Syringin is a phenylpropanoid glycoside first isolated from A. senticosus that enhances acetylcholine release in pancreatic cells leading to an increase in insulin release through the muscarinic M3 receptor. Syringin dose-dependently (50, 75, and 100 μg/kg, i.v.) decreases plasma glucose levels and increases insulin-like immunoreactivity and C-peptide in rats, and these effects last at least 60 minutes. In a rat model of type 1 diabetes, it decreases plasma glucose and increases β-endorphin release from the adrenal medulla. Syringin increases autophagy through AMP-activated protein kinase α (AMPKα) activation concomitant with preventing the progression of cardiac hypertrophy in mice following aortic banding. It also has immunomodulatory effects, likely due to its metabolite sinapyl alcohol.