Erythritol reduces small intestinal glucose absorption, increases muscle glucose uptake, improves glucose metabolic enzymes activities and increases expression of Glut-4 and IRS-1 in type 2 diabetic rats.
PURPOSE
Studies have reported that erythritol, a low or non-glycemic sugar alcohol possesses anti-hyperglycemic and anti-diabetic potentials but the underlying mode of actions is not clear. This study investigated the underlying mode of actions behind the anti-hyperglycemic and anti-diabetic potentials of erythritol using different experimental models (experiment 1, 2 and 3).


METHODS
Experiment 1 examined the effects of increasing concentrations (2.5-20%) of erythritol on glucose absorption and uptake in isolated rat jejunum and psoas muscle, respectively. Experiments 2 and 3 examined the effects of a single oral dose of erythritol (1 g/kg bw) on intestinal glucose absorption, gastric emptying and postprandial blood glucose increase, glucose tolerance, serum insulin level, muscle/liver hexokinase and liver glucose-6 phosphatase activities, liver and muscle glycogen contents and mRNA and protein expression of muscle Glut-4 and IRS-1 in normal and type 2 diabetic animals.


RESULTS
Experiment 1 revealed that erythritol dose dependently enhanced muscle glucose ex vivo. Experiment 2 demonstrated that erythritol feeding delayed gastric emptying and reduced small intestinal glucose absorption as well as postprandial blood glucose rise, especially in diabetic animals. Experiment 3 showed that erythritol feeding improved glucose tolerance, muscle/liver hexokinase and liver glucose-6 phosphatase activities, glycogen storage and also modulated expression of muscle Glut-4 and IRS-1 in diabetic animals.


CONCLUSION
Data suggest that erythritol may exert anti-hyperglycemic effects not only via reducing small intestinal glucose absorption, but also by increasing muscle glucose uptake, improving glucose metabolic enzymes activity and modulating muscle Glut-4 and IRS-1 mRNA and protein expression. Hence, erythritol may be a useful dietary supplement for managing hyperglycemia, particularly for T2D.
['Chukwuma|Chika Ifeanyi|CI|', 'Mopuri|Ramgopal|R|', 'Nagiah|Savania|S|', 'Chuturgoon|Anil Amichund|AA|', 'Islam|Md Shahidul|MS|']
D000818:Animals D001786:Blood Glucose D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental D004896:Erythritol D065569:Gastrointestinal Absorption D005947:Glucose D051275:Glucose Transporter Type 4 D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents D007328:Insulin D018482:Muscle, Skeletal D051381:Rats D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Erythritol Glucose absorption Glucose uptake Glut-4 IRS-1 Type 2 diabetes (T2D)