Tomatidine ameliorates high-fat-diet/streptozocin (HFD/STZ)-induced type 2 diabetes mellitus in mice

Abstract

Objective

To investigate the effects of tomatidine (Td) on the progression of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in mice and uncover the mechanism.

Methods

T2DM mice model was induced by high-fat diet (HFD) and intrabitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ). The mice were grouped as follows: 1, control; 2, T2D; 3, T2D + tomatidine (5 mg/kg); 4, T2D + tomatidine (10 mg/kg); 5, T2D + tomatidine (20 mg/kg). Fasting blood glucose was detected by glucose metre and fasting insulin was detected by the kit to determine the effect of Td on T2DM mice. ELISA, qPCR, and Immunoblot assays were performed to detect the effects of Td on the hepatic glucose homeostasis and inflammation of mice. Immunoblot assays further confirmed the mechanism.

Results

Td improved blood glucose and insulin resistance in T2DM mice. In addition, Td improved liver function and lipid metabolism disorder in T2DM mice. Td also affected the liver glucose homeostasis related genes in T2DM mice. Td alleviated serum inflammation in T2DM mice. We further found that Td activated AMPK pathway, therefore ameliorating T2DM.

Conclusion

Td ameliorated HFD/STZ-induced T2DM in mice, suggesting that it could serve as a drug of T2DM.

Keywords:

• tomatidine (Td)
• type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)
• streptozotocin (STZ)
• lipid metabolism
• AMPK pathway

Acknowledgements

Not applicable.

Availability of Data and materials

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.

The datasets used and/or analysed during the present study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Competing interests

The authors state that there are no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Ethics approval

All animal experiments were approved by the Ethics Committee of the Third People’s Hospital of Hubei Province for the use of animals and conducted in accordance with the National Institutes of Health Laboratory Animal Care and Use Guidelines.

Author’s contribution

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and the experiments were performed by Li Cai. Data collection and analysis were performed by Baojian Hou. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Juping Hu and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

Not applicable.