Alieh Safamanesh - Dept. of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
Shahrbanoo Oryan - Dept. of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
Ramesh Ahmadi - Dept. of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Islamic Azad University of Qom, Qom, Iran
Kazem Parivar - Dept. of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran

Background and Objective: Peganum harmala has emerged as a promising anti-diabetic medicine. There is no study regarding the impact of P. harmala concentration on the insulin secretion, C-peptide secretion, and glucose uptake. We investigated the effect of different concentrations of methanolic extracts of P. harmala seed and leaf on insulin and C-peptide secretion, and glucose uptake. Materials and Methods: After the cell passaging, pancreatic carcinoma cell line (PANC-۱) and HT۱۰۸۰ were treated with different concentrations of seed and leaf extract of P. harmala, harmine, and ghrelin agonists. The MTT was employed to assess the cell survival at the selective doses, and using a spectrophotometer, the absorbance was determined at ۵۷۰ nm. After ۷۲-h treatment, the insulin and C-peptide secretion were measured by ELISA. To measure the intracellular glucose concentrations after treating muscle carcinoma cell lines, glucose oxidase method was utilized. Results: P. harmala seed and leaf extracts increased the secretion of insulin and C-peptide in a dose-dependent manner compared to ghrelin and harmine. These extracts increased the intracellular glucose concentration at high doses (۱۵۰ and ۱۵۰۰ µg/ml for the seed and leaf extract, respectively) of HT۱۰۸۰ cell line. However, their high concentration was toxic and reduced the cell survival. The methanolic extracts of seed showed a higher insulin (۱۷.۵-fold) and C-peptide (۷.۸-fold) secretion compared to the leaf methanolic extracts. Conclusion: Due to the presence of β-carbolines, the P. harmala seed extract has toxicity and affects insulin secretion and C-peptide uptake secretion at lower concentrations than those of leaf extract.

Carcinoma, C-peptide, Peganum, Insulin