DOSE DEPENDENT EFFECT OF GLYCYRRHIZIN ON GLYCAEMIC CONTROL OF TYPE 2 DIABETIC RATS

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of low and high dose of glycyrrhizin on body weight, fasting blood sugar level (FBSL), serum insulin and glycemic indices in high fat diet induced type 2 diabetic rats. METHODS: In this experimental study with intervention period of 34 weeks, rats were grouped into four experimental groups; Group-A: normal control; Group-B: diabetic control; Group-C: glycyrrhizin-150 and Group-D: glycyrrhizin-300. Diabetes mellitus was induced in rats by giving high fat diet with injection dexamethasone. At 32 weeks, body weight, FBSL, serum insulin, Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR), Homeostatic Model Assessment of beta cells (HOMA-β) and Quantitative Insulin Sensitivity Check Index (QUICKI) were estimated. Two experimental groups received glycyrrhizin 150 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg per oral per day till completion of 34 weeks in addition to the high fat diet. At 34 weeks all the parameters were re-estimated. RESULTS: It was observed that both doses of glycyrrhizin significantly reduced FBSL and insulin levels in group-C (95.00±8.23 mg/dl, 671.60±55.51 µIU/ml) and group-D (94.00±6.27 mg/dl, 675.00±44.96 µIU/ml) as compared to group-B (236.10±13.26 mg/dl, 1052.80±37.82 µIU/ml) [p-value 0.05) but significantly in group-D (293.20±42.54) as compared to group-B (372.00±24.03) [P-value<0.001]. CONCLUSION: Glycyrrhizin effectively improves glycaemic control in rat model of type 2 diabetes mellitus.