Effect of Fermented Products of Pueraria-Poria on the PI3K/Akt/GLUT4 Signaling Pathway in T2DM Model Rats

LEI Xiaolei; LI Jin

Abstract：Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanisms of action of Puerarin-Poria fermentation products in interfering with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) through the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt)/glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) pathway.Methods Fifty SD rats were randomly divided into a normal control group,a model control group,a positive drug control group,a Puerarin-Poria unfermented drug group,and a Puerarin-Poria fermented drug group.Except for the normal group,the other four groups were established as T2DM rat models by feeding high-sugar and high-fat diets combined with streptozotocin (STZ) injection,and were continuously administered with drugs for 8 weeks.The general conditions,body weight,total cholesterol (TC),triglyceride (TG),low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C),high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C),fasting blood glucose (FBG),2-hour postprandial blood glucose (2hPBG),glycated hemoglobin (HbAlc),and the levels of PI3K/Akt/GLUT4 signaling pathway proteins and mRNA in liver and skeletal muscle,as well as the pathological changes in liver tissue were recorded.Results Compared with the normal control group,the model control group had worse general conditions,significantly higher levels of FBG,2hPBG,TC,TG,and HbAlc (P<0.01),and significantly lower body weight and HDL-C levels (P<0.01).There was obvious fatty degeneration and inflammatory infiltration in the liver tissue.The expression levels of PI3K/Akt/GLUT4 signaling pathway proteins and mRNA were reduced (P<0.01).Compared with the model control group,the Puerarin-Poria fermented and unfermented drug groups showed significant improvements in the above indicators (P<0.05).Among them,the FBG,2hPBG,HbAlc,and TC levels in the Pueraria-Poria fermented medicine group were significantly lower than those in the Pueraria-Poria unfermented medicine group (P<0.05),while the HDL-C level,PI3K/Akt/GLUT4 signaling pathway protein expression,and mRNA expression were significantly higher (P<0.05).Conclusion Pueraria-Poria fermented or unfermented can effectively improve the glucose and lipid metabolic disorders of T2DM rats.The partial therapeutic effect of the Pueraria root-Poria cocos fermented medicine group is better than that of the unfermented medicine group,and the mechanism of action may be related to regulating the PI3K/Akt/GLUT4 signaling pathway.