Mitigation mechanisms of Hizikia fusifarme polysaccharide consumption on type 2 diabetes in rats

The objective of current work was to explore the potential anti-diabetic mechanisms of Hizikia fusifarme polysaccharide (HFP) in type 2 diabetic rats. The carbohydrate loading experiment illustrated that HFP supplement could reduce blood sugar fluctuations caused by eating through inhibiting the hydrolysis of starch in mice. The analysis of typically diabetic symptoms and serum profiles showed that oral administration of HFP could mitigate hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, chronic inflammation and oxidative stress in rats. The 16s rRNA gene sequencing analysis indicated that HFP treatment could restore beneficial composition of gut flora in diabetic rats, and the correlation analysis revealed that the improvement of diabetes is closely related to the modification of gut flora by HFP intervention. Furthermore, the RT-qPCR and western blotting analysis clarified that HFP administration could increase glycogen storage in liver and skeletal muscle of diabetic rats through activating IRS/PI3K/AKT/GLUT signaling pathway and restrain gluconeogenesis via affecting the relative expression of Egr-1 and PEPCK genes.