Mechanism of Ginsenoside Rb1 Modulating the Glycolipid Metabolism in Rats with Metabolic Syndrome

Shiquan Chang, Yanli Huang, Di Zhang, Jianxin Sun, Bing Yang, Yi Lin, Xin Li, Bei Jing, Huimei Shi, Yachun Zheng, Chunlan Zhang, Fengguo Chen, Guoqiang Qian and Guoping Zhao

Background and Objective: Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome (MS) is increasing with the passage of time and it cause serious complications on people’s health and affect their quality of life. This study aimed to explore the therapeutic effect of ginsenoside Rb1 on modulating the glycolipid metabolism via PPARs and AMPK-ACC pathway in metabolic syndrome mice. Materials and Methods: Ten male C57BL/6 mice were conducted as a control group. Forty male ob/ob mice were divided into four groups: Model group, ginsenoside Rb1 high-dosage group, medium -dosage group and low-dosage group. Rb1 was intraperitoneally injected into the mice for 21 days with 10, 20 and 30 mg kg^–1/day. An equivalent volume of physiological saline was given to the control and model groups. Then, we tested blood lipids, AST, ALT, liver fat, serum insulin, FFA and adiponectin. Moreover, the mRNA levels of PPARs and proteins of AMPK-ACC pathway was also analyzed. Results: The index of HOMA-IR, blood lipids, liver index and liver transaminase in the model group were significantly higher than those in the blank group (p<0.01). Moreover, Pathological sections showed disorder of liver lobules, swelling of liver cells and many lipid droplets. The medium-dose group can significantly reduce the Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) index (p<0.01), the reduction of the liver index and liver TG content was more significant in the high-dose group (p<0.05). Medium and high dosage groups could reduce FFA content and increase ADPN content (p<0.05). The expression levels of PPARs decreased linearly with increasing doses. Ginsenoside Rb1 could increase the protein expression levels of pAMPK and pACC (p<0.05) with no significant difference between groups (p>0.05). Conclusion: Ginsenoside Rb1 could significantly lower blood sugar and reduce lipid accumulation after 3 weeks of administration. The mechanism may be involved in regulating the level of adiponectin to improve IR. Through stimulating AMPK activation, increasing liver FFA oxidation, it thereby removed excess liver lipids.

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