Experimental study on the treatment of diabetes by phloridzin in rats

Summary Male rats at six weeks of age were divided into 5 groups at random: in group 1, the rats with diabetes received 70 % pancreatectomy; group II had sham-operation serving as controls; diabetic rats in group III were treated with phloridzin; In group IV rats received sham-operation and phloridzin treatment and group V were phloridzin-treated diabetic rats to be studied after discontinuance of phloridzin. 70 days after surgery, the weights and insulin contents of operated remnant pancreas were markedly higher than the expected value of 30 %, reaching 44 % (48. 2 %±15. 2 %), demonstrating that the remnant pancreas still had capacities of compensatory regeneration and proliferation capacities. Phloridzintreated diabetic rats completely returned to normal in terms of oral glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. Discontinuation of phloridzin treatment in diabetic rats resulted in the recurrence of insulin resistance. These results suggested that normalization of hyperglycemia could ameliorate insulin resistance under diabetic conditions. This project was supported by Natural Science Foundation of Hygiene Ministry (Jan. 1995).