a b s t r a c t
Corn silk is well known and frequently used in traditional Chinese herbal medicines. Polysaccharides of
corn silk (POCS), which were extracted by distilled water and precipitated by 80% ethanol solution, were
evaluated for its anti-diabetic effect on streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. The results demonstrated
that daily treatment with 100–500 mg/kg body weight of POCS on the diabetic rats could not only
lead a significant decrease on the animal’s blood glucose (BG) level, but also reduce the serum lipid level
including total cholesterol (TC) and total triglyceride (TG) after determination. The oral glucose tolerance
test (OGTT) was also performed to evaluate hypoglycemic effects. Through the measurements of measuring
autonomic activity times and rolling stick times, the results also exhibited that the animals had been
depressed by dimethyl-biguanide, but protected by the POCS. The POCS showed good antidepressant
activity and lengthened remarkably the activity time during the autonomic activities test and exhibited
a dose dependent activity.