To compare the pancreatic proteomics and autophagy between Rehmanniae Radix-and Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata-treated mice with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM). The T2DM mouse model was established by high-fat diet coupled with streptozotocin(STZ, intraperitoneal injection, 100 mg·kg~(-1), once a day for three consecutive days). The mice were then randomly assigned into a control group, low-(5 g·kg~(-1)) and high-dose(15 g·kg~(-1)) Rehmanniae Radix groups, low-(150 mg·kg~(-1)) and high-dose(300 mg·kg~(-1)) catalpol groups, low-(5 g·kg~(-1)) and high-dose(15 g·kg~(-1)) Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata groups, low-(150 mg·kg~(-1)) and high-dose(300 mg·kg~(-1)) 5-hydroxymethyl furfuraldehyde(5-HMF) groups, and a metformin(250 mg·kg~(-1)) group. In addition, a normal group was also set and each group included 8 mice. The pancreas was collected after four weeks of administration and proteomics tools were employed to study the effects of Rehmanniae Radix and Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata on protein expression in the pancreas of T2DM mice. The expression levels of proteins involved in autophagy, inflammation, and oxidative stress response in the pancreatic tissues of T2DM mice were determined by western blotting, immunohistochemical assay, and transmission electron microscopy. The results showed that the differential proteins between the model group and Rehmanniae Radix/Rehmanniae Radix Prae-parata group were enriched in 7 KEGG pathways, such as autophagy-animal, which indicated that the 7 pathways may be associated with T2DM. Compared with the control group, drug administration significantly up-regulated the expression levels of beclin1 and phosphorylated mammalian target of rapamycin(p-mTOR)/mTOR and down-regulated those of the inflammation indicators, Toll-like receptor-4(TLR4) and Nod-like receptor protein 3(NLRP3), in the pancreas of T2DM mice, and Rehmanniae Radix showed better performance. In addition, the expression levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS), nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2(Nrf2), and heine oxygenase-1(HO-1) in the pancreas of T2DM mice were down-regulated after drug administration, and Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata demonstrated better performance. The results indicate that both Rehmanniae Radix and Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata can alleviate the inflammatory symptoms, reduce oxidative stress response, and increase the autophagy level in the pancreas of T2DM mice, while they exert the effect on different autophagy pathways.
Mice ; Animals ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/genetics* ; Streptozocin/pharmacology* ; Diet, High-Fat/adverse effects* ; Proteomics ; Inflammation ; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases ; Autophagy ; Mammals

Diabetes-associated liver injury becomes a dominant hepatopathy, leading to hepatic failure worldwide. The current study was designed to evaluate the ameliorative effects of ginsenoside Rh1 (G-Rh1) on liver injury induced by T2DM. A T2DM model was established using C57BL/6 mice through feeding with HFD followed by injection with streptozotocin at 100 mg·kg^-1.. Then the mice were continuously administered with G-Rh1 (5 and 10 mg·kg^-1), to explore the protective effects of G-Rh1 against liver injury. Results showed that G-Rh1 exerted significant effects on maintaining the levels of FBG and insulin, and ameliorated the increased levels of TG, TC and LDL-C induced by T2DM. Moreover, apoptosis in liver tissue was relieved by G-Rh1, according to histological analysis. Particularly, in diabetic mice, it was observed that not only the increased secretion of G6Pase and PEPCK in the gluconeogenesis pathway, but also inflammatory factors including NF-κB and NLRP3 were suppressed by G-Rh1 treatment. Furthermore, the underlying mechanisms by which G-Rh1 exhibited ameliorative effects was associated with its capacity to inhibit the activation of the Akt/FoxO1 signaling pathway induced by T2DM. Taken together, our preliminary study demonstrated the potential mechnism of G-Rh1 in protecting the liver against T2DM-induced damage.
Animals ; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury, Chronic ; Cholesterol, LDL/pharmacology* ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental/metabolism* ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/metabolism* ; Forkhead Box Protein O1/pharmacology* ; Ginsenosides ; Insulin/metabolism* ; Liver ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; NF-kappa B/metabolism* ; NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein/metabolism* ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/metabolism* ; Streptozocin

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of wogonoside on high glucose-induced dysfunction of human retinal microvascular endothelial cells (hRMECs) and streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic retinopathy in rats and explore the underlying molecular mechanism. METHODS: HRMECs in routine culture were treated with 25 mmol/L mannitol or exposed to high glucose (30 mmol/L glucose) and treatment with 10, 20, 30, 40 μmol/L wogonoside. CCK-8 assay and Transwell assay were used to examine cell proliferation and migration, and the changes in tube formation and monolayer cell membrane permeability were tested. ROS, NO and GSH-ST kits were used to evaluate oxidative stress levels in the cells. The expressions of IL-1β and IL-6 in the cells were examined with qRT-PCR and ELISA, and the protein expressions of VEGF, HIF-1α and SIRT1 were detected using Western blotting. We also tested the effect of wogonoside on retinal injury and expressions of HIF-1α, ROS, VEGF, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and SIRT1 proteins in rat models of STZ-induced diabetic retinopathy. RESULTS: High glucose exposure caused abnormal proliferation and migration, promoted angiogenesis, increased membrane permeability (P < 0.05), and induced inflammation and oxidative stress in hRMECs (P < 0.05). Wogonoside treatment concentration-dependently inhibited high glucose-induced changes in hRMECs. High glucose exposure significantly lowered the expression of SIRT1 in hRMECs, which was partially reversed by wogonoside (30 μmol/L) treatment; interference of SIRT1 obviously attenuated the inhibitory effects of wogonoside against high glucose-induced changes in proliferation, migration, angiogenesis, membrane permeability, inflammation and oxidative stress in hRMECs. In rat models of STZ-induced diabetic retinopathy, wogonoside effectively suppressed retinal thickening (P < 0.05), alleviated STZ-induced retinal injury, and increased the expression of SIRT1 in the retinal tissues (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION Wogonoside alleviates retinal damage caused by diabetic retinopathy by up-regulating SIRT1 expression.
Animals ; Diabetes Mellitus/metabolism* ; Diabetic Retinopathy/metabolism* ; Endothelial Cells ; Flavanones ; Glucose/pharmacology* ; Glucosides ; Inflammation/metabolism* ; Interleukin-6/metabolism* ; Neovascularization, Pathologic/metabolism* ; Rats ; Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism* ; Sirtuin 1/metabolism* ; Streptozocin/pharmacology* ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A/metabolism*

Neuropathic pain is one of the common complications of diabetes. Tetrahydropalmatine(THP) is a main active component of Corydalis Rhizoma with excellent anti-inflammatory and pain-alleviating properties. This study aims to investigate the therapeutic effect of THP on diabetic neuropathic pain(DNP) and the underlying mechanism. High-fat and high-sugar diet(4 weeks) and streptozotocin(STZ, 35 mg·kg~(-1), single intraperitoneal injection) were employed to induce type-2 DNP in rats. Moreover, lipopolysaccharide(LPS) was used to induce the activation of BV2 microglia in vitro to establish an inflammatory cellular model. Fasting blood glucose(FBG) was measured by a blood glucose meter. Mechanical withdrawal threshold(MWT) was assessed with von Frey filaments, and thermal withdrawal latency(TWL) with hot plate apparatus. The protein expression levels of OX42, inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS), CD206, p38, and p-p38 were determined by Western blot, the fluorescence expression levels of OX42 and p-p38 in the dorsal horn of the rat spinal cord by immunofluorescence, the mRNA content of p38 and OX42 in rat spinal cord tissue by qRT-PCR, and levels of nitric oxide(NO), interleukin-1β(IL-1β), interleukin-6(IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), interleukin-10(IL-10), and serum fasting insulin(FINS) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). RESULTS:: showed that the mo-del group demonstrated significant decrease in MWT and TWL, with pain symptoms. THP significantly improved the MWT and TWL of DNP rats, inhibited the activation of microglia and p38 MAPK signaling pathway in rat spinal cord, and ameliorated its inflammatory response. Meanwhile, THP promoted the change of LPS-induced BV2 microglia from the pro-inflammatory M1 phenotype to the anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype, suppressed the activation of the p38 MAPK signaling pathway, decreased the expression levels of inflammatory factors NO, IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α, and increased the expression level of anti-inflammatory factor IL-10. The findings suggested that THP can significantly ameliorate the pain symptoms of DNP rats possibly by inhibiting the inflammatory response caused by M1 polarization of microglia via the p38 MAPK pathway.
Animals ; Berberine Alkaloids ; Blood Glucose/metabolism* ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diabetic Neuropathies/genetics* ; Interleukin-10 ; Interleukin-6/metabolism* ; Lipopolysaccharides/pharmacology* ; Microglia ; Neuralgia/metabolism* ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Signal Transduction ; Spinal Cord/metabolism* ; Streptozocin/therapeutic use* ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/metabolism* ; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/metabolism*

Animals ; Autophagy ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental/drug therapy* ; Mice ; Myocardium ; Sitagliptin Phosphate/pharmacology* ; Streptozocin

Painful diabetic neuropathy (PDN) is a diabetes mellitus complication. Unfortunately, the mechanisms underlying PDN are still poorly understood. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-gated P2X7 receptor (P2X7R) plays a pivotal role in non-diabetic neuropathic pain, but little is known about its effects on streptozotocin (STZ)-induced peripheral neuropathy. Here, we explored whether spinal cord P2X7R was correlated with the generation of mechanical allodynia (MA) in STZ-induced type 1 diabetic neuropathy in mice. MA was assessed by measuring paw withdrawal thresholds and western blotting. Immunohistochemistry was applied to analyze the protein expression levels and localization of P2X7R. STZ-induced mice expressed increased P2X7R in the dorsal horn of the lumbar spinal cord during MA. Mice injected intrathecally with a selective antagonist of P2X7R and P2X7R knockout (KO) mice both presented attenuated progression of MA. Double-immunofluorescent labeling demonstrated that P2X7R-positive cells were mostly co-expressed with Iba1 (a microglia marker). Our results suggest that P2X7R plays an important role in the development of MA and could be used as a cellular target for treating PDN.
Acetamides/pharmacology* ; Animals ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental/complications* ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1/complications* ; Diabetic Neuropathies/etiology* ; Hyperalgesia/etiology* ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Quinolines/pharmacology* ; Receptors, Purinergic P2X7/physiology* ; Spinal Cord/physiology* ; Streptozocin/pharmacology*

Patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy experience debilitating pain that significantly affects their quality of life (Abbott et al., 2011), by causing sleeping disorders, anxiety, and depression (Dermanovic Dobrota et al., 2014). The primary clinical manifestation of painful diabetic neuropathy (PDN) is mechanical hypersensitivity, also known as mechanical allodynia (MA) (Callaghan et al., 2012). MA's underlying mechanism remains poorly understood, and so far, based on symptomatic treatment, it has no effective therapy (Moore et al., 2014).
Animals ; CX3C Chemokine Receptor 1/physiology* ; Chemokine CX3CL1/physiology* ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental/complications* ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1/complications* ; Diabetic Neuropathies/etiology* ; Hyperalgesia/etiology* ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Spinal Cord/physiology* ; Streptozocin/pharmacology*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the therapeutic effects of puerarin on rats with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: T2DM models were established by high fat and high glucose feeding combined with a one-time intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ, 60 mg/kg). Then the rats were randomly divided into normal group, model group, metformin group (MET, 40 mg/kg), puerarin low-dose group, medium-dose group and high-dose group (40, 80, 160 mg/kg), n=10. After the model was successfully established, rats were treated with corresponding drug intervention by intragastrical administration for 4 weeks. The body weight and fasting blood glucose (FBG) were measured per week, and blood samples were collected 24 h after the last administration, and serum levels of blood glucose, serum triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein-cholestrol (HDL-C), serum enzyme activities of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine (SCr), and blood uric acid (UA) were measured. RESULTS: As compared with normal group, the body weight was decreased after 4 weeks-intervention in the model group, and the levels of FBG, TC, TG, LDL-C, ALT, AST, BUN, SCr and UA were all increased,while HDL-C level was decreased (P＜0.05). As compared with model group,the body weight was increased after 4 weeks-intervention in metformin group and puerarin groups, and the levels of FBG, TC, TG, LDL-C, ALT, AST, BUN, SCr and UA were decreased (P＜0.01); meanwhile, HDL-C level was increased significantly (P＜0.05). CONCLUSION Puerarin can reduce the weight loss of T2DM rats, decrease the blood lipid and blood glucose levels of T2DM rats, which can be used to control T2DM.
Animals ; Blood Glucose ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; drug therapy ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; drug therapy ; Isoflavones ; pharmacology ; Lipids ; blood ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Streptozocin ; Weight Loss

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effects of saffron aqueous extract (SE) on blood glucose, lipid and pancreatic tissue in streptozocin-induced diabetes mice. METHODS: Diabetes mellitus mice were established by intraperitoneal injection of streptozocin (60 mg/kg) for two consecutive days. The 30 well-established diabetes mice were randomly divided into three groups(=10):diabetic mellitus (DM) group, SE treated (SE) group and positive control (metformin hydrochloride, MH) group. Another ten normal mice were selected as normal control (NC) group. The mice in SE and MH groups were intragastrically administered with SE 100 mg/kg or MH 100 mg/kg once a day for 6 weeks, mice in DM and NC were given normal saline. The amount of food-intake, water consumption and body weight were measured weekly, the changes of the indicators including fasting blood glucose (FBG), oral glucose-tolerance test (OGTT), glycated serum protein (GSP), insulin (INS) and blood lipid were determined after 6 weeks of continuous administration. The pathologic changes in the pancreas tissues were detected by HE staining. RESULTS: Compared with the normal control group, the amount of food-intake, water consumption, area under the curve, FBG, GSP, and total cholesterol (TC) were significantly increased, while fasting weight, INS and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) were dramatically decreased in DM group. Compared with DM group, the water consumption, FBG, area under the curve and TC in SE group were starkly declined with a notable elevation of HDL-c and INS. In addition, the biopsy from DM mice showed the structure of pancreas islet was destroyed and reduced, and vascular proliferation with irregular shape. The damaged pancreas was obviously repaired by giving SE. CONCLUSIONS The saffron aqueous extract had efficacy on blood glucose and blood lipids reduction, improvement on damaged pancreas in streptozocininduced diabetic mice, which suggested that saffron could be used for the treatment in diabetes.
Animals ; Blood Glucose ; Crocus ; chemistry ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; chemically induced ; drug therapy ; Hypoglycemic Agents ; pharmacology ; Insulin ; blood ; Mice ; Plant Extracts ; pharmacology ; Random Allocation ; Streptozocin

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) are highly prevalent diseases and are closely associated, with NAFLD being present in the majority of T2DM patients. In Asian traditional medicine, Mori Cortex is widely used for the treatment of diabetes and hyperlipidemia. However, whether it has a therapeutic effect on T2DM associated with NAFLD is still unknown. The present study showed that the oral treatment with Mori Cortex extract (MCE; 10 g·kg·d) lowered the blood lipid levels and reversed insulin resistance (IR) in high fat-diet/streptozotocin-induced type 2 diabetes in rats. The expression levels of sterol receptor element-binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c) and carbohydrate-responsive element binding protein (ChREBP), which are involved in steatosis in NAFLD rats, were measured in the liver samples. MCE decreased the protein and mRNA expression levels of SREBP-1c and ChREBP. In conclusion, down-regulation of SREBP-1c and ChREBP might contribute to the protective effect of MCE on hepatic injury and IR in the rats with T2DM associated with NAFLD.
Alanine Transaminase ; blood ; Animals ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; blood ; Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors ; genetics ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; blood ; chemically induced ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Diet, High-Fat ; adverse effects ; Disease Models, Animal ; Down-Regulation ; drug effects ; Insulin ; blood ; Insulin Resistance ; physiology ; Lipid Metabolism ; drug effects ; genetics ; Liver ; drug effects ; physiopathology ; Male ; Morus ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ; blood ; chemically induced ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Phytotherapy ; Plant Extracts ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Streptozocin