HYPOGLYCEMIC AND HYPOLIPEMIC EFFECTS OF β-GLUCAN DERIVED FROM AUREOBASIDIUM IN STZ-INDUCED DIABETIC RATS

The primary objective of the present study was to determine the effects of β-glucan derived from Aureobasidium on diabetes and diabetic hyperlipemia in an animal model of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes. β-glucan was orally administered to STZ-induced diabetic hyperlipemic Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats for 4 weeks beginning at 25 days after STZ administration (late diabetic hypoglycemic and hyperlipemia model). Changes in body weight were recorded throughout the study and blood glucose and serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglyceride, and total cholesterol (T-CHOL) levels were measured at 28 days after β-glucan administration. The β-glucan results were compared with those from rats that received Simvastatin (10 mg/kg). Following the occurrence of STZ-induced diabetes, the STZ control group exhibited decreases in body weight and serum HDL levels in conjunction with increases in blood glucose, serum LDL, triglyceride, and T-CHOL levels compared to the intact control group. However, serum LDL, triglyceride, and T-CHOL levels dramatically decreased in the STZ groups that received β-glucan (62.5 and 125 mg/kg). The present results suggest that β-glucan derived from Aureobasidium does not exert hypoglycemic effects in an SD rat model of STZ-induced diabetes. However, β-glucan did have favorable effects in terms of attenuating complications related to diabetic hyperlipemia at a dose of 62.5 mg/kg/day or more. Therefore, β-glucan may be a candidate as a novel hypolipemic agent designed specifically to treat diabetic complications related to hyperlipemia regardless of the severity of disease.