Author(s)

Mehdi Mahmoodi, Sadegh Zarei, Mohsen Rezaeian, Mohammad Kazemi Arababadi, Hassan Ghasemi, Hossein Khoramdelazad, Naser Rezayati, Gholamhossein Hasanshahi, Seyed-Mostafa Hosseini-Zijoud

Department of Biochemistry and Hamadan student research committee, Faculty of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran.
Department of immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran.
Department of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran.
Molecular Medicine Research Center, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran.

Hepatic GCK is a key enzyme in glucose homeostasis and, as such, is a potential target for treatment strategies of diabetes. We investigated the effect of Persian shallot (Allium hirtifolium Boiss) hydroalchoholic extract on blood glucose level, plasma insulin level, GCK activity and its gene expression. Thirty two male rats were divided into 4 groups of 8, diabetic groups received 100 and 200 mg/kg Persian shallot extract, diabetic control and normal control received 0.9% saline for 30 days. Investigations of gene expression by Real-Time PCR showed that Persian shallot had led to gently increased GCK gene expression in diabetic rats. GCK activity increased significantly in Persian shallot treated group in dose dependent manner (P < 0.05). These results indicated that Persian shallot exhibited a significant potential as a hypoglycemic agent perhaps via its ability to enhance insulin secretion, GCK gene expression and its activity.

Persian Shallot; Glucokinase; Gene Expression; Diabetes

M. Mahmoodi, S. Zarei, M. Rezaeian, M. Arababadi, H. Ghasemi, H. Khoramdelazad, N. Rezayati, G. Hasanshahi and S. Hosseini-Zijoud, "Persian Shallot (Allium hirtifolium Boiss) Extract Elevates Glucokinase (GCK) Activity and Gene Expression in Diabetic Rats," American Journal of Plant Sciences, Vol. 4 No. 7, 2013, pp. 1393-1399. doi: 10.4236/ajps.2013.47170.