Function And Mechanism Of Polysaccharides From Momordica Charantia And Aloe Barbadensis In Decreasing Blood Sugar

Diabetes mellitus, a common endocrinosis, now is taking its place as one of the main threats to human health in recent years. Polysaccharide, an important active component of Chinese traditional medicine, has potential application in treating diabetes. As immune regulator, it has various physical activities such as decreasing blood sugar and blood lipid without toxicity or other side effects, but now little has been known about the mechanism of polysaccharide in anti-diabetes. The main purpose of this thesis is to search theoretical and technological supports in the new drug research on diabetic treatment.Polysaccharides in fresh fruit bodies of Momordica charantia (MCP) and leaves of Aloe barbadensis (ABP), two kinds of Chinese traditional medicine, were extracted with hot water, deposited by ethanol, purified by deproteinization. The results of HPCE showed that MCP was composed of arabinose, galactose, rhamnose, and trehalose, while ABP of mannose, arabinose and trehalose.The diabetic mice model was made by intraperiteneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) at dose of 200 mg/kg. Then the model mice were given MCP by intragastric administration at dose of 200 mg/kg of MCP, 300 mg/kg of MCP and 200mg/kg of ABP respectively. After 14 days, animals were killed to determine blood sugar and serum insulin. It was found that MCP and ABP could obviously decrease the blood sugar by 50.23% (P<0.05), 53.68% (P<0.01), 40.02% (P<0.01), and the level of serum insulin could recuperated to a certain extent. Severe damages including inflammation invading and necrocytosis were observed in tissue sections of pancreatic islets of mice injected with STZ, but after being treated with MCP and ABP, necrocytosis disappeared. The spleen lymphocytes of normal and diabetic model mice were cultured and the cytokines in supernatant were tested byELISA. The results showed that MCP and ABP could inhibit the production of IFN-y and enhance the production of IL-4.All of the results implied that MCP and ABP could regulate the balance of Thl and Th2 cell, ameliorate the imbalance of Thl and Th2 cell in diabetic model mice, therefore, they could protect p cells in pancreatic islets and decrease the level of blood sugar. This study indicate that immune regulation mechanism of polysaccharide might play a key role in the treatment of diabetes with Chinese traditional medicine.