The antidiabetic effects of a dry powder of dietary vegetable and fruit mixtures in diabetic db/db mice

Chung-Man Yeung¹, Yi Tan¹, Sidney Tam², Liwei Lu³, King-Hung Ko³, Pai-Hao Yang^1,4, Hsiang-Fu Kung⁴, Marie C Lin¹

¹Department of Chemistry, Open Laboratory of Chemical Biology of the Institute of Molecular Technology, ²Clinical Biochemistry Unit, ³Department of Pathology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; ⁴Centre of Emerging Infectious Diseases, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong, China

Abstract: We evaluated the antidiabetic effects of a mixed vegetable powder-formula I (MVP-FI), which is a dry powder mixture of over 65 kinds of vegetables and fruits, using the db/db type 2 diabetes mouse model. The db/db mice at 8–10 weeks of age were randomly divided into three groups: vehicle treatment, 1.575 g/kg MVP-FI treatment, and 3.15 g/kg MVP-FI treatment. During 12 days of treatment, we measured food intake and body weight changes, fasting blood glucose levels, and plasma lipid levels. Our results showed that the food intake and the body weight of MVP-FI-treated group were decreased gradually. Moreover, the fasting blood glucose level of the treated group was significantly dropped to a normal level comparable to that of the lean mice. Furthermore, we also found that the plasma triglyceride level in the treated group was dropped, whereas the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) level was increased and total cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol ratio was decreased. Taken together, these results suggest that the diabetic conditions of the db/db mice have been improved after 12 days treatment with MVP-FI. The antihyperglycemic and antiobese activities of the MVP-FI, as demonstrated in the present study, may have important clinical implications for improving the management of type 2 diabetic patients.

Keywords: traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), db/db mice, diabetes