title: Diosgenin and 5-Methoxypsoralen Ameliorate Insulin Resistance through ER-α/PI3K/Akt-Signaling Pathways in HepG2 Cells.
abstract: To determine the effects and the underlying mechanism of diosgenin (DSG) and 5-methoxypsoralen (5-MOP), two main active components in the classical Chinese prescription Hu-Lu-Ba-Wan (HLBW), on insulin resistance, HepG2 cells were incubated in medium containing insulin. Treatments with DSG, 5-MOP, and their combination were performed, respectively. The result showed that the incubation of HepG2 cells with high concentration insulin markedly decreased glucose consumption and glycogen synthesis. However, treatment with DSG, 5-MOP, or their combination significantly reversed the condition and increased the phosphorylated expression of estrogen receptor-α (ERα), sarcoma (Src), Akt/protein kinase B, glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β), and the p85 regulatory subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase p85 (PI3Kp85). At the transcriptional level, expression of the genes mentioned above also increased except for the negative regulation of GSK-3β mRNA. The increased expression of glucose transport-4 (GLUT-4) was meanwhile observed through immunofluorescence. Nevertheless, the synergistic effect of DSG and 5-MOP on improving glycometabolism was not obvious in the present study. These results suggested that DSG and 5-MOP may improve insulin resistance through an ER-mediated PI3K/Akt activation pathway which may be a new strategy for type 2 diabetes mellitus, especially for women in an estrogen-deficient condition.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430030, China.
authors.forename: Ke
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0887-9131
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430030, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430030, China.
authors.forename: Shujun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China.
authors.forename: Fen
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430030, China.
authors.forename: Dingkun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, Hubei 430065, China.
authors.forename: Desen
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430030, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430030, China.
authors.forename: Wenya
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430030, China.
authors.forename: Fuer
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3372-4024
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lu