N-Acetyl-chitobiose ameliorates metabolism dysfunction through Erk/p38 MAPK and histone H3 phosphorylation in type 2 diabetes mice

The effects of N-acetyl-chitobiose [(GlcNAc)2] on diabetes-related metabolic disorders, along with its regulation mechanism of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway were investigated on type 2 diabetes (T2D) model mice. Treatment with (GlcNAc)2 improved significantly glucose and lipid metabolism by decrease of blood glucose (∼20%), total cholesterol (∼26.5%) and triglyceride (∼16.1%), increase of HDL-cholesterol (∼107.2%), and reversal of insulin resistance in T2D model mice. Moreover, (GlcNAc)2 reduced lipid peroxidation and inflammatory factors in pancreas with increased activity of superoxide dismutase (∼57%), reduced malondialdehyde equivalent (∼22%) and lowered levels of TNF-α, IL-1β and NF-κB. (GlcNAc)2 had also significantly attenuated MAPK signaling pathways especially though IL-1β-Erk/p38-Histone H3 pathway in T2D model mice. It can be concluded that (GlcNAc)2 has potential as a new functional food ingredient to improve T2D-related metabolic disorders.