice. These results support, therefore, the use of SK in patients with diabetes and confirm its role as a traditional medicine. In addition, the active plants of SK were identified as the rhizome of Anemarrhena asphodeloides Bunge and the radix of Rehmannia glutinosa Liboschitz.