Gruppo Ospedaliero San Donato Foundation, 20122 Milan, Italy.
Policlinico San Donato IRCCS, 20097 Milan, Italy.
Nutrients. 2019 May 9;11(5):1042. doi: 10.3390/nu11051042.
Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease characterized by chronic hyperglycemia that induces other pathologies including diabetic retinopathy and bone disease. Adult (zebrafish) represents a powerful model to study both glucose and bone metabolism. Then, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of liquiritigenin (LTG) on blood glucose level and diabetes complications in hyperglycemic adult zebrafish. LTG is a flavonoid extracted from roots which possess important antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-diabetic properties. During four weeks of glucose treatment, LTG significantly prevented the onset of the hyperglycemia in adult zebrafish. Moreover, hyperglycemic fish showed increased advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) and parathormone levels whereas LTG completely prevented both of these metabolic alterations. Large bone-loss areas were found in the scales of glucose-treated fish whereas only small resorption lacunae were detected after glucose/LTG treatment. Biochemical and histological tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) assays performed on explanted scales confirmed that LTG prevented the increase of osteoclastic activity in hyperglycemic fish. The osteoblastic alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity was clearly lost in scales of glucose-treated fish whereas the co-treatment with LTG completely prevented such alteration. Gene expression analysis showed that LTG prevents the alteration in crucial bone regulatory genes. Our study confirmed that LTG is a very promising natural therapeutic approach for blood glucose lowering and to contrast the development of bone complications correlated to chronic hyperglycemia.
糖尿病是一种代谢性疾病，其特征为慢性高血糖，可引起其他病变，包括糖尿病视网膜病变和骨病。成年斑马鱼是研究葡萄糖和骨代谢的强大模型。因此，本研究旨在评估甘草素 (LTG) 对高血糖成年斑马鱼血糖水平和糖尿病并发症的影响。LTG 是一种从甘草根中提取的类黄酮，具有重要的抗氧化、抗炎和抗糖尿病特性。在 4 周的葡萄糖处理期间，LTG 可显著预防成年斑马鱼高血糖的发生。此外，高血糖鱼表现出晚期糖基化终产物 (AGEs) 和甲状旁腺激素水平的升高，而 LTG 完全预防了这两种代谢改变。在葡萄糖处理的鱼的鳞片中发现了大的骨丢失区域，而在葡萄糖/LTG 处理后仅检测到小的吸收腔。对离体鳞片进行的生物化学和组织学抗酒石酸酸性磷酸酶 (TRAP) 测定证实，LTG 可预防高血糖鱼中破骨细胞活性的增加。葡萄糖处理的鱼鳞片中的成骨碱性磷酸酶 (ALP) 活性明显丧失，而 LTG 联合治疗可完全预防这种改变。基因表达分析表明，LTG 可预防关键骨调节基因的改变。本研究证实，LTG 是一种非常有前途的天然治疗方法，可降低血糖并对抗与慢性高血糖相关的骨并发症的发展。
