Abstract: The hypoglycemic activity of lotus seedpod procyanidin was investigated in a Wistar rat model of diabetes mellitus induced by streptozotocin, and its mechanism of action was preliminarily explored. The rats were divided into six groups: blank control, diabetic model, and lotus seedpod procyanidin at low, medium and high doses. Body mass, food and water intake, fasting blood glucose, serum insulin, C-peptide concentration, oxidative stress, total cholesterol (TC) concentration, triglyceride (TG) concentration and organ indices were measured in each group of mice, and the pathological changes of liver and kidney tissues were also observed. The results showed that lotus seedpod procyanidin alleviated mass loss in diabetic rats. Compared with the model group, high-dose lotus seedpod procyanidin significantly or extremely significantly reduced food and water intake, and fasting blood glucose, serum TC and TG concentrations in rats (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Medium- and high-dose lotus seedpod procyanidin extremely significantly reduced serum malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration (P < 0.01) and significantly or extremely significantly increased the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) (P < 0.05, P < 0.01), thus improving oxidative stress in diabetic rats. Microscopic observation of rat liver and kidney sections indicated that lotus seedpod procyanidin could protect liver and kidney tissues to a certain extent. In conclusion, lotus seedpod procyanidin has a significant hypoglycemic effect, possibly by affecting lipid metabolism and protecting rats from oxidative stress.

Key words: lotus seedpod procyanidin; diabetes; physiological and biochemical indicators; hypoglycemic activity