Diabetes is a group of metabolic diseases caused by
reducedor absent insulinsecretionanditmakes cells less sensitive
to insulin. There are some structural defects in insulin
itself that lead to chronic hyperglycemia and metabolic
disorders of carbohydrate, protein, and fat. In traditional
Chinesemedicine, diabetes belongs to the consumptive thirst
diseases. Mulberry leaves were found to have antidiabetic
function in ancient Chinese medicine. The “Compendium
of Materia Medica” shows the mulberry leaf as one of the
set of drugs commonly used as antidiabetics [24]. “Bencao
Tujing” recorded that themulberry branch bark can helpwith
digestion, diuresis, and drymouth [25].Combiningmulberry
branch bark with other traditional Chinese medicinals has
a good hypoglycaemic effect [26]. In 1998, Nojima et al.
isolated an extract from mulberry leaves and found that 1-
deoxynojirimycin (DNJ) has an antidiabetic effect on STZdiabetic
mice [27]. DNJ can reduce the blood glucose level
in alloxan-induced diabetic mice by activating PDX-1 (pancreatic
duodenal homeobox-1)/insulin-1 signalling pathways
and regulating the levels of glucokinase, pyruvate carboxylase,
enol phosphate, and glucose 6-phosphate [18]. In the
bark extract of mulberry root, flavonoids also have good
hypoglycaemic activity that can reduce the insulin resistance
of KK-Ay mice [28–30]. Mulberry latex can significantly
reduce blood glucose through its very high concentrations of
DNJ (dry weight 4.5%) [31]. Mulberry branch bark contains
more DNJ than the leaves or the root bark [32]. Recent
studies have shown that mulberry branch bark extract can
significantly reduce blood glucose levels. The branch bark
extract (BBE) can be used as a novel alpha-glucosidase
inhibitor [33], with an effect quite similar to that of acarbose
on diabetes complications and hyperglycemia syndrome in
alloxan rats [34]. Continuous oral administration of the
aqueous extract of mulberry branch bark for 15 days can
significantly reduce the indices of hyperglycemia syndrome
and improve blood lipids, diabetes, and kidney disease in
hyperglycemic rats [33]. A recent investigation by our group
showed that mulberry BBE can significantly inhibit sucrase
and maltase in vitro, for IC50 values of sucrase and maltase
of 6.5