Effects of Tianhuafen on glucose and lipid metabolism and pancreatic tissue in type 2 diabetic rats
Objective:To investigate the therapeutic effects of Tianhuafen(Radix Trichosanthis)on rats with type 2 diabetes mellitus induced by the combination of high-fat diet and streptozotocin and its possible mechanism of action.Methods:Ten rats were randomly selected from sixty SD rats of both sexes as the normal group and fed with normal chow,and the remaining 50 rats were fed with high-fat diet.Four weeks later,streptozotocin(50 mg/kg)was injected intraperitoneally,and the glucose of the rats was measured at 48 h and 72 h after the injection,respectively.Rats with 2 consecutive glucose≥16.7 mmol/L were identified as experimental diabetic rat model.The diabetic rats were randomly divided into the model group,the metformin group(0.3 mg/kg),the Tianhuafen low-dose group(1.12 g/kg),the Tianhuafen medium-dose group(1.68 g/kg),and the Tianhuafen high-dose group(2.25 g/kg)according to the blood glucose value,with 10 rats in each group.The rats were uniformly gavaged at a fixed time every day for 4 weeks,and the general symptoms of the rats were observed at a fixed time every week,and their food intake,water intake,body weight and urine output were measured.After 4 weeks of administration,all rats were fasted without water for 12 hours in advance,and 0.05 mL of blood was collected from the tail vein to determine the glucose of the rats,and blood was collected from the abdominal aorta,then the rats were put to death and tested for the following indexes:pathological alterations in HE sections of pancreatic tissues of the rats in each group,serum specimens of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C),high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C),total cholesterol(TC),triglyceride(TG),alanine aminotransferase(ALT),and aspartate aminotransferase(AST)in serum specimens.glucose transporter protein 4(GLUT4)expression in pancreatic tissues was detected by immunohistochemistry.Results:The-glucose concentration of rats in each administration group of Tianhuafen was significantly lower than the model group(P<0.01 or P<0.05).HE staining results showed that Tianhuafen was able to inhibit the pathological changes in pancreatic tissues of type 2 diabetic rats in each group to a certain extent.Tianhuafen was able to significantly elevate the content of HDL-C in the serum of diabetic rats and reduce the levels of TG,TC and LDL-C(P<0.05).The expression of serum ALT and AST in rats in the Tianhuafen administration groups was significantly reduced(P<0.05).Tianhuafen was able to up-regulate the level of GLUT4 in pancreatic tissues of diabetic rats(P<0.05).Conclusion:Tianhuafen can improve glucose-lipid metabolism and protect the pancreas and important organs in type 2 diabetes mellitus rats,and its mechanism may be related to the activation of the GLUT4 pathway in the body.
TianhuafenDiabetes mellitusGlucose and lipid metabolismGlucose transporter protein 4
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
维普
