Acute Effect of HP-211 (Axulin) on Blood Glucose and Serum Insulin Responses in Healthy Lean and Overweight Humans

After consumption of a meal, pancreatic secretions of various digestive enzymes results in the breakdown of carbohydrates into monosaccharides including glucose. These sugars are subsequently absorbed through the intestinal lumen, resulting in an increased plasma glucose concentration. In response to high glucose levels, pancreatic beta-cells are stimulated to release the hormone insulin which circulates through the bloodstream and binds to insulin-responsive cells including adipocytes (fat tissue), myocytes (muscle tissue), and hepatocytes (liver). The resulting insulin-mediated signaling cascade initiates intracellular glucose uptake within peripheral tissues leading to a corresponding decrease in circulating plasma glucose.

In insulin responsive cells glucose uptake stimulation begins after the binding of insulin to Insulin Receptors (IR), which are found on the membrane surface of cells in insulin responsive tissues such as fat, muscle and liver. The IR consists of an extracellular domain which binds to insulin, and an intracellular domain that has a protein tyrosine kinase activity. The binding of Insulin to the IR initiates a series of auto-phosphorylation events within the protein kinase domain that permit interaction and phosphorylation of downstream signaling proteins in the cell that mediate the cellular response to insulin. The resulting signaling complex includes proteins in the Insulin Receptor Substrate (IRS) family known as IRS-1 and IRS-2. These key targets of the insulin signaling pathway link IR activation to downstream signaling cascades that mediate intracellular processes including GLUT4-mediated glucose uptake.

Prediabetes and Type II diabetes involve an impaired post-receptor response to insulin that hinders the glucose uptake response after meal consumption. Chronic hyperglycemia and the resulting compensatory hyperinsulinemia promote a cohort of acute and chronic sequelae including cardiovascular disease, liver complications, central nervous system degeneration and hyperglycemic osmotic stress. Axulin is a natural health product consisting of a mixture of extracts from herbs and vegetables present in normal diets which was identified by screening more than 100,000 compounds and extracts in a patented cell-culture based assay system targeting the IRS proteins. In vitro, Axulin's active ingredient, HP-211, has marked effects on the IRS-2 branch of the insulin signaling cascade to enhance downstream insulin signaling. HP-211 has been shown in animal models to increase glucose uptake in peripheral tissues and decrease circulating blood glucose and triglyceride concentrations. Regular supplementation of the diet with Axulin would be expected to reduce the incidence of associated prediabetic and diabetic complications, resulting in an increased quality of life for patients without resorting to current anti-diabetic prescription drugs such as metformin and others that may have substantial unwanted side effects in patients.

HYPOTHESES Axulin will reduce postprandial glucose and insulin responses in a dose-dependent fashion in healthy subjects without diabetes. The reduction in glucose and insulin will be relatively greater in insulin-resistant than insulin-sensitive subjects.

Subjects will take 0g, 2g, or 4g of capsules or tablets in the morning after an overnight fast; 40 minutes later they will consume 75g glucose dissolved in 300ml water. Blood glucose, insulin and triglycerides will be measured fasting and at intervals for 2 hours after the glucose drink.