D-pinitol, a compound isolated from Pinaceae and Leguminosae plants, has been reported to possess insulin-like properties. Although the hypoglycemic activity of D-pinitol was recognized in recent years, the molecular mechanism of D-pinitol in the treatment of diabetes mellitus remains unclear. In this investigation, a model of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with insulin resistance was established by feeding a high-fat diet (HFD) and injecting streptozocin (STZ) to Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, targeting the exploration of more details of the mechanism in the therapy of T2DM. D-pinitol was administrated to the diabetic rats as two doses [30, 60 mg/(kg·body weight·day)]. The level of fasting blood glucose (FBG) was decreased 12.63% in the high-dosage group, and the ability of oral glucose tolerance was improved in D-pinitol-treated groups. The biochemical indices revealed that D-pinitol had a positive effect on hypoglycemic activity. Western boltting suggested that D-pinitol could promote the expression of the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) p85, PI3Kp110, as well as the downstream target protein kinase B/Akt (at Ser473). Besides, D-pinitol inhibited the expression of glycogen synthesis kinase-3β (GSK-3β) protein and regulated the expression of glycogen synthesis (GS) protein and then accelerated the glycogen synthesis. Above all, D-pinitol played a positive role in regulating insulin-mediated glucose uptake in the liver through translocation and activation of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in T2DM rats.

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The purpose of the present study was to investigate the immune-enhancing activity of Kombucha. In immunosuppression experiment, the immune-enhancing effect of Kombucha in immunosuppressive mice was performed.It was showed that Kombucha at high and medium doses doses was able to overcome the CY-induced immunosuppression, significantly improves the body weight, the count of white blood cell, increases the thymus and spleen indices, enhances lymphocyte proliferation activity and peritoneal macrophage function, improves natural killer cells activity compared with negative control group. In addition, the different dose of Kombucha could significantly enhance the activity of alkaline phosphatase (AKP), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) in blood serum. Therefore, the Kombucha could be an effective immunomodulatory agent. 2 Materials and methods 2.1 Materials and chemicals Sugar, tea, and culture of Kombucha were provided by Tianjin Qijun Biotechnology Co., Ltd. Cyclophosphamide (CY) was purchased from Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co. (Lianyungang, Jiangsu, China). RPMI 1640, 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), 0.1% neutral red staining solution, red blood cell lysis buffer, lipopolysaccha-ride (LPS) and Concanavalin A (ConA) were purchased from Solarbio (Science & Technology Corporation, Beijing, China). Astragalus essence oral liquid was purchased from