Anti-diabetic effect of Coptis Chinensis polysaccharide in high-fat diet with STZ-induced diabetic mice

For the past few years, numerous polysaccharides and polysaccharide-protein complexes have been isolated from plant or animal and used as a promising source of therapeutic agents for diabetes mellitus (DM). In this study, a water-soluble polysaccharide, named as CCPW-1, was extracted and fractioned from the roots of Coptis Chinensis by DEAE Sepharose Fast Flow anion-exchange and Sephadex G-100 column chromatography. The determination of the monosaccharide composition in CCPW-1 with gas chromatography (GC) showed that CCPW-1 was composed of glucose (54.8%), arabinose (22.3%), xylose (11.5%), galactose (7.6%) and galacturonic acid (3.8%). Diabetic mice induced by high-fat diet (HFD) with streptozotocin (STZ) were administered CCPW-1 (100, 50, 25 mg/kg b.w.). Effects of CCPW-1 on bodyweight, fasting blood glucose (FBG), oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), fasting serum insulin (FINS), total glycerin (TG), total cholesterol (TC), super oxygen dehydrogenises (SOD), catalase (CAT) and methane dicarboxylic aldehyde (MDA) were investigated. CCPW-1 could improve the bodyweight, reduce the content of FBG and enhance FINS level. Meanwhile, CCPW-1 significantly suppressed the rise in blood glucose after 30 min in OGTT. TG and TC levels of diabetic mice also decreased after CCPW-1 treatment. Furthermore, CCPW-1 showed an obvious antioxidant effect through increasing SOD, CAT activities and decreasing MDA content in pancreas. These results indicate that CCPW-1 could be developed to a potent drug used for the treatment of DM in the future.

► We isolated and characterized a water-soluble polysaccharide, named as CCPW-1 from the roots of Coptis Chinensis.
► CCPW-1 could reduce FBG level of diabetic mice.
► CCPW-1 could improve the bodyweight and FINS of diabetic mice.
► CCPW-1 could decrease the content of TG and TC of diabetic mice.
► CCPW-1 could increase SOD and CAT activities and decrease CAT content in pancreas of diabetic mice.