Journal of Experimental and Integrative Medicine 2012; 2(2):155-160 www.jeim.org 155 Effect of germinated Glycine max seeds on glycemic control in STZ+NAD induced type 2 diabetic models: a preliminary study Richa Gupta, Suman Bala Sharma Department of Biochemistry, University College of Medical Sciences and GTB Hospital, Delhi, India. Summary Objective: Glycine max (soybean) is a legume (Fabaceae) native to East Asia. Glycine max seeds are a powerful stimulant of immune system, used to decrease menopause symptoms, estrogen, treat certain types of cancers including that of the breast, lungs, prostate. It is also used for treating diabetes, liver and kidney disorders. The study aimed to investigate the effect of germinated Glycine max seeds on glycemic control in Streptozotocin (STZ) plus Nicotinamide (NAD) induced type 2 diabetic rats. Methods: The effect of Glycine max seed extract at the dose of 100, 200, 400 mg/kg b.w, respectively, germinated at different time intervals was investigated in STZ+NAD induced diabetic rats. The study was conducted for 21 days to investigate the effect of extract on blood biochemical parameters indicative of hyperglycemia; fasting blood glucose (FBG), oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), glycosylated hemoglobin (GHb) and lipid profile, i.e. total cholesterol (TC), low and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c and HDL-c) and triacylglycerol (triglycerides, TG) levels. Results: Aqueous extract (200 mg/kg b.w) of 12 h soaked and germinated Glycine max seeds produced significant reduction in FBG after 90 min (9.6%) and 3 h (15.6%) of administration. When the extract (200 mg/kg) was administered daily for three weeks to diabetic rats, significant fall in FBG (48.6%) and GHb (30.2%) was observed. Glucose tolerance was also found to be improved. Extract also showed significant hypolipidemic effect in diabetic rats as apparent from fall in TG, TC and LDL-c, and significant improvement on HDL-c. Conclusion: The results suggest that aqueous extract of 12 h germinated Glycine max seeds possess antihyperglycemic as well as hypolipidemic activity. Key words: Germination; Glycine max; Nicotinamide; Streptozotocin; Type 2 diabetes Correspondence: S.B. Sharma Department of Biochemistry, University College of Medical Sciences and GTB Hospital, Delhi 110095, India drsbs08@hotmail.com Received: August 19, 2011 Accepted: November 10, 2011 Published online: January 2, 2012 J Exp Integr Med 2012; 2:155-160 DOI:10.5455/jeim.020112.or.021 ©2012 GESDAV. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the work is properly cited. Introduction Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic disorders with one common manifestation of hyperglycemia [1, 2]. Chronic hyperglycemia causes damage to eyes, kidneys, nerves, heart and blood vessels [3]. It is caused by inherited and/or acquired deficiency in production of insulin by the pancreas, or by resistance of the insulin produced. Patients with diabetes have lipid disorders and an increased risk of cardiovascular and cerebro- vascular diseases [4, 5]. Diabetes is associated with profound alterations in the plasma lipids and lipoprotein profile and with an increased risk of premature atherosclerosis, coronary insufficiency and myocardial infarction [6]. Diabetes mellitus is found in all parts of the world with more than 220 million people worldwide [7]. It is projected to become one of the world main killers within the next 25 years. The management of diabetes is a global problem until now and successful treatment is not yet discovered. Although, oral hypoglycemic drugs/insulins are the mainstay of treatment of diabetes and are effective in controlling hyperglycemia, they have prominent side effects and fail significantly to alter the course of diabetic complications. Since ancient period medicinal plants have been reported to be useful in diabetes worldwide and have been used empirically as antidiabetic and antihyperlipidemic remedies. Considering the significant importance of the antidiabetic agents from natural products against diabetes, development of new efficient agents with fewer side effects is a compelling urgency. Soybean (Glycine max) is an annual plant belonging to leguminosae (Fabaceae) family and widely distributed in East Asia, Australia and Africa. The plant is classified as an oilseed rather than a pulse. The dried bean contains 40% proteins, 18-22% fat and 35% carbohydrate and many other bioactive compounds [8]. Soybeans are rich in the plant hormones phytoestrogens that in the human body seem to act to dilute the impact of the body's own estrogens. This makes them a potential Original Article