Cordyceps militaris extracts and cordycepin ameliorate type 2 diabetes mellitus by modulating the gut microbiota and metabolites

Xinyuan Liu; Mengqian Dun; Tongtong Jian; Yuqing Sun; Mingyu Wang; Guoying Zhang; Jianya Ling

doi:10.3389/fphar.2023.1134429

Cordyceps militaris extracts and cordycepin ameliorate type 2 diabetes mellitus by modulating the gut microbiota and metabolites

Front Pharmacol. 2023 Mar 9:14:1134429. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1134429. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Xinyuan Liu¹, Mengqian Dun¹, Tongtong Jian², Yuqing Sun¹, Mingyu Wang¹, Guoying Zhang², Jianya Ling¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, SD, China.
² Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, SD, China.

Abstract

Introduction: Cordyceps militaris, which has many potential medicinal properties, has rarely been reported to alleviate type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: The effects of C. militaris extracts (CE) and cordycepin (CCS) on high-fat diet and streptozotocin (STZ) induced T2DM mice were analysed by gut microbiome and metabolomics methods in this study. Results: The results demonstrated that glucose and lipid metabolism parameters, oxidative stress biomarkers and inflammation cytokines were down-regulated in the CCS and CE groups. A comparative analysis of the fecal samples from mice in the model and experimental groups showed that experimental groups resulted in a higher abundance of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes. Conclusion: This study provides evidence that C. militaris can be used as a food supplement to relieve T2DM, which provides a promising prospect for new functional food in it.

Keywords: 16S rDNA; C. militaris; T2DM; gut microbiota; metabolomics; pathway.

Grants and funding

The research work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21877075 and 21807066), the Key Research and Development Program of Shandong Province (No. 2019GSF107003).