ABSTRACT
As bioactive ingredients of functional foods, dietary fiber and wheat albumin (WA) are known to suppress hyperglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The combined effects of these bioactive ingredients were examined using an animal model of type 2 diabetes mellitus. First, oral starch tolerance tests (OSTTs) with the simultaneous intake of a dietary fiber mixture (DF) and WA were performed as an acute study. Male Goto-Kakizaki rats received a soluble starch solution [700 mg/kg body weight (bw)] containing DF and/or WA (each 300 mg/kg bw). In these OSTTs, the combined intake of DF and WA suppressed hyperglycemia much more effectively than each separate intake. Second, in a chronic intake study, diets containing DF and/or WA were administered to male Zucker diabetic fatty rats over 84 d. The combined effects of DF and WA were not observed in glycosylated hemoglobin concentration levels or fasting blood glucose levels, but appeared as an improvement in liver lipid contents. Variations in the liver lipid contents were similarly reflected in those of the plasma lipid concentrations. In conclusion, this study found that the simultaneous intake of bioactive DF and WA improved the postprandial hyperglycemia and the chronic lipid metabolism disorders in rat models of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
