Astragalus improves intestinal barrier function and immunity by acting on intestinal microbiota to treat T2DM: a research review

Abstract

Diabetes is a significant chronic endocrine/metabolism disorder that can result in a number of life-threatening consequences. According to research, the gut microbiota is strongly linked to the development of diabetes, making it a viable target for diabetes treatment. The intestinal microbiota affects intestinal barrier function, organism immunity, and thus glucose metabolism and lipid metabolism. According to research, a disruption in the intestinal microbiota causes a decrease in short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), alters the metabolism of bile acids (BAs), branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and endotoxin secretion, resulting in insulin resistance, chronic inflammation, and the progression to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Astragali Radix is a medicinal herb of the same genus as food that has been extensively researched for treating diabetes mellitus with promising results in recent years. Polysaccharides, saponins, flavonoids, and other components are important. Among them, Astragaloside has a role in protecting the cellular integrity of the pancreas and liver, can leading to alleviation of insulin resistance and reducing blood glucose and triglyceride (TC) levels; The primary impact of Astragalus polysaccharides (APS) on diabetes is a decrease in insulin resistance, encouragement of islet cell proliferation, and suppression of islet β cell death; Astragali Radix flavonoids are known to enhance immunity, anti-inflammatory, regulate glucose metabolism and control the progression of diabetes. This study summarizes recent studies on Astragali Radix and its group formulations in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus by modulating the intestinal microbiota.

Effects of Yishentongluo Recipe on Nrf2 and HO-1 pathway activation leading to reduction of oxidative stress and kidney fibrosis in membranous nephropathy rat model

“…Astragali radix (Su et al, 2023), Codonopsis radix (Sun & Liu, 2008), fried atractylodis macrocephalae rhizome (Xie et al, 2013), and Epimedii folium (Sun et al, 2015;Chen et al, 2019;Sun et al, 2021), are tonic herbs that improve immunity and alleviate weakness in patients with kidney disease by tonifying the upper, middle, and Boletín Latinoamericano y del Caribe de Plantas Medicinales y Aromáticas/ 789 lower jiao, benefiting qi, invigorating the spleen, inducing diuresis, and clearing turbidity. The active components with the activities of improving immunity and alleviating weakness of these Chinese medicine were also given attentions by researchers.…”

Nutrition at the Intersection between Gut Microbiota Eubiosis and Effective Management of Type 2 Diabetes

“…Interestingly, GLP-1 release was also enhanced following flavonoid introduction. The beneficial effects of fruit and vegetable flavonoids also are shown by the improvement of intestinal barrier integrity, as well as promoting islet cell proliferation and the suppression of islet cell apoptosis [ 294 ]. Flavonoids also modulate glucose metabolism by the upregulation of the IRS/AKT signaling pathway to increase GLUT4 translocation and the synthesis of glycogen, while concomitantly improving the Firmicutes-to-Bacteroidetes ratio [ 295 ].…”

Astragalus polysaccharide: implication for intestinal barrier, anti-inflammation, and animal production

“…Gut microbiota provide essential capacities for the fermentation of non-digestible substrates like dietary fibers and endogenous intestinal endogenous intestinal mucus ( 73 ). Emerging evidence indicated that APS might improve intestinal barrier through promoting colonization of good bacteria, preventing pathogenic bacteria from invasion and growth, eliminating ROS and attenuating intestinal inflammation ( 56 , 74 , 75 ). A previous study found that dietary diet supplemented with 220 mg/kg APS enhanced the abundance of beneficial bacteria numbers ( Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria ) and reduced E. coli abundance in the gut ( 76 ).…”