Resveratrol stimulates glucose transport in C2C12 myotubes by activating AMP-activated protein kinase.

trans-Resveratrol (t-RVT), a naturally occurring polyphenol found in Polygonum cuspidatum, grape, and red wine, has been reported to have anti-inflammatory, cardioprotective, and cancer chemopreventive properties. However antidiabetic effect of t-RVT has not yet been reported. In this study, we show that t-RVT increases glucose uptake in C2C12 myotubes by activating AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), uncovering an antidiabetic potential of t-RVT for the first time. AMPK plays a central role in the regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism, and hence it is considered a novel therapeutic target for metabolic syndrome such as type 2 diabetes. t-RVT significantly induced glucose uptake in C2C12 cells, via AMPK activation, but not a phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI-3 kinase) signal pathway. The induced glucose uptake was attenuated by pretreatment with a pharmacological inhibitor for AMPK, indicating that the effect of t-RVT primarily depends on AMPK activation. However, in the presence of insulin, t-RVT also potentiated the effect of insulin on glucose uptake via AMPK activation, which led to further activation of PI-3 kinase/Akt signal pathway.