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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1551713
This article is part of the Research Topic Prevention and Treatment of Metabolic Diseases Using Bioactive Metabolites of Herbal Medicines Also Used as Foods View all 9 articles
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Background: Diabetes is one common clinical symptoms of metabolic disorders. The peel of Zea mays L. is a folk remedy for diabetes that has not been thoroughly studied.The effects and mechanisms on diabetes complicated glucose and lipid metabolism disorders are still unknown now.The research is intended to elucidate the constituent of phenylpropanoid enriched of Zea mays L. (YMP), and investigate the treatment and mechanism on amending glucose and lipid metabolism disorders.The constituents of YMP were systematacially identified by HPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS and NMR. To assess the effects of varying YMP doses, diabetic mice induced by streptozotocin and a high-fat diet were divided into groups. Targeted serum metabolomics investigations were conducted using UHPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap MS.Moreover, 16S rRNA analysis was employed to elucidate the intricate mechanisms through the gut microbiota modulates lipid and glucose metabolism.Results: It demonstrated that the primary component of YMP was luteolin. At a high dosage of 160 mg/kg/day, YMP considerably reduced the values of the oral glucose tolerance test, insulin, and blood glucose (p < 0.001). After administration, insulin resistance indexes decreased. YMP reversed the accumulation of glycogen in the liver and reduced hepatic lipid deposition. Compared to MOD group, the concentration of luteolin is higher and its metabolite, indicating that luteolin may be adequately absorbed and have an influence on the circulatory system. The results of 16S rRNA sequencing demonstrated that YMP and gut microbiota interacted to positively regulate beneficial bacteria such as Bifidobacterium, Ligilactobacillus, and Lactobacillus.This work investigated the regulating effect of YMP on the liver glycolipid metabolism for the first time, and it also showed the underlying mechanism through gut microbiota. According to these studies, YMP has a lot of potential to be used as a supplemental treatment for complex metabolic illnesses like diabetes. It offered empirical support for the use of alternative medicine in the area to treat complex problems of glucose and lipid metabolism in diabetes.
Keywords: metabolic disorders, Zea mays L., gut microbiome, Metabonomics, diabetes
Received: 26 Dec 2024; Accepted: 18 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 CHENG, He, Yang, He, Chen, Ling and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
XIAOTIAN CHENG, Nantong University, Nantong, China
Jinyan He, Nantong University, Nantong, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
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