Effects of tetrahydrocurcumin on glucose and lipid metabolism and macrovascular complications in type 2 diabetic mice

  AIM  To investigate the effects of tetrahydrocurcumin (THC) on glucose and lipid metabolism and its role of vascular protection in type 2 diabetic mice.

  METHODS  Sixty male C57BL/6J mice (20~25)g were used in this study. Fifteen mice were randomly selected as a control group and were given a normal diet and a mouse model of type 2 diabetes was established in the rest mice. To establish the model, the mice were fed with high-glycolipid diet for 4 weeks and then they were injected consecutively three times with streptozotocin (STZ) at a dose of 60 mg/kg. After successful establishment of the model, the mice were randomly divided into a model group (T2MD) and a tetrahydrocurcumin group (T2MD+THC), in which T2MD+THC was administered for 12 weeks. After the experiment, the mice were anesthetized and blood was taken from the carotid artery. The serum was separated from the whole blood and then the contents of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), serum glucose (GLU), high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein were detected. The pathological morphology of the aorta of the mice were observed in each group. The expression levels of NICD (as the key molecule of Notch1 signaling), gp91^phox (as the marker molecule of oxidative stress) and α-SMA (as the marker molecule of the smooth muscle phenotype) were detected by Western blot.

  RESULTS  THC treatment significantly improved the abnormal glucose and lipid metabolism in type 2 diabetic mice, up-regulated NICD and α-SMA expressions, down-regulated gp91^phox expression (all P < 0.01), and significantly improved vascular morphology.

  CONCLUSION  THC significantly improves abnormal glucose and lipid metabolism in type 2 diabetic mice and protects macrovascular. The possible mechanism appears to be vascular protectioin by regulating oxidative stress damage through the Notch1 signaling pathway.