(−)-Epicatechin has previously been suggested to rapidly reverse alloxan diabetes in rats. We have assessed the therapeutic value of the compound in two further animal models of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, namely streptozotocin – diabetic rats and the spontaneously diabetic BB/E rat. There was no indication of a reversal of established diabetes in either the streptozotocin-diabetic or the spontaneously diabetic BB/E rats. Moreover, epicatechin also failed to halt the progression of the disease in prediabetic BB/E rats. Earlier claims of the potential use of epicatechin as an antidiabetic agent must therefore be treated with some caution.
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© 1985 The Biochemical Society
1985
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