Biol. Pharm. Bull. 29(3) 455—459 (2006)

known in traditional Chinese herbal medicine. They have been widely used in many recipes. Modern pharmacological study has showed that they possess diversified effects, such as inhibition of NO and PGE2 synthesis, immuno-modulation, hepatoprotective, anti-hepatitis, and anti-HSV-II. It had been reported that the alcohol extract of the root of Inula racemosa lowered blood glucose and enhanced liver glycogenesis in rats, potentiated insulin sensitivity in an animal model, and regulated corticosteroid induced diabetes mellitus. On the basis of these studies, we selected I. japonica, which is the same genera as I. racemosa, to investigate its anti-diabetic effect. In preliminary work, we found that the aqueous-extract of the flower of I. japonica (extracted from remains of ethanol-extract) showed a significant reduction in blood glucose of moderate alloxan-induced diabetic mice. In the present study, we made an attempt to evaluate in depth the anti-diabetic and hypolipidemic effects of the extract for the development of I. japonica as a potential natural oral anti-diabetic agent.