Targeting insulin resistance: myricetin and isorhamnetin from Hardwickia binata, and luteolin from Hedysarum alpinum enhance glucose uptake and AMPK signaling in HepG2 cells.

This study examined five plants (Xylopia aethiopica, Agave sisalana, Hardwickia binata, Hedysarum alpinum, and Toxicodendron vernicifluum) for their potential to address insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes. In-vitro assays showed that H. binata leaves and H. alpinum flowers inhibited α-glucosidase and α-amylase while enhancing glucose uptake in normal and insulin-resistant HepG2 cells. Phytochemical screening and SPE purification identified the key constituents responsible for the effects. The chromatographic and spectral analysis confirmed flavonoids in H. binata (myricetin, isorhamnetin, quercetin, kaempferol, and catechin) and H. alpinum (luteolin, quercetin, kaempferol, and apigenin). Myricetin, isorhamnetin, and luteolin significantly increased glucose uptake, enhanced hexokinase and pyruvate kinase activities, and promoted IRec and IRS-1 phosphorylation, modulating insulin signalling. They activated AMPK and Akt, with molecular docking confirming strong AMPK binding. These findings suggest that H. binata, H. alpinum, and their flavonoids are promising candidates for managing insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, warranting further research.

Synergistic anti-diabetic effect of phloroglucinol and total procyanidin dimer isolated from Vitisvinifera methanolic seed extract potentiates via suppressing oxidative stress: in-vitro evaluation studies.

Diabetes is often associated with increased oxidative stress caused by an imbalance between detoxification and ROS production. Unfortunately, many commercial drugs available today for treating this disease have adverse side effects and ultimately fail to restore glucose homeostasis. Therefore, finding a dietary anti-diabetic remedy that is safe, effective, and economical is crucial. In this study, GC-MS analysis, subsequent HPLC-assisted fractionation, and SPE-based purification led to identifying and purifying of key components such as phloroglucinol and total procyanidin dimer (procyanidin dimer and procyanidin dimer gallate) from methanolic seed extract of Vitis vinifera. In-vitro anti-diabetic screening of various fractions derived from methanolic extract along with individual components and their combinations revealed the potential synergistic behaviour of phloroglucinol and total procyanidin dimer with the lowest IC50 of 48.21 ± 3.54 µg/mL for α-glucosidase and 63.06 ± 5.38 µg/mL for α-amylase inhibition which is found to be superior to the effect shown by the standard Epigallocatechin gallate. Later Glucose utilization studies demonstrated the concentration-dependent effect of Phloroglucinol and total procyanidin dimer, and that has raised the glucose uptake by approximately 36-57% in HepG2 cells and 35-58% in L6 myocytes over a concentration of 50-100 µg/mL. The superior anti-diabetic effect of Phloroglucinol and total procyanidin dimer was proved by the suppression of oxidative stress with an IC50 of 7.92 ± 0.36 µg/mL for DPPH scavenging and 16.87 ± 1.24 µg/mL for SOD scavenging which is competent with the standard ascorbic acid. According to this study, suppressing ROS levels by phloroglucinol and total procyanidin dimer would be the underlying mechanism for the synergistic anti-diabetic effect of this combination. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-024-03929-4.

Precolumn o-phthalaldehyde-N-acetyl-L-cysteine derivatization followed by RP-HPLC separation and fluorescence detection of sitagliptin enantiomers in rat plasma.

An indirect reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic separation and fluorescence detection of sitagliptin enantiomers in rat plasma was developed and validated. Deproteinized rat plasma containing racemic sitagliptin was derivatized with o-phthalaldehyde and N-acetyl-L-cysteine under alkaline conditions, converted to diastereomers, and separated on a Lichrospher 100 RP-18e column using 20 mM phosphate buffer and methanol (45:55 v/v) as a mobile phase under isocratic mode of elution at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. Fluorescence detection was performed at 330 and 450 nm as excitation and emission wavelengths, respectively. The method was linear in the range of 50-5000 ng/ mL for both enantiomers. The intra- and interday accuracy and precision were within the predefined limits of ≤15% at all concentrations. The method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of sitagliptin after 5 mg/kg oral administration to Wistar rats. Robustness of the method was evaluated using design of experiments.

Garlic provides protection to mice heart against isoproterenol-induced oxidative damage: role of nitric oxide.

Garlic has been widely recognized as a cardioprotective agent. However, the molecular mechanism of its cardioprotective effects is not well established. Here we hypothesized that aqueous garlic homogenate may mediate cardioprotection via nitric oxide (NO). Mice were fed with saline and aqueous garlic homogenate (250 and 500 mgkg(-1)day(-1) orally) for 30 days. In another set of experiment, mice were pre-treated with saline, aqueous garlic homogenate (AGH) (250 mgkg(-1)day(-1) for 30 days), and AGH (30 days) along with L-NAME (20 mgkg(-1)day(-1) i.p. for last 7 days) before inducing acute myocardial infarction by isoproterenol (s.c. injection of isoproterenol 150 mgkg(-1)day(-1) for 2 days) and sacrificed after 48 h. Dose dependent increase in serum NO level was observed after garlic 250 and 500 mgkg(-1) dose feeding. While no change in serum SGPT and SGOT level, a significant decrease in serum LDH level was observed after garlic feeding. Garlic-induced NO formation was further confirmed in human aortic endothelial cells (HAEC). Administration of isoproterenol caused a significant decrease in endogenous antioxidants i.e., myocardial catalase, GSH and GPx activity, and mitochondrial enzyme activities like citrate synthase and ß hydroxyacyl CoA dehydrogenase. All those deleterious cardiac changes induced by isoproterenol were significantly attenuated by garlic homogenate. However this beneficial effect of garlic was blunted when garlic was administered with L-NAME, a nonspecific inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase (NOS). Further, a significant increase in myocardial TBARS and decrease in total antioxidant activity was observed in L-NAME treated group compared to isoproterenol treated group. Administration of L-NAME in mice from control group lowered serum and cardiac NO levels without any change of oxidative stress parameters. In conclusion, our study provides novel evidence that garlic homogenate is protective in myocardial infarction via NO-signaling pathway in mice.

Attenuation of insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and hepatic oxidative stress by resveratrol in fructose-fed rats.

Metabolic syndrome and oxidative stress are common complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The present study was designed to determine whether resveratrol, a widely used nutritional supplement, can improve insulin sensitivity, metabolic complication as well as hepatic oxidative stress in fructose-fed rats. Male Sprague Dawley rats (180-200 g) were divided into four groups with 8 animals each. Fructose-fed insulin resistant group (Dia) animals were fed 65% fructose (Research diet, USA) for a period of 8 weeks, whereas control group (Con) animals were fed 65% cornstarch (Research Diet, USA). Resveratrol, 10 mg/kg/day (Dia+Resv) or metformin 300 mg/kg/day (Dia+Met) were administered orally to the 65% fructose-fed rats for 8 weeks. At the end of the feeding schedule, Dia group had insulin resistance along with increased blood glucose, triglyceride, uric acid and nitric oxide (NO) levels. Significant (p<0.05) increase in hepatic TBARS and conjugated dienes, and significant (p<0.05) decrease in hepatic SOD and vitamin C was observed in Dia group compared to Con group. Administration of metformin or resveratrol significantly (p<0.05) normalized all the altered metabolic parameters. However, a marked insulin sensitizing action was only observed in the Dia+Resv group. Similarly, while metformin administration failed to normalize the increased TBARS levels and decreased SOD activity, resveratrol showed a more promising effect of all oxidative stress parameters measured in the present study. Attenuation of hepatic oxidative stress in fructose-fed rat liver after resveratrol administration was associated with significant (p<0.05) increase in nuclear level of NRF2 compared with other groups. The present study demonstrates that resveratrol is more effective than metformin in improving insulin sensitivity, and attenuating metabolic syndrome and hepatic oxidative stress in fructose-fed rats.

In vivo metabolic investigation of moxifloxacin using liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry in combination with online hydrogen/deuterium exchange experiments.

RATIONALE: Tuberculosis is a leading cause of death from an infectious disease and moxifloxacin is an effective drug as compared to other fluoroquinolones. To date only two metabolites of the drug are known. Therefore, the present study on characterization of hitherto unknown in vivo metabolites of moxifloxacin using liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS) is undertaken. METHODS: In vivo metabolites of moxifloxacin have been identified and characterized by using LC/ESI-MS/MS in combination with an online hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange technique. To identify in vivo metabolites, blood, urine and faeces samples were collected after oral administration of moxifloxacin to Sprague-Dawley rats. The samples were prepared using an optimized sample preparation approach involving protein precipitation, liquid-liquid extraction followed by solid-phase extraction and LC/MS/MS analysis. RESULTS: A total of nine phase I and ten phase II metabolites of moxifloxacin have been identified in urine samples including N-sulphated, glucuronide and hydroxylated metabolites which are also observed in plasma samples. In faeces samples, only the N-sulphated metabolite is observed. The structures of metabolites have been elucidated based on fragmentation patterns, accurate mass measurements and online H/D exchange LC/MS/MS experiments. Online H/D exchange experiments are used to support the identification and structural characterization of drug metabolites. CONCLUSIONS: A total of 19 in vivo metabolites of moxifloxacin have been characterized using LC/ESI-MS/MS in combination with accurate mass measurements and online H/D exchange experiments. The main phase I metabolites of moxifloxacin are hydroxylated, decarbonylated, desmethylated and desmethylhydroxylated metabolites which undergo subsequent phase II glucuronidation pathways.

Development and validation of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometric method for simultaneous determination of moxifloxacin and ketorolac in rat plasma: application to pharmacokinetic study.

A highly sensitive, selective and rapid liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method has been developed and validated for simultaneous determination of moxifloxacin (MFX) and ketorolac (KTC) in rat plasma. Gemifloxacin (GFX) was used as an internal standard (IS). A simple protein precipitation method was used for the extraction of analytes from rat plasma. Effective chromatographic separation of MFX, KTC and GFX was achieved on a Kromasil C(18) column (100 × 4.6 mm, 5 µm) using a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile-10 mm ammonium acetate (pH 2.5)-0.1% formic acid (50:25:25) in an isocratic elution, followed by detection with positive ion electrospray ionization mass spectrometry using target ions of [M + H](+) at m/z 402 for MFX, m/z 256 for KTC and m/z 390 for GFX in selective ion recording mode. The method was validated over the calibration range of 5-100 ng/mL for MFX and 10-6000 ng/mL for KTC. The method demonstrated good performances in terms of intra- and inter-day precision (0.97-5.33%) and accuracy (93.91-101.58%) for both MFX and KTC, including lower and upper limits of quantification. The recoveries from spiked control samples were >75% for MFX and >79% for KTC. The matrix effect was found to be negligible and the stability data were within acceptable limits. Further, the method was also successfully applied to a single-dose pharmacokinetic study in rats. This method can be extended to measure plasma concentrations of both drugs in human to understand drug interaction and adverse effects.

Determination of gemifloxacin on dried blood spots by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography with fluorescence detector: application to pharmacokinetics in rats.

A highly selective, sensitive and rapid hydrophilic liquid interaction chromatographic method was developed and validated for determination of gemifloxacin on dried blood spots. The chromatographic separation was achieved on a reversed-phase zwitterionic hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatographic ZIC®HILIC-C18 (4.6 × 100 mm; 5 µm) column using acetonitrile-10 mM ammonium acetate (pH 3.5; 80:20, v/v) as a mobile phase in an isocratic elution mode at a flow rate 0.6 mL/min at 27 °C. An on-line fluorescence detector set at excitation and emission wavelengths of 269 and 393 nm, respectively was used for monitoring column eluents. Ciprofloxacin was used as an internal standard. The method was validated for accuracy, precision, linearity and selectivity by design of experiments following ICH guidelines. The assay exhibited a linear range of 25-5000 ng/mL for gemifloxacin on dried blood spots. The lower limit of detection was found to be 10 ng/mL. The intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation did not exceed 7.4% deviation of the nominal concentration. The recovery of GFX from dried blood spots was >95.0% and its stability was excellent with no evidence of degradation during sample processing for at least 3 months storage in a freezer at -20 °C.

Emerging biomarkers for the detection of cardiovascular diseases.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been continuously increasing, and this trend is projected to continue. CVD is rapidly becoming a significant public health issue. Every year there is a spike in hospital cases of CVD, a critical health concern in lower- and middle-income countries. Based on identification of novel biomarkers, it would be necessary to study and evaluate the diagnostic requirements or CVD to expedite early detection. MAIN BODY: The literature review was written using a wide range of sources, such as well-known medical journals, electronic databases, manuscripts, texts, and other writings from the university library. After that, we analysed the specific markers of CVD and compiled a systematic review. A growing body of clinical research aims to identify people who are at risk for cardiovascular disease by looking for biomolecules. A small number of biomarkers have been shown to be useful and reliable in medicine. Biomarkers can be used for a variety of clinical applications, such as predicting heart disease risk, diagnosing disease, or predicting outcomes. As a result of the ability for a single molecule to act as a biomarker, its usefulness in medicine is expected to increase significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Based on assessing the current trends in the application of CVD markers, we discussed and described the requirements for the application of CVD biomarkers in coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, rheumatic heart disease, and other cardiovascular illnesses. Furthermore, the current review focuses on biomarkers for CVD and the procedures that should be considered to establish the comprehensive nature of the expression of biomarkers for cardiovascular illness.

Supported liquid extraction and LC-MS-MS determination of iloperidone and olanzapine in rat plasma: Application to a pharmacokinetic study.

A sensitive, selective rapid bioanalytical assay method was developed and quantification of iloperidone (ILP) and olanzapine (OLZ) in rat plasma was done by mass spectrometry. Systematic sample preparation and extraction procedure were carried out by supported liquid extraction using dichloromethane to extract both the eluents (ILP and OLZ) from rat plasma samples. The extorted samples were injected on a selective Waters XTerra® C18 reverse-phase bonded column (250 × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 µm) using acetonitrile and 15 mM ammonium formate containing 0.05% trifluoroacetic acid (60:40 v/v) for isocratic elution mode and detected by mass spectrometry. Calibration curves were drawn with the respective assay statistical data and showed linear regression coefficients greater than 0.9996 over the concentration ranges 2-5,000 ng/mL for ILP and OLZ, respectively. The absolute mean recoveries were found to be in the replicate range of 87.12-94.47%, respectively. The obtained results by the method revealed good intra and interday assay performance in terms of 1.70-5.90% precision and 0-5% accuracy. The validated bioassay method has been successfully applied to the pharmacokinetics in rats.

Zingerone alleviates cadmium-induced nephrotoxicity in rats via its antioxidant and anti-apoptotic properties

Objectives: Cadmium is an essential industrial metal and acts as an environmental toxicant that is a major cause of kidney diseases. Hence, we aimed to evaluate the possible nephroprotective effects of zingerone (ZGO), a major flavonoid constituent in ginger (Zingiber officinale) dry roots, against cadmium-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. Methods: In this study, Wistar albino rats [ACUC: HU2020/Z/FMS0120-01] were allocated randomly to 4 groups with seven animals in each group. The control group which received physiological saline; cadmium chloride (CdCl2) treatment group which received CdCl2 at a dose of 6.5 mg/kg intraperitoneally (i.p.) for 7 consecutive days; zingerone treatment group which received 25 mg/kg of zingerone orally for 7 consecutive days and CdCl2(6.5 mg/kg; i.p.)+ZGO (25 mg/kg; p.o.) treatment group which received CdCl2 and ZGO for 7 consecutive days. Results: Co-administration of ZGO along with CdCl2 resulted in a significant reduction in creatinine and urea levels of serum. Additionally, ZGO significantly diminished the tissue levels of Cd concentration, lipid peroxidation, and nitric oxide and significantly recovered the enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidant molecules, namely glutathione, total superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione recycling enzymes peroxidase and reductase, in kidney tissue. Furthermore, ZGO treatment prevented the inflammation produced by CdCl2 by restraining the elevation in the level of pro-inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin1beta). Moreover, ZGO improved histopathological alternations in the kidney by preventing apoptosis cascade in kidney tissue by stimulating Bcl-2 and suppressing Bax and caspase-3. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that ZGO has nephroprotective activity in cadmium-induced nephrotoxicity mostly via modulating of oxidant/antioxidant balance, inflammatory response, and apoptosis.

Garlic activates SIRT-3 to prevent cardiac oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in diabetes.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac complications are major contributor in the mortality of diabetic people. Mitochondrial dysfunctioning is a crucial contributor for the cardiac complications in diabetes, and SIRT-3 remains the major mitochondrial deacetylase. We hypothesized whether garlic has any role on SIRT-3 to prevent mitochondrial dysfunction in diabetic heart. METHODS: Rats with developed hyperglycemia after STZ injection were divided into two groups; diabetic (Dia) and diabetic+garlic (Dia+Garl). Garlic was administered at a dose of 250mg/kg/day, orally for four weeks. An additional group was maintained to evaluate the effect of raw garlic administration on control rat heart. RESULT: We have observed altered functioning of cardiac mitochondrial enzymes involved in metabolic pathways, and increased levels of cardiac ROS with decreased activity of catalase and SOD in diabetic rats. Cardiac mRNA expression of TFAM, PGC-1α, and CO1 was also altered in diabetes. In addition, reduced levels of electron transport chain complexes that observed in Dia group were normalized with garlic administration. This indicates the presence of increased oxidative stress with mitochondrial dysfunctioning in diabetic heart. We have observed reduced activity of SIRT3 and increased acetylation of MnSOD. Silencing SIRT-3 in cells also revealed the same. However, administration of garlic improved the SIRT-3 and MnSOD activity, by deacetylating MnSOD. Increased SOD activity was correlated with reduced levels of ROS in garlic-administered rat hearts. CONCLUSION: Collectively, our results provide an insight into garlic's protection to T1DM heart through activation of SIRT3-MnSOD pathway.

Garlic and Resveratrol Attenuate Diabetic Complications, Loss of ß-Cells, Pancreatic and Hepatic Oxidative Stress in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats.

The study was aimed at finding the effect of garlic and resveratrol on loss of ß-cells and diabetic complication in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced Type-I diabetic rats. Rats were injected with single dose STZ (50 mg/kg, i.p.) for induction of type 1 diabetes (Dia) and compared with control group. Rats from third (Dia+Gar), fourth (Dia+Resv), and fifth (Dia+Met) groups were fed raw garlic homogenate (250 mg/kg/day), resveratrol (25 mg/kg/day), and metformin (500 mg/kg/day) orally, respectively, for a period of 4 weeks. Diabetic group had decreased serum insulin and hydrogen sulfide levels along with increased blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin, triglyceride, uric acid, and nitric oxide levels. Significant (p < 0.05) increase in pancreatic and hepatic TBARS, conjugated dienes, nitric oxide, and AGE level and significant (p < 0.05) decrease in SOD, catalase, H2S, GSH level were observed in diabetic group. Administration of garlic, resveratrol, and metformin significantly (p < 0.05) normalized most of the altered metabolic and oxidative stress parameters as well as histopathological changes. Administration of garlic, resveratrol, and metformin in diabetic rat decreases pancreatic ß-cell damage and hepatic injury. Our data concluded that administration of garlic showed more promising effect in terms of reducing oxidative stress and pathological changes when compared to resveratrol and metformin groups.

Garlic attenuates cardiac oxidative stress via activation of PI3K/AKT/Nrf2-Keap1 pathway in fructose-fed diabetic rat.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular complication due to diabetes has remained a major cause of death. There is an urgent need to intervene the cardiac complications in diabetes by nutritional or pharmacological agents. Thus the present study was designed to find out the effectiveness of garlic on cardiac complications in insulin-resistant diabetic rats. METHODS AND RESULTS: SD rats were fed high fructose (65%) diet alone or along with raw garlic homogenate (250 mg/kg/day) or nutrient-matched (65% corn starch) control diet for 8 weeks. Fructose-fed diabetic rats showed cardiac hypertrophy, increased NFkB activity and increased oxidative stress. Administration of garlic significantly decreased (p<0.05) cardiac hypertrophy, NFkB activity and oxidative stress. Although we did not observe any changes in myocardial catalase, GSH and GPx in diabetic heart, garlic administration showed significant (p<0.05) increase in all three antioxidant/enzymes levels. Increased endogenous antioxidant enzymes and gene expression in garlic treated diabetic heart are associated with higher protein expression of Nrf2. Increased myocardial H2S levels, activation of PI3K/Akt pathway and decreased Keap levels in fructose-fed heart after garlic administration might be responsible for higher Nrf2 levels. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates that raw garlic homogenate is effective in reducing cardiac hypertrophy and fructose-induced myocardial oxidative stress through PI3K/AKT/Nrf2-Keap1 dependent pathway.

Garlic as an anti-diabetic agent: recent progress and patent reviews.

This article reviews recent literature on the usage and relevance of garlic and its bioactive components in controlling diabetes and diabetes-associated pathologies; and also updates recent patents on the subject. Antidiabetic effect of garlic is well documented even in ancient medical literature. Garlic and its active ingredients have been extensively studied for their antidiabetic efficacies in either experimentally induced or genetic animal models of diabetes. Human studies are also available where hypoglycemic effect of garlic was reported. The beneficial effects of garlic are mainly attributed to the presence of volatile sulfur compounds like alliin, allicin, diallyl disulfide, diallyl trisulfide, diallyl sulfide, S-allyl cysteine, ajoene and allyl mercaptan. Garlic and garlic extracts have been shown to be effective in reducing insulin resistance. Therefore, considering the importance of garlic in controlling diabetic complications, several preparations and food processes containing garlic have been patented. This review discusses some of the recent progresses made in this field and consolidates the results.

Identification and structural characterization of in vivo metabolites of ketorolac using liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS).

In vivo metabolites of ketorolac (KTC) have been identified and characterized by using liquid chromatography positive ion electrospray ionization high resolution tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-HR-MS/MS) in combination with online hydrogen/deuterium exchange (HDX) experiments. To identify in vivo metabolites, blood urine and feces samples were collected after oral administration of KTC to Sprague-Dawley rats. The samples were prepared using an optimized sample preparation approach involving protein precipitation and freeze liquid separation followed by solid-phase extraction and then subjected to LC/HR-MS/MS analysis. A total of 12 metabolites have been identified in urine samples including hydroxy and glucuronide metabolites, which are also observed in plasma samples. In feces, only O-sulfate metabolite and unchanged KTC are observed. The structures of metabolites were elucidated using LC-MS/MS and MS(n) experiments combined with accurate mass measurements. Online HDX experiments have been used to support the structural characterization of drug metabolites. The main phase I metabolites of KTC are hydroxylated and decarbonylated metabolites, which undergo subsequent phase II glucuronidation pathways.

Garlic improves insulin sensitivity and associated metabolic syndromes in fructose fed rats.

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus, characterized by peripheral insulin resistance, is a major lifestyle disorder of the 21st Century. Raw garlic homogenate has been reported to reduce plasma glucose levels in animal models of type 1 diabetes mellitus. However, no specific studies have been conducted to evaluate the effect of raw garlic on insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes mellitus. This study was designed to investigate the effect of raw garlic on fructose induced insulin resistance, associated metabolic syndrome and oxidative stress in diabetic rats. METHODS: Male Sprague Dawley rats weighing 200-250 gm body weight were divided into 3 groups (n = 7 per group) and fed diet containing 65% cornstarch (Control group) and 65% fructose (Diabetic group) for 8 weeks. The third group (Dia+Garl group) was fed both 65% fructose and raw garlic homogenate (250 mg/kg/day) for 8 weeks. Whole garlic cloves were homogenized with water to make a fresh paste each day. RESULTS: At the end of 8 weeks, serum glucose, insulin, triglyceride and uric acid levels, as well as insulin resistance, as measured by glucose tolerance test, were significantly (p < 0.01) increased in fructose fed rats (Diabetic group) when compared to the cornstarch fed (Control) rats. Administration of raw garlic to fructose fed rats (Dia+Garl group) significantly (p < 0.05) reduced serum glucose, insulin, triglyceride and uric acid levels, as well as insulin resistance when compared with fructose fed rats. Garlic also normalised the increased serum levels of nitric oxide (NO) and decreased levels of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) after fructose feeding. Although body weight gain and serum glycated haemoglobin levels of fructose fed rats (Diabetic group) were not significantly different from control rats, significant (p < 0.05) reduction of these parameters was observed in fructose fed rats after garlic administration (Dia+Garl group). Significant (p < 0.05) increase in TBARS and decrease in GSH was observed in diabetic liver. Catalase was not significantly affected in any of the groups. Administration of raw garlic homogenate normalised both hepatic TBARS and GSH levels. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that raw garlic homogenate is effective in improving insulin sensitivity while attenuating metabolic syndrome and oxidative stress in fructose-fed rats.