Role of thymol on hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia in high fat diet-induced type 2 diabetic C57BL/6J mice

Thymol is a monoterpene phenol with many pharmacological activities, but their anti- hyperglycemic and anti-hyperlipidemic activities are not yet explored. This study evaluates the beneficial effects of thymol on plasma, hepatic lipids and hyperglycaemic effects in high-fat diet (HFD) induced type 2 diabetes in C57BL/6J mice. These mice were fed continuously with high fat diet (fat- 35.8%) for 10 weeks and subjected to intragastric administration of various doses (10 mg, 20 mg and 40 mg/kg body weight (BW)) of thymol daily for the subsequent 5 weeks. Body weight (BW), food intake, plasma glucose, insulin, insulin resistance, HbA1c, leptin and adiponectin were significantly decreased and there was an increase in food efficacy ratio. Thymol supplementation were significantly lowered the concentration of plasma triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), free fatty acids (FFAs), low density lipoprotein (LDL) and increased high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol as compared to the HFD induced diabetic group due to lipid enzymatic activity. Also, the hepatic lipid contents such as triglycerides, total cholesterol, free fatty acid and phospholipids (PL) were significantly lowered in the thymol supplemented groups. As compared to other two tested doses of 10 mg and 20 mg, thymol (40 mg/kg BW) were showed significant protective effect on the parameters studied. Thus, indicate thymol protects C57BL/6 J mice against HFD due to its anti-hyperglycaemic and anti-hyperlipidemic activity. The above outcome concludes that thymol may exhibit promising anti-diabetic activity.