Evid Based Complement Alternat Med: Compound guava decoction reduces diabetes symptoms by regulating inflammation and gut microbial composition

Background: Diabetes poses a serious threat and economic burden
to humanity worldwide.
Compound guava soup (FFSLD) is composed of guava leaves, five-fingered peach, huanglian, ghost arrow feathers, hawthorn and other drugs, which has the effect of strengthening spleen and dampness, dissolving phlegm and removing stasis, releasing turbidity and clearing heat, and is a traditional Chinese medicine formula with good anti-diabetic effect, which has been used clinically for many years
.
The study aims to explore the potential therapeutic mechanisms
of FFSLD in type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Methods: A T2DM model
was established in SD rats fed with high-fat diet combined with streptozotocin injection.
All rats were randomly divided into 6 groups: control, model, metformin, high-dose, medium-dose, and low-dose
.
After 4 weeks of treatment, serum, intestinal mucosa, and stool samples were collected for further analysis
.
ELISA detects diabetes-related serum markers and pro-inflammatory cytokines
.
Analyze gene or protein expression
of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), interleukin 1β (IL-1β), transforming growth factor β (TGF-β), and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) in the intestinal mucosa by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or western blot.
16s rRNA gene sequencing is used to detect changes in
the gut microbiome in these groups.
Further analysis of gut microbiota (GM) composition
based on sequencing libraries.

Results: FFSLD effectively restored diabetes-related biochemical markers
by lowering fasting blood glucose (FBG), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), insulin, and increasing high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C).
FFSLD significantly improved abnormal levels
of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and TGF-β.

In addition, the GM composition of rats in the control, model, and FFSLD-treated groups differed
.
FFSLD significantly increased the relative abundance of Lactobacillus, Ackermanella and Proteus and decreased the relative abundance of Altermyces, Vibrio desulfuris, and
Helicobacter.
These altered bacteria are closely related
to diabetes-associated serum markers and pro-inflammatory cytokines.

Conclusion: These results show that FFSLD reduces the symptoms of diabetes in T2DM rats by regulating GM components and inhibiting inflammatory response, which elucidates the therapeutic mechanism of FFSLD on T2DM and provides a theoretical basis
for its further clinical application.

Sources:

Li L, Huang G, Chen T, et al.
Fufang Fanshiliu Decoction Revealed the Antidiabetic Effect through Modulating Inflammatory Response and Gut Microbiota Composition.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med.
2022; 2022:3255401.
Published 2022 Oct 10.
doi:10.
1155/2022/3255401