[The effects of indigestible dextrin on sugar tolerance: III. Improvement in sugar tolerance by indigestible dextrin on the impaired glucose tolerance model].

Recently developed, Indigestible Dextrin (PF-C) is a low viscosity, water-soluble dietary fiber obtained by heating and enzyme-treatment of potato starch. It has an average molecular weight of 1600. Results from methylation analysis via gas chromatography show the indigestible portion to be a dextrin composed of alpha-1.4, alpha-1.6, beta-1.2, beta-1.3, and beta-1.6 glucosidic bonds and 1.6-anhydro-beta-D-glucose (levoglucosan) as part of the reducing terminal. Physiological attributes such as an improvement in sucrose tolerance and a reduction in blood lipid levels have since been demonstrated. In this study to establish a dose response for PF-C on blood glucose and insulin levels following a sucrose load, administration studies were conducted on normal rats and rats with impaired glucose tolerance. The results are summarized as follows: 1) To estimate an effective dose of PF-C on the reduction in blood glucose and insulin levels following an oral sucrose load, an oral sucrose (1.5g/kg body weight) tolerance test was conducted on rats. The increase in both plasma glucose and insulin levels following a sucrose+PF-C (0.075, 0.15, 0.60, and 1.5g/kg body weight) load was significantly lower compared to the sucrose load. The results show that the most effective dose of PF-C was found to be 0.15g/kg body weight. 2) Another sucrose tolerance test was conducted on three different rat model groups with drug or diet induced impaired glucose tolerance. Impaired glucose tolerance was achieved by injecting one group with streptozotocin at 1.5 days (60mg/kg body weight); a second group was injected at seven weeks (30mg/kg body weight), and a third group was fed on a high (65%) sucrose diet. For this sucrose tolerance test, the adult (7-week) streptozotocin induced diabetic rats and the high-sucrose diet rats on concurrent administrations of PF-C (0.15g/kg body weight) showed decreases in both plasma glucose and insulin levels following a sucrose (1.5g/kg body weight) load. For the neonatal (1.5-day) streptozotocin induced diabetic rat group, reduced increases in plasma glucose were observed with no change in insulin levels as a result of concurrent administration of PF-C following a sucrose load.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)