We have established an assay to screen plant extracts, fractions
and isolated compounds for their potential anti-diabetic activity by
assessing their effect on the translocation of GLUT-4 to the plasma
membrane. A pre-fractionated natural product extract library
derived from 400 Chinese medicinal herbs was screened against
GLUT-4. An EtOAc fraction from the leaves of Eucalyptus citriodora
Hook exerted a clear stimulatory effect on GLUT-4 translocation.
Bioassay-guided phytochemical investigation on the active EtOAc
fraction of E. citriodora leaves led to the isolation of a new compound,
rhodomyrtosone E (1), along with 12 known compounds
including seven triterpenes (2–8), four flavonoids (9–12) and one
poly phenolic compound, gallic acid