Abstract

Insulin released by the β cells of pancreatic islets is the main regulator of glucose levels, the quantitative modelling of their glucose stimulated insulin secretion is of obvious interest not only to improve our understanding of the processes involved, but also to allow better assessment of β cell function and the development of improved artificial or bioartificial pancreas devices. Since previous studies from our lab have shown that the aqueous extracts of Ocimum sanctum and Allium sativam have antihyperglycemic potential in alloxan induced diabetic rats, the present study was aimed to evaluate whether the extracts of Ocimum sanctum and Allium sativam improve the insulin secretion in vitro in glucose challenged cultured pancreatic islet cells of Wistar rats. Normal islet cells and glucose challenged islet cells treated with aqueous suspension of Ocimum sanctum and Allium sativam showed increased viability and insulin level. In vitro treatment of Ocimum sanctum and Allium sativam showed insulin secretagogue activity in cultured β islet cells of rats.