The protective roles of allicin on type 1 diabetes mellitus through AMPK/mTOR mediated autophagy pathway

Rengcheng Qian; Huihui Chen; Hongzhou Lin; Yalan Jiang; Pingping He; Yinjuan Ding; Huilan Wu; Yongmiao Peng; Lingfei Wang; Congde Chen; Dexuan Wang; Weiping Ji; Xiaoling Guo; Xiaoou Shan

doi:10.3389/fphar.2023.1108730

The protective roles of allicin on type 1 diabetes mellitus through AMPK/mTOR mediated autophagy pathway

Front Pharmacol. 2023 Feb 3:14:1108730. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1108730. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Rengcheng Qian¹, Huihui Chen¹, Hongzhou Lin¹, Yalan Jiang¹, Pingping He¹, Yinjuan Ding¹, Huilan Wu¹, Yongmiao Peng¹, Lingfei Wang¹, Congde Chen^{1

2

3}, Dexuan Wang^{1

2

3}, Weiping Ji⁴, Xiaoling Guo^{1

2

3

5}, Xiaoou Shan^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, The Second Schoozl of Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.
² Key Laboratory of Children Genitourinary Diseases of Wenzhou, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Structural Malformations in Children of Zhejiang Province, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.
⁴ Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.
⁵ Basic Medical Research Center, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.

Abstract

Background: Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is one of the most common endocrine and metabolic diseases in children. Pancreatic β cells are thought to be critical cells involved in the progression of T1DM, and their injury would directly lead to impaired insulin secretion. Purpose: To investigate the protective effects of allicin on pancreatic β cell injury and elucidate the underlying mechanism. Methods: The streptozotocin (STZ)-induced mouse T1DM model in vivo and STZ-induced pancreatic β cell Min6 model in vitro were used to explore the effects of allicin on T1DM. The experiments include fasting blood glucose test, oral glucose tolerance detection, HE staining, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, TUNEL staining, western blot, real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), and flow cytometry. Results: Allicin could significantly decrease blood glucose level, improve islet structure and insulin expression, and inhibit apoptosis to reduce STZ-induced pancreatic β cell injury and loss through activating AMPK/mTOR mediated autophagy pathway. Conclusion: Allicin treatment significantly reduced STZ-induced T1DM progression, suggesting that allicin may be a potential therapy option for T1DM patients.

Keywords: AMPK/mTOR pathway; allicin; autophagy; pancreatic β cells; type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM).

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (LY20H040003 and TGY23H030014), the Major Science and Technology Special Project of Wenzhou (2018ZY018), the Public Welfare Science and Technology Plan Project of Wenzhou City (Y2020925 and Y20210174), and the Fourth Batch of Wenzhou Medical University “Outstanding and Excellent Youth Training Project” (604090352/640).