The effects of Sea buckthorn seed protein on glucose metabolism in streptozotocin-induced diabetic ICR mice

Abstract

In this paper, we investigated the effects of protein from sea buckthorn seed on the expression of genes involved in liver glucose metabolism and on the activation of the AMPK/SIRT1 pathway in streptozotocin (STZ)- induced diabetic ICR mice. The investigated factors included oral glucose tolerance test, insulin resistance, insulin sensitivity index, AMPK and SIRT1 activity and the expression of liver glucose metabolism genes. Seabuckthorn seed protein (SSP) improved the oral glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, reduced insulin resistance, suppressed expression of liver glucose metabolism genes and upregulated activation of the AMPK/SIRT1 pathway. Therefore, the results demonstrate that SSP can improve insulin resistance, suppress expression of these genes and upregulate activation on the AMPK /SIRT1 pathway in STZ-induced diabetic ICR mice.