Exploration of the Effect and Mechanism of ShenQi Compound in a Spontaneous Diabetic Rat Model

Background: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is a world-wide metabolic disease with no cure from drugs and treatment. In China, The Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) herbal formulations have been used to treat T2DM for centuries. Methods: In this study, we proposed a formula called ShenQi Compound (SQC), which has been used in clinical therapeutics in China for several years. We evaluated the effect of SQC in a spontaneous diabetic rat model (GK rats) by detecting a series of blood indicators and performing histological observations. Meanwhile, the gene microarray and RT-qPCR experiments were used to explore the molecular mechanism of SQC treatment. In addition, western medicine, sitagliptin was employed as a comparison. Results: The results indicated that SQC and sitagliptin could effectively improve the serum lipid (blood Total Cholesterol (TC) and blood Triglycerides (TG)), hormone levels (serum insulin (INS), Glucagon (GC) and Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1)), alleviated the inflammatory response (hypersensitive C-Reactive Protein (hsCRP)), blood glucose fluctuation (Mean Blood Glucose (MBG), standard deviation of blood glucose (SDBG) and Largest Amplitude of plasma Glucose Excursions (LAGE)), pancreatic tissue damage and vascular injury for T2DM. Compared with sitagliptin, SQC achieved a better effect on blood glucose fluctuation (p<0.01). Meanwhile, the gene microarray and RT-qPCR experiments indicated that SQC and sitagliptin may improve the T2DM through affecting the biological functions related to apoptosis and circadian rhythm. Moreover, SQC might be able to influence the mTOR signaling pathway by regulating Pik3r1, Ddit4 expression. Conclusion: All these results indicate that SQC is an effective therapeutic drug on T2DM. Notably, SQC presents an obvious blood glucose fluctuation-preventing ability, which might be derived from the regulation of the mTOR signaling pathway.