Molecular basis of the anti‑hyperglycemic activity of RA‑3 in hyperlipidemic and streptozotocin‑induced type 2 diabetes in rats

Abstract
Background: Insulin resistance is a hallmark of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and the underlying cause of various metabolic changes observed in type 2 diabetic patients. This study investigated the molecular basis of the antihyperglycemic activity of the lanosteryl triterpene (RA-3), from Protorhus longifolia stem bark, in hyperlipidemic and streptozotocin (STZ)-induced T2DM in rats. Methods: The high-fat diet fed (HFD) and STZ-induced T2DM in rat model was used to evaluate the anti-hyperglycemic activity of RA-3. The hyperlipidemic rats received a single intraperitoneal injection of STZ (35 mg/kg body weight) to induce T2DM. The experimental animals received a daily oral single dose of RA-3 (100 mg/kg body) for a period of 28 days, whiles the control group received distilled water only. The animals were euthanized, and skeletal muscle was collected for protein (IRS-1, AKT, GSK and GLUT 4) expression analysis. Western blot confirmed expression of the proteins. Results: Treatment of the diabetic animals with the RA-3 showed marked reduction in fasting plasma glucose levels in comparison to the untreated diabetic group animals. A significant decrease in p-GSK-3β and p-AKT expression was observed, whereas the expression of IRS-1ser307 were increased when compared to the diabetic control group. This effect was ablated upon treatment with RA-3 and this was concomitant to an observed increase in GLUT 4 expression. Conclusions: The results obtained in the present study strongly suggested that the anti-hyperglycemic effect of RA-3 could partly be associated with its ability to improve cellular glucose uptake in muscle tissue from T2DM.
Description
CITATION: Mabhida, S. E., et al. 2019. Molecular basis of the anti‑hyperglycemic activity of RA‑3 in hyperlipidemic and streptozotocin‑induced type 2 diabetes in rats. Diabetology and Metabolic Syndrome, 11:27, doi:10.1186/s13098-019-0424-z.
The original publication is available at https://dmsjournal.biomedcentral.com
Keywords
Streptozotocin, Hyperglycemia, Lanosteryl triterpene, High-fat diet, Protorhus longifolia, Hyperlipidemia, Type 2 diabetes
Citation
Mabhida, S. E., et al. 2019. Molecular basis of the anti‑hyperglycemic activity of RA‑3 in hyperlipidemic and streptozotocin‑induced type 2 diabetes in rats. Diabetology and Metabolic Syndrome, 11:27, doi:10.1186/s13098-019-0424-z