Astragalus polysaccharide (APS) is an important bioactive component of Astragalus membranaceus which is used as an anti-diabetes herb in traditional Chinese medicine. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects and mechanisms of APS on insulin-sensitizing of adipocytes. Mouse 3T3-L1 preadipocytes were used as a model. The results showed that APS increased preadipocytes proliferation in a dose dependent manner, and 0.1 μg/mL APS sufficiently increased Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen (PCNA) content (p < 0.01). Moreover, APS enhanced intracellular lipid accumulation and mRNA expression of proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ, p < 0.01), CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α (C/EBPα, p < 0.01) and fatty acid binding protein (aP2, p < 0.01). As expected, corresponding protein contents were elevated. Importantly, APS increased 2-(N-(7-Nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl)Amino)-2-Deoxyglucose (2-NBDG) uptake (p < 0.01). Meanwhile, both mRNA and protein content of glucose transporter 4 (Glut4) were elevated by APS (p < 0.01). The APS treatment enhanced tyrosine phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1, p < 0.05) and phosphor-Akt content (p < 0.01). Besides, phosphorylated AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) content was increased in the APS treated cells (p < 0.01). Taken together, APS improved insulin sensitivity by enhancing glucose uptake, possibly through AMPK activation. These results suggested that APS might be a therapeutic candidate for insulin resistance.

No abstract

This study aimed to determine the impact of stocking density on the liver proteome and cecal microbiota of Peking ducks. A total of 1,200 21-day-old ducks were randomly assigned to 5 stocking density groups of 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 ducks/m2, with 6 replicates for each group. At 40 days of age, duck serum and pectorals were collected for biochemical tests; liver and cecal contents of ducks were gathered for proteome and microbiota analysis, respectively. Serum MDA increased while pectorals T-AOC reduced linearly with enhancing stocking density. Duck lipid metabolism was altered under different stocking density as well. Serum LDL-C increased linearly with increasing stocking density. Proteome analysis revealed fatty acid biosynthesis proteins such as acyl-CoA synthetase family member 2 and fatty acid oxidation related proteins including acyl-CoA dehydrogenase long chain and acyl-coenzyme A oxidase were enriched in high stocking density group. Additionally, high stocking density increased oxidative response associated proteins such as DDRGK domain containing 1. Furthermore, increasing stocking density diminished proteins of anti-oxidant capacity including regucalcin and catalase. 16S rDNA analysis revealed that higher stocking density was accompanied with decreased microbial diversity, as well as depletion of anti-inflammatory bacterial taxa, including Bacteroidales, Butyricimonas and Alistipe. Besides, reduced bile acid metabolism-associated bacteria such as Ruminococcaceae, Clostridiales and Desulfovibrionaceae were found in the high-density group. Both proteome and 16S rDNA results showed inflammation and chronic liver disease trend in the high-density group, which suggests the involvement of the liver-gut axis in oxidative stress.

No abstract

No abstract