The hypoglycemic effect of freeze-dried fermented mulberry mixed with soybean on type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Mulberry has significant hypoglycemic effect and can be used as an auxiliary food for people with type 2 diabetes. However, it is rich in carbohydrate and cannot be consumed directly by diabetic patients. In the study, we fermented the mulberry to reduce the content of glucose and fructose, and added the soybean to reduce the loss of probiotics during fermentation and then determined its hypoglycemic effect. We induced type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) mice by streptozotocin and measured its blood glucose, serum biochemistry, hepatic and pancreatic histopathology, and the diversity of the gut microbiota. After 5 weeks of oral DFMS administration, the glucose tolerance was improved significantly in T2DM mice. Furthermore, there were also significant increases in superoxide dismutase activity and glutathione concentration, and marked reductions in the concentrations of malondialdehyde and free fatty acids. Moreover, DFMS also prevented histopathological changes and the increases in the activities of alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase. DFMS treatment also markedly increased the richness of the gut microbial community. The abundance of Bacteroidetes was increased, and those of Proteobacteria, Escherichia-Shigella, and Lactobacillus were reduced. In summary, DFMS has a clear hypoglycemic effect in mice with T2DM.

Superior hypoglycemic activity of mulberry lacking monosaccharides is accompanied by better activation of the PI3K/Akt and AMPK signaling pathways.

Mulberry has been used as a functional food to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, it contains relatively high levels of fructose and glucose, which are not suitable for excess consumption by diabetic patients. In this study we used microbial fermentation to remove fructose and glucose from mulberry fruit, and then determined the effects on glycemia, the phosphatidylinositol 3-hydroxykinase/Akt (PI3K/Akt) and adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling pathways and their downstream effectors in T2DM mice. After 5 weeks of administration, fermented mulberry (FM) significantly reduced fasting blood glucose, and also improved insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance, more effectively than unfermented mulberry (MP). Moreover, compared with MP, FM had a more marked effect on the protein expression of intermediates in the PI3K/Akt and AMPK signaling pathways and their effectors: insulin receptor, phosphorylated Akt (Ser 308), phosphorylated glycogen synthase kinase-3ß (Ser 9), glycogen synthetase, phosphorylated forkhead transcription factor 1 (Ser 256), pyruvate carboxylase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, fructose-1, 6-bisphosphatase, glucose-6-phosphatase, lipoprotein lipase, and phosphorylated AMPK (Thr 172), glucose transporter 4 and pyruvate kinase. These findings indicate that mulberry fruit modified to remove fructose and glucose may be more promising than whole mulberry as a treatment for diabetes.

[Study on the influence of biological characteristics to HIV/HCV co-infection among HIV infected illegal blood donors in China].

OBJECTIVE: To study the influence of biological characteristics on HCV/HIV co-infection, including HIV-1 sequence distance, HIV-1 viral load and CD4+ count. METHODS: HIV-1 sequence distance was calculated by Clustal W and Phylip software while HIV-1 viral load being tested by NASBA and CD4+ count was tested using Epics XL of Coulter. Significance was determined by t-test using SPSS 12.0. RESULTS: The mean HIV-1 genetic distances were 7.95% and 15.73% (P < 0.001) between those with HCV co-infection and those without. Their mean HIV-1 viral loads were 4.61 and 4.45 (P = 0.522) and their mean CD4I T counts were 308 and 251 (P = 0.161), respectively. CONCLUSION: Data showed that in the study group, the HIV/HCV co-infection had an influence on the HIV sequence distance, but did not have major impact on HIV-1 viral load and their mean CD4+ T count.

Analysis of causes for liver function deterioration in patients with HIV/HCV co-infection.

BACKGROUND: Co-infection of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is common in hemophiliacs and drug abusers. To assess the interaction between HIV and HCV disease progression, we examined 82 HIV/HCV co-infection patients and 62 HCV infection patients. METHODS: Liver function, pathological changes, infection duration, immune function and qualitative HCV-RNA and HCV antibody were compared retrospectively between the two groups of patients. RESULTS: Fourty-eight patients (58.5%) in the HIV/HCV co-infection group and 53 patients (85.5%) in the HCV infection group showed abnormal liver function. No significant difference was observed in inflammation and fibrosis in the two groups (P=0.187, 0.954). However, liver abnormality in the patients with HIV/HCV co-infection appeared 8 years earlier than in those with HCV infection alone (P<0.001). As to immune function, the counts of CD+4 T and CD+8 T in the HIV/HCV group were (226.35+/-173.49)X10(6)/L and (914.40+/-448.28)X10(6)/L, whereas in the HCV group they were (752.31+/-251.69)X10(6)/L and (529.01+/-170.67)X10(6)/L respectively. The difference in the two groups was highly significant (P<0.001; P<0.001). The ratio of the number of people with both HCV-RNA and HCV antibody positive to the number of HCV-RNA positive and HCV antibody negative in the HIV/HCV group was 52:9, whereas in the HCV group it was 44:1 (P=0.043). CONCLUSION: HIV/HCV co-infection can accelerate deterioration of hepatitis C, which may be due to the effect of HIV on cellular immunity and humoral immunity of the body.