Research Article Metabolic Effects of Mulberry Leaves: Exploring Potential

Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The leaves ofMorus alba L. have a long history in Traditional ChineseMedicine and also became valued by the ethnopharmacology of many other cultures.The worldwide known antidiabetic use of the drug has been suggested to arise from a complex combination effect of various constituents. Moreover, the drug is also a potential antihyperuricemic agent. Considering that type 2 diabetes and hyperuricemia are vice-versa in each other’s important risk factors, the use of mulberry originated phytotherapeutics might provide an excellent option for the prevention and/or treatment of both conditions. Here we report a series of relevant in vitro and in vivo studies on the bioactivity of an extract of mulberry leaves and its fractions obtained by a stepwise gradient on silica gel. In vivo antihyperglycemic and antihyperuricemic activity, plasma antioxidant status, as well as in vitro glucose consumptio