Glucose-lowering effect of Gryllus bimaculatus powder on streptozotocin-induced diabetes through the AKT/mTOR pathway

Seon-Ah Park; Geum-Hwa Lee; Hwa-Young Lee; The-Hiep Hoang; Han-Jung Chae

doi:10.1002/fsn3.1323

Glucose-lowering effect of Gryllus bimaculatus powder on streptozotocin-induced diabetes through the AKT/mTOR pathway

Food Sci Nutr. 2019 Dec 11;8(1):402-409. doi: 10.1002/fsn3.1323. eCollection 2020 Jan.

Authors

Seon-Ah Park¹, Geum-Hwa Lee¹, Hwa-Young Lee^{1

2}, The-Hiep Hoang^{1

2}, Han-Jung Chae^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Non-Clinical Evaluation Center Biomedical Research Institute Chonbuk National University Hospital Jeonju Chonbuk South Korea.
² Department of Pharmacology and Institute of New Drug Development School of Medicine Chonbuk National University Jeonju Chonbuk South Korea.

Abstract

This study was carried out to elucidate the antidiabetic effects of Gryllus bimaculatus powder using a streptozotocin (STZ)-induced rat model of type I diabetes. Administration of the insect powder significantly rescued representative diabetes markers (i.e., insulin and C-peptide) in STZ-treated rats. Improved glucose tolerance test (GTT) and insulin tolerance test (ITT) results were also observed, indicating that Gryllus bimaculatus powder exerts antidiabetic effects. Gryllus bimaculatus powder administration rescued STZ-induced alterations in both islet morphology and insulin staining patterns. The extract increased antiapoptotic Bcl2 expression and decreased proapoptotic Bax and active caspase 3 expressions. In addition, the Gryllus bimaculatus powder supplementation enhanced AKT/mTOR pathway, a key marker of the state of anabolic metabolism, and its downstream effector, mTOR. Collectively, our results suggest that Gryllus bimaculatus contributes to the maintenance of pancreatic β-cell function and morphology against a diabetic state through the regulations against apoptosis and anabolic metabolism.

Keywords: AKT/mTOR; Bax; Bcl2; Diabetes; Gryllus bimaculatus.