Lignans from Patrinia scabiosaefolia improve insulin resistance by activating PI-3K/AKT pathway and promoting GLUT4 expression

Patrinia scabiosaefolia,is used as wild vegetable in China for more than 2000 years,with a variety of pharmacological activities,including anti-inflammatory,anti-tumor and hypoglycemic.Based on our ongoing research on chemical constituents and hypoglycemic activity of P.scabiosaefolia,4 lignan compounds,(+)-isolariciresinol(1),7R,7’R,8S,8’S-(+)-neo-olivil-4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside(2),4-O-methylcedrusin(3)and patrinian A(4),were isolated and identifi ed.The hypoglycemic activity showed that compounds 2 and 3 could extremely signifi cantly improve insulin resistance at 100(P<0.001),50(P<0.001)and 25μmol/L(P<0.01)in IR 3T3-L1 cells.While compound 4 only promoted glucose uptake by IR 3T3-L1 cells at 100μmol/L(P<0.01).Western blotting experiments showed that compounds 2 and 4 up-regulated the protein expressions of p-IRS,PI-3K,p-AKT and glucose transporter 4(GLUT4),and promoted the transcription of GLUT4 mRNA.Therefore,the mechanisms of compounds 2 and 4 were presumed to improve IR by activating PI-3K/AKT signaling pathway.