Wonderplant Stevia

The Danish science site videnskab.dk runs a theme about Stevia (in Danish):

Stevia gennem århundreder

“Stevia-planten blev opdaget for mere end 100 år siden, og er gennem årene blevet brugt som sødemiddel i store dele af verden — undtagen Europa.” ※

Dansk forsker studerede vidunderplante hos indianere

“Et brasiliansk indianerfolk er ramt af diabetes type II pga. en genfejl. Men de holder sig raske ved at drikke te brygget på urten stevia. Dansk forsker har besøgt dem og set hvordan.” ※

Naturligt sødemiddel testes som ny medicin mod sukkersyge

“Danske forskere har opdaget at et kalorie­frit sødemiddel fra urten stevia også kan bruges som et effektivt middel mod type II diabetes — helt uden bivirkninger. Nu skal medicinen testes på mennesker.” ※

Forskere undrer sig over EU's manglende godkendelse af sundt sødemiddel

“Den brasilianske urt stevia bugner af et kaloriefrit sødestof, der smager bedre end sukker, og som er helt ufarligt for kroppen. WHO har godkendt stoffet, men EU-kommisionen tøver. Steviosid er havnet i et politisk spil om penge og magt, mener forskere.” ※

PepsiCo, Whole Earth Sweetener introduce PureVia™

Last year Coca-Cola teamed with Cargill to create their own natural sweetener from Stevia. Now PepsiCo has joined with Whole Earth Sweetener to create PureVia™.

Rebaudioside A directly stimulates insulin secretion

Rebaudioside A directly stimulates insulin secretion from pancreatic beta cells: a glucose-dependent action via inhibition of ATP-sensitive K(+)-channels.

Diabetes Obes Metab. 2008 Apr 22 [Epub ahead of print]

Abudula R, Matchkov VV, Jeppesen PB, Nilsson H, Aalkjær C, Hermansen K.

Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism C, Århus University Hospital, Århus C, Denmark.

Recently, we showed that rebaudioside A potently stimulates the insulin secretion from isolated mouse islets in a dose-, glucose- and Ca(2+)-dependent manner. Little is known about the mechanisms underlying the insulinotropic action of rebaudioside A. The aim of this study was to define the signalling system by which, rebaudioside A acts. Isolated mouse islets were used in the cAMP[(125)I] scintillation proximity assay to measure total cAMP level, and in a luminometric method to measure intracellular ATP and ADP concentrations. Conventional and permeabilized whole-cell configuration of the patch-clamp technique was used to verify the effect of rebaudioside A on ATP-sensitive K(+)-channels from dispersed single beta cells from isolated mouse islets. Insulin was measured by radioimmunoassay from insulinoma MIN6 cells. In the presence of 16.7 mM glucose, the addition of the maximally effective concentration of rebaudioside A (10(-9) M) increased the ATP/ADP ratio significantly, while it did not change the intracellular cAMP level. Rebaudioside A (10(-9) M) and stevioside (10(-6) M) reduced the ATP-sensitive potassium channel (K(ATP)) conductance in a glucose-dependent manner. Moreover, rebaudioside A stimulated the insulin secretion from MIN6 cells in a dose- and glucose-dependent manner. In conclusion, the insulinotropic effect of rebaudioside A is mediated via inhibition of ATP-sensitive K(+)-channels and requires the presence of high glucose. The inhibition of ATP-sensitive K(+)-channels is probably induced by changes in the ATP/ADP ratio. The results indicate that rebaudioside A may offer a distinct therapeutic advantage over sulphonylureas because of less risk of causing hypoglycaemia.