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. 2019 Dec 11;8(1):402-409.
doi: 10.1002/fsn3.1323. eCollection 2020 Jan.

Glucose-lowering effect of Gryllus bimaculatus powder on streptozotocin-induced diabetes through the AKT/mTOR pathway

Seon-Ah Park  1 , Geum-Hwa Lee  1 , Hwa-Young Lee  1   2 , The-Hiep Hoang  1   2 , Han-Jung Chae  1   2
Affiliations

Glucose-lowering effect of Gryllus bimaculatus powder on streptozotocin-induced diabetes through the AKT/mTOR pathway

Seon-Ah Park et al. Food Sci Nutr. .

Abstract

This study was carried out to elucidate the antidiabetic effects of Gryllus bimaculatus powder using a streptozotocin (STZ)-induced rat model of type I diabetes. Administration of the insect powder significantly rescued representative diabetes markers (i.e., insulin and C-peptide) in STZ-treated rats. Improved glucose tolerance test (GTT) and insulin tolerance test (ITT) results were also observed, indicating that Gryllus bimaculatus powder exerts antidiabetic effects. Gryllus bimaculatus powder administration rescued STZ-induced alterations in both islet morphology and insulin staining patterns. The extract increased antiapoptotic Bcl2 expression and decreased proapoptotic Bax and active caspase 3 expressions. In addition, the Gryllus bimaculatus powder supplementation enhanced AKT/mTOR pathway, a key marker of the state of anabolic metabolism, and its downstream effector, mTOR. Collectively, our results suggest that Gryllus bimaculatus contributes to the maintenance of pancreatic β-cell function and morphology against a diabetic state through the regulations against apoptosis and anabolic metabolism.

Keywords: AKT/mTOR; Bax; Bcl2; Diabetes; Gryllus bimaculatus.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they do not have any conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Effects of Gryllus bimaculatus powder on blood glucose, plasma C‐peptide, and plasma insulin levels in an STZ‐induced diabetic rat model. Eight‐week‐old rats were injected intraperitoneally with a single dose of freshly prepared STZ (65 mg/kg). The control group was injected with the same volume of citrate buffer only. After confirming the diabetic condition, the control group was fed only a high dose of the Gryllus bimaculatus powder (6.5 g/kg), whereas the diabetic group was fed varying doses of the powder (1.63, 3.25, and 6.5 g/kg) twice daily. The fasting glucose level was measured as described in the Materials and Methods (a). Plasma C‐peptide levels (b) and insulin levels (c) were measured as described in the Materials and Methods. Values are means ± SEM. n = 8; # p < .05 versus control group *p < .05 versus STZ groups
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effects of Gryllus bimaculatus powder on glucose (glucose tolerance test; GTT) and insulin tolerance (insulin tolerance test; ITT) states. Eight‐week‐old rats were injected intraperitoneally with a single dose of freshly prepared STZ (65 mg/kg). The control group was injected with an equal volume of citrate buffer only. After confirming the diabetic condition, the control group was fed a high dose of the Gryllus bimaculatus powder (6.5 g/kg) and the diabetic group was fed varying doses of the powder (1.63, 3.25, and 6.5 g/kg) twice daily. The GTT (a) and ITT (b) were performed as described in the Materials and Methods. Values are means ± SEM. n = 8; # p < .05 versus control groups; *p < .05 versus the STZ group
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effects of Gryllus bimaculatus powder on pancreatic function and morphology. Eight‐week‐old rats were injected intraperitoneally with a single dose of freshly prepared STZ (65 mg/kg). The control group was injected with an equal volume of citrate buffer only. After confirming the diabetic condition, the control group was fed a high dose of the Gryllus bimaculatus powder (6.5 g/kg), whereas the diabetic group was fed varying doses of the powder (1.63, 3.25, and 6.5 g/kg) twice daily. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) immunohistochemistry (top; ×200 magnification) and immunohistochemical staining with an anti‐insulin antibody (bottom; ×200 magnification) of isolated pancreases from the vehicle and Gryllus bimaculatus powder‐administered nondiabetic rats and from the vehicle and Gryllus bimaculatus powder‐administered diabetic rats (a). Quantification analysis of the positive insulin staining pancreatic islets (b). Values are means ± SEM. n = 3; # p < .05 versus control groups; *p < .05 versus STZ groups
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effects of Gryllus bimaculatus powder on pancreas damage resulting from STZ‐induced diabetes. Eight‐week‐old rats were injected intraperitoneally with a single dose of freshly prepared STZ (65 mg/kg). The control group was injected with an equal volume of citrate buffer only. After confirming the diabetic condition, the control group was fed a high dose of Gryllus bimaculatus powder (6.5 g/kg), whereas the diabetic group was fed varying doses of the powder (1.63, 3.25, and 6.5 g/kg) twice daily. Immunoblotting with anti‐Bcl2, anti‐Bax, and anti‐cleaved caspase 3 antibodies was performed on pancreases isolated from the vehicle‐administered and Gryllus bimaculatus powder‐administered nondiabetic rats and from the vehicle‐administered and Gryllus bimaculatus powder‐administered diabetic rats, as described in the Materials and Methods (a). Quantification analysis of Bcl2 (b), Bax (c), and cleaved caspase 3 expression (d). Results were standardized to the expression of β‐actin at the indicated administered weight. Values are means ± SD. n = 3; # p < .05 versus control groups; *p < .05 versus STZ groups
Figure 5
Figure 5
Effects of Gryllus bimaculatus powder on mTOR signaling in STZ‐induced diabetic rats. Eight‐week‐old rats were injected intraperitoneally with a single dose of freshly prepared STZ (65 mg/kg). The control group was injected with an equal volume of citrate buffer only. After confirming the diabetic condition, the control group was fed with a high dose of Gryllus bimaculatus powder (6.5 g/kg), whereas the diabetic group was fed with varying doses of the powder (1.63, 3.25, and 6.5 g/kg) twice daily. Immunoblotting with anti‐p‐AKT, anti‐AKT, anti‐insulin, and anti‐β‐actin antibodies was performed in pancreases isolated from the vehicle‐administered and Gryllus bimaculatus powder‐administered nondiabetic rats and from the vehicle‐administered and Gryllus bimaculatus powder‐administered diabetic rats (a). Quantification of p‐AKT (b) and insulin (c) expression based on the separate expression of AKT and β‐actin at the indicated time point. Immunoblotting with anti‐p‐mTOR, anti‐mTOR, anti‐p‐p70S6K, anti‐p70S6K, anti‐p‐4EBP1, anti‐4EBP1, and anti‐β‐actin antibody was performed with the same samples (d). Quantification of the expression of mTORC1 downstream signaling (e), p‐p70S6K (f), and p‐4EBP1 (g) based on the separate expression of p70S6K and 4EBP1. Values are means ± SD. n = 3; # p < .05 versus control groups; *p < .05 versus STZ groups
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