Hypoglycemic effect of enzymatically extracted Cichorium pumilum Jacq polysaccharide (CGP) on T2DM mice via PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway

Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is a chronic metabolic disease with a high incidence, which seriously affects the physical and mental health of patients. The current treatment methods can only alleviate the disease and are accompanied by unavoidable toxic side effects. Cichorium pumilum Jacq (CG) is a kind of plant medicine with Xinjiang characteristics, which is often used to reduce blood sugar and protect the liver. CG polysaccharide (CGP) is the main active component of CG, but the hypoglycemic effect and mechanism of CGP on T2DM are still unclear. In vitro hypoglycemic and antioxidant experiments showed that CGP had effective hypoglycemic and antioxidant activities, and a series of characterizations of CGP was carried out. In vivo tests on T2DM mice showed that CGP improved liver glycogen metabolism, reduced oxidative stress and colonic damage. AKT and PI3K phosphorylation decreased, mTOR phosphorylation increased in T2DM mice liver; CGP reversed these changes, protected colonic mucosa, and increased Occludin and ZO-1 protein expression. CGP is a good antioxidant and hypoglycemic agent. It improves liver glycogen metabolism and repairs intestinal mucosal damage in T2DM mice via the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, providing a research basis for its treatment.