Berberine ameliorates hyperglycemia in alloxan-induced diabetic C57BL/6 mice through activation of Akt signaling pathway.

Recently, it is implicated that the abnormality of Akt signaling pathway is involved in the diabetic pathology. Previous studies have demonstrated that berberine could decrease blood glucose by elevating liver glycogen synthesis. However, the underlying mechanism is still unclear. In the present study, we investigated the effects of berberine on fasting blood glucose, liver glycogen, Akt, Glycogen synthase kinase-3, glucokinase and insulin receptor substrate (IRS) in alloxan-induced diabetic mice, exploring its possible hypoglycemic mechanism. We found that in alloxan-induced diabetic mice, the high blood glucose was significantly lowered by berberine treatment. Liver glycogen content, the expression and activity of glucokinase and the phosphorylated Akt and IRS were all significantly reduced in diabetic mice whereas berberine blocked these changes. Berberine also depressed the increasing of phosphorylated GSK-3β in diabetic mice. Collectively, Berberine upregulates the activity of Akt possibly via insulin signaling pathway, eventually lowering high blood glucose in alloxan-induced diabetic mice.