The Efficacy of Red Ginseng in Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes in Animals

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the most modern chronic metabolic diseases in the world. Moreover, DM is one of the major causes of modern neurological diseases. In the present study, the therapeutic actions of Korean red ginseng were evaluated in type 1 and type 2 diabetic mouse models using auditory electrophysiological measurement. The comprehensive results from auditory brainstem response (ABR), auditory middle latency response (AMLR), and transient evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) demonstrate auditory functional damage caused by type 1 or 2 DM. Korean red ginseng improved the hearing threshold shift, delayed latencies and signal intensity decrease in type 2 diabetic mice. Type 1 diabetic mice showed a partial improvement in decreasing amplitude and signal intensity, not significantly. We suggest that the Korean red ginseng has a more potent efficacy in hearing loss in insulin resistance type 2 diabetes than in type 1 diabetes.