SAT-659 Micro/Nanoparticles from Antidiabetic Chinese Herbal Medicine Soup Increase Bioavailability of Phytochemicals and Regulate Glucose and Lipid Metabolism

Herbal soups have always been a popular option for treating oxidative stress-related chronic diseases including diabetes. Various components of these soups have been studied in the hope to identify the active principles, mainly focusing on the individual phytochemicals. As we have revealed previously, the micro/nanoparticles (MNPs) formed incidentally during the boiling water extraction of herbal soups may be bioactive and functional. This study aims to elucidate the underlying mechanism of the biological functions of these MNPs. A Chinese herbal medicine soup prepared by Radix Puerariae lobatae, ginger and other three herbs, namely Ge-Gen-Qin-Lian-Tang, was employed here, as it was proven to be effective in treating type 2 diabetes clinically. The soup was separated with high-speed centrifuge (15600×g) to obtain the supernatant (solutes and nanoparticles) and sediments (MNPs), and determined for the content of three bioactive phytochemicals, e.g. puerarin, berberine and baicalin. Their hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic and antioxidant effects were determined on streptozotocin (STZ)-induced Type 2 diabetic Wistar male rats fed on high fat-high sugar diet. The animals were divided into six groups (normal control, diabetic model, whole soup, supernatant, MNPs and metformin, 8 rats each), recording weight, diet, excretion, mental status, etc. The fasting blood glucose and oral glucose tolerance test were conducted regularly. Eight weeks after the administration, the rats were sacrificed after anesthesia. Abdominal aorta blood and tissue samples of pancreas, heart, skeletal muscle, liver, kidney, spleen were collected. The glycated hemoglobin, glucose, lipid, insulin, glucagon, AMPK, SOD, puerarin, berberine, baicalin in blood plasma, insulin in pancreas, SOD in tissues, AMPK in skeletal muscle were measured. Liver tissue sections were observed with HE staining. Statistical analysis (t-test) were performed. The MNPs reduced blood glucose, ameliorated glucose tolerance, elevated insulin secretion and significantly improve glucose and lipid metabolism (P <0.05), showing stronger effects than the supernatant components. Notably, MNPs elevated the AMPK level in skeletal muscle, even more potently than the whole soup. The therapeutic effects of MNPs on the liver damage were even stronger than metformin. Meanwhile, MNPs promoted absorption of puerarin, berberine and baicalin and increase their concentration in blood (P <0.05). Therefore, the MNPs from the herbal soup exhibited more potent effects than the soluble components on ameliorating glucose and lipid metabolism and pancreatic functions of diabetic rats. The actions of these MNPs provide a new perspective for understanding the antidiabetic effects of herbal soups and serve as a vehicle for the multiple phytochemicals to synergistically possess therapeutic effects.