Abstract
Oxidative stress has recently been considered as a pivotal player in the pathogenesis of diabetic gastrointestinal dysfunction. We therefore investigated the role of 2, 3, 5, 4′-tetrahydroxystilbene-2-O-beta-D-glucoside (THSG) that has a strong anti-oxidant property, in diabetic gastrointestinal dysmotility as well as the underlying protective mechanisms. THSG restored the delayed gastric emptying and the increased intestinal transit in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic mice. Loss of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) expression and impaired nonadrenergic, noncholinergic (NANC) relaxations in diabetic mice were relieved by long-term preventive treatment with THSG. Meanwhile, THSG (10−7∼10−4 mol/L) enhanced concentration-dependently NANC relaxations of isolated colons in diabetic mice. Diabetic mice displayed a significant increase in Malondialdehyde (MDA) level and decrease in the activity of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), which were ameliorated by THSG. Inhibition of caspase-3 and activation of ERK phosphorylation related MAPK pathway were involved in prevention of enhanced apoptosis in diabetes afforded by THSG. Moreover, THSG prevented the significant decrease in PPAR-γ and SIRT1 expression in diabetic ileum. Our study indicates that THSG improves diabetic gastrointestinal disorders through activation of MAPK pathway and upregulation of PPAR-γ and SIRT1.
Highlights
Gastrointestinal (GI) motility disorders are very common in diabetic patients
Increased oxidative stress plays a key role in GI complications of diabetes, which provides us a new therapeutic strategy focused on enhancement of anti-oxidant defenses [22]
We examined the effect of THSG on GI problems in STZ-induced diabetic mice
Summary
Gastrointestinal (GI) motility disorders are very common in diabetic patients. Most of them suffer from associated symptoms such as reflux, early satiety, nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea or constipation [1,2]. The etiology of altered GI functions in diabetes is multifactorial and the mechanisms involving oxidative stress [3,4,5], apoptosis [6,7,8], neuronal loss [9,10,11], and advanced glycation products [12,13,14] are well described. The nNOS neurons have been extensively studied in diabetic GI dysmotility. As a major NANC inhibitory neurotransmitter, nitric oxide (NO) produced by these neurons mediates the smooth muscle relaxation in the GI tract [18]. Decreased nNOS neurons and impaired NO-mediated NANC relaxation have been reported in diabetic gastroenteropathy [10,19,20]
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