Abstract:The in vivo hypoglycemic activity of low molecular weight polysaccharides from Cordyceps militaris was verified using a mouse model of hyperglycemia. Diabetes was induced in mice by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ), and the mice were randomly divided into five groups: an untreated diabetic model group, positive control group, and three low molecular weight polysaccharide-treated groups (high, medium, and low doses); a normal control group was also included. The effects of low molecular weight polysaccharides from Cordyceps militaris on the levels of fasting blood glucose, glucose tolerance, organ index, body weight, serum total cholesterol (TC), and triglyceride (TG) were investigated. The weight of mice that were fed low molecular weight polysaccharides by gavage for four weeks presented an increasing trend, showing significant difference when compared with that of the model group (p<0.01). The high dose group (200 mg/kg) showed the greatest hypoglycemic effect, and the fasting blood glucose level was decreased to 13.7±2.4 mmol/L after four weeks. The results indicated that the low molecular weight polysaccharide of Cordyceps militaris had good hypoglycemic effects on diabetic mice, significantly lowering their blood glucose level and improving their impaired glucose tolerance to a certain extent. Meanwhile, it could effectively reduce the kidney and liver damage caused by hyperglycemia, and alleviate the weight loss caused by glucose metabolism disorder in diabetic mice.
