Insulin sensitization by Feronia elephantum in fructose-induced hyperinsulinemic rats: Insights from computational...

Feronia elephantum corr. (synonym: Feronia limonia, Murraya odorata, Schinus Limonia, or Limonia acidissima; common names: Bela, Kath, Billin, and Kavitha), belonging to the family Rutaceae has been known for clinical conditions such as pruritus, diarrhea, impotence, dysentery, heart diseases, and is also used as a liver tonic. However, the effect of the fruit pulp of F. elephantum on insulin resistance has yet not been reported.

The present study aimed to assess the effect of hydroalcoholic extract/fraction of F. elephantum fruit pulp on fasting blood glucose, oral glucose tolerance test, and glucose uptake in fructose-induced insulin-resistant rats and predict the gene-set enrichment of lead hits of F. elephantum with targets related to insulin resistance.

System biology tools were used to predict the best category of fraction and propose a possible mechanism. Docking was carried out with adiponectin and its receptor (hub genes). Further, fructose supplementation was used for the induction of insulin resistance. Later, three doses of extract (400, 200, and 100 mg/kg) and a flavonoid-rich fraction (63 mg/kg) were used for treatment along with metformin as standard. The physical parameters like body weight, food intake, and water intake were measured along with oral glucose tolerance test, insulin tolerance test, glycogen content in skeletal muscles and liver, glucose uptake by rat hemidiaphragm, lipid profiles, anti-oxidant biomarkers, and histology of the liver and adipose tissue.

Network pharmacology reflected the potency of F. elephantum to regulate adiponectin which may promote the reversal of insulin resistance and inhibit α-amylase and α-glucosidase. Vitexin was predicted to modulate the most genes associated with diabetes mellitus. Further, F. elephantum ameliorated the exogenous glucose clearance, promoted insulin sensitivity, reduced oxidative stress, and improved glucose and lipid metabolism. HPLC profiling revealed the presence of apigenin and quercetin in the extract for the first time.

The fruit pulp of F. elephantum reverses insulin resistance by an increase in glucose uptake and a decrease in gluconeogenesis which may be due to the regulation of multiple proteins via multiple bio-actives.