Xu Xiaohui, Liang Tao, Wen Qingwei, Lin Xing, Tang Jingzhi, Zuo Qiaoyun, Tao Liqun, Xuan Feifei, Huang Renbin
Pharmaceutical College, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, China.
Cell Physiol Biochem. 2014;33(5):1272-82. doi: 10.1159/000358695. Epub 2014 Apr 28.
In Chinese culture, the roots of Averrhoa carambola L. have long been used for medical purposes due to their potent pharmaceutical activities, such as improving digestive function and treating diabetes.
Recently, we prepared extracts of Averrhoa carambola L. root (EACR), which were isolated from Averrhoa carambola L. roots using ethanol or water. This study was designed to investigate the potential effects of EACR on streptozotocin (STZ) diabetic mice and to explore the underlying mechanism of these effects. Male mice were injected with STZ through the tail vein (120 mg/kg body weight) and were identified as a diabetic mouse model when the level of blood glucose was ≥11.1 mmol/L. Subsequently, the mice were administered EACR (150, 300, 600, 1200 mg/kg body weight/d) and metformin (320 mg/kg body weight/d) via intragastric gavage for three weeks.
The results indicated that EACR significantly decreased the serum levels of blood glucose, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TGs) and free fatty acids (FFAs), whereas the content of serum insulin was elevated. In addition, the expressions of apoptosis-related regulators (including caspase-3, caspase-8 and caspase-9) and the apoptosis-induced protein Bax were markedly down-regulated by EACR, whereas the expression of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein was notably increased. Furthermore, EACR could protect the diabetic mice against the STZ-induced apoptosis of pancreatic β cells.
Taken together, these findings indicate that EACR plays an effective hyperglycemic role that is associated with ameliorating metabolic functions and with inhibiting apoptosis in pancreas tissue.
在中国文化中，杨桃根长期以来因其强大的药用活性而被用于医疗目的，如改善消化功能和治疗糖尿病。
最近，我们制备了杨桃根提取物（EACR），其是使用乙醇或水从杨桃根中分离得到的。本研究旨在调查EACR对链脲佐菌素（STZ）诱导的糖尿病小鼠的潜在影响，并探索这些影响的潜在机制。雄性小鼠通过尾静脉注射STZ（120 mg/kg体重），当血糖水平≥11.1 mmol/L时被鉴定为糖尿病小鼠模型。随后，通过灌胃法给小鼠施用EACR（150、300、600、1200 mg/kg体重/天）和二甲双胍（320 mg/kg体重/天），持续三周。
结果表明，EACR显著降低了血清血糖、总胆固醇（TC）、甘油三酯（TGs）和游离脂肪酸（FFAs）水平，而血清胰岛素含量升高。此外，EACR显著下调了凋亡相关调节因子（包括caspase-3、caspase-8和caspase-9）以及凋亡诱导蛋白Bax的表达，而抗凋亡蛋白Bcl-2的表达显著增加。此外，EACR可以保护糖尿病小鼠免受STZ诱导的胰腺β细胞凋亡。
综上所述，这些发现表明EACR发挥了有效的降血糖作用，这与改善代谢功能和抑制胰腺组织凋亡有关。
