Abstract
Oxidative stress is frequently implicated in the pathogenesis of various diseases, including diabetes mellitus resulting from uncontrolled glucose metabolism. Pumpkin polysaccharides have been shown to have a hypoglycemic effect, but their impact on abnormal glucose metabolism under oxidative stress is still unclear. We dried pumpkin flesh by far-infrared radiation, extracted and separated pumpkin polysaccharides from the dried flesh, and found that they were heteropolysaccharides primarily composed of galacturonic acid, glucose, galactose, and arabinose, with a molar ratio of 31.68:31.81:20.18:9.752. The number average (Mn) and weight average molecular weight (Mw) of pumpkin polysaccharides were 33.72 kDa and 70.88 kDa, respectively. The hemiacetal hydroxyl group forming the glycosidic bond in polysaccharides was mainly β-configuration. Additionally, we utilized streptozotocin (STZ) to induce oxidative stress and replicate an acute diabetic mouse model to study the effects of pumpkin polysaccharides on abnormal glucose metabolism. Our findings demonstrated pumpkin polysaccharides significantly reduced the levels of blood glucose, triglycerides (TG), and total cholesterol (TC) in diabetic mice (p < 0.05). Additionally, pumpkin polysaccharides significantly increased the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and the level of the antioxidant glutathione (GSH) (p < 0.05), and decreased the content of the lipid peroxide malondialdehyde (MDA) in the liver (p < 0.05). Pumpkin polysaccharides also increased the activity of pyruvate kinase (PK) and decreased the activity of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) in the liver (p < 0.05). In conclusion, our study demonstrated pumpkin polysaccharides alleviate hyperglycemic symptoms in mice by mitigating oxidative stress damage and improving glucose metabolism disorders.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call