Plant chemical may fight diabetes

According to a research team in American, a plant-based chemical could fight diabetes amongst mice, without any of the traditional side effects caused by normal anti-diabetic drugs.
The chemical that the team have highlighted is called harmine. It has been used in medicinal and ritual preparations for centuries, since being isolated 150 years ago. If successful amongst humans, harmine could become an important constituent of diabetes care.
Peter Tontonoz, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at the University of California, Los Angeles, reportedly commented: “While harmine itself has effects on the central nervous system that may preclude its use. It may eventually be possible to separate the nervous system and metabolic effects of harmine through optimization of the chemical structure.”
Harmine, which works to fight diabetes amongst mice in a complex manner, can induce hallucination and tremors. The study was reported in the May issue of Cell Metabolism .