Abstract:
The present study investigates the in vitro antidiabetic and antioxidant potential of hesperidin and hesperetin under oxidative stress induced in L6 myotubes. Also, the study attempts to reveal the effect of glycosylation (hesperetin) on the biological activities of hesperidin. Oxidative stress is the leading cause of complications associated with diabetes. Both hesperidin and hesperetin reduce oxidative stress directly by scavenging intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and by up‐regulating natural antioxidant defence system like glutathione. Hesperidin and hesperetin at 10μM inhibited the non‐enzymatic glycation of proteins (65.57% and 35.6%, respectively), the critical reaction involved in the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) which has a significant role in the pathogenesis of diabetes. Additionally, these compounds induced glucose uptake in L6 myotubes following acute and chronic treatment. The percentage 2‐NBDG uptake shown by both the compounds was comparable with that of the antidiabetic drug, rosiglitazone (30.4%). Both the compounds downregulated PI3 kinase activity whereas GLUT4, IRS, and AKT were upregulated in L6 myotubes pointing to the possible overlapping with the insulin signalling pathway.