Involvement of the PI3K/Akt signal pathway in the hypoglycemic effects of tea polysaccharides on diabetic mice

In order to investigate the hypoglycemic effects and potential mechanism of tea polysaccharides (TPS) on diabetes, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) mice were established and treated with TPS. Results showed that TPS treatment could result in the increase of body weight and the decrease of blood glucose in the diabetic mice. The contents of total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) were decreased significantly (p<0.05) while the contents of triglyceride (TG) and (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol) HDL-c were almost restored to the normal levels. TPS possessed the efficacy of insulin resistance alleviation and exerted obvious cytoprotective action. The enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) were notably improved in both liver and kidney tissues (p<0.05) after the treatment of TPS. Furthermore, the expressions of PI3Kp85/p-Akt/GLUT4 were upregulated by TPS, which indicated the involvement of the PI3K/Akt signal pathway in the hypoglycemic mechanism of TPS. Results suggested that TPS could ameliorate the T2MD and might be a promising candidate functional food or medicine for T2DM treatment. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.