Preparation of a novel Grifola frondosa polysaccharide-chromium (III) complex and its hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic activities in high fat diet and streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice.

Polysaccharide from Grifola frondosa is one of the best metal-ion chelating agents because of its structural characteristics and excellent functional activities. In this study, we synthesized and characterized a novel Grifola frondosa polysaccharide-chromium (III) [GFP-Cr(III)] complex. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the reaction conditions for the maximum chelation rate of GFP-Cr(III) complex. The optimal reaction conditions obtained from RSM were as follows: concentration of CrCl 6.97 mg/mL, pH 7.75 and temperature 71.73 °C, respectively. The pH was the most significant factor, followed by reaction temperature and concentration of CrCl. Under the deduced optimal conditions (CrCl 7.0 mg/mL, pH 7.7 and temperature 70.0 °C), the experimental chelation rate was 28.01% ± 0.18% for GFP-Cr(III) complex, which agreed closely with the predicted value (27.61%). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy revealed that the primary sites of chromium (III)-binding in polysaccharides were OH and CN groups, leading to the structure of GFP-Cr(III) complex was loose than the original polysaccharide. Nevertheless, Cr(III) did not make a fundamental change in the structure of GFP when comparing the FTIR spectra of GFP and GFP-Cr(III) complex. Additionally, the effects of GFP-Cr(III) complex on hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia in high-fat diet (HFD) and streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic mice were also investigated. Results showed that the serum total cholesterol (TC), total triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), fasting blood glucose levels and glucose tolerance in diabetic mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD) supplemented with GFP-Cr(III) complex (900 mg/kg day) were significantly lower than the diabetic group (P < 0.01). These results suggest that GFP-Cr(III) complex could be used as potential functional food ingredients for the prevention or treatment of hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia.