紅麴代謝產物(monacolin K)對肝細胞胰島素阻抗之改善效應

In the present study we used tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) to induce insulin resistance in mouse liver cell lines (FL83B). We examined the improvement effects of Monascus-fermented product, monacolin K, on insulin resistance and diabetes. Monacolin K is the main active component in Monascus-fermented products. In this study, we co-treated the mouse hepatocytes with monacolin K and TNF-α for 24 hours. First, we observed that monacolin K could increase the fluorescent glucose (2-[N-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl)amino]-2-deoxy-d-glucose; 2-NBDG) uptake in FL83B cell. We also observed that monacolin K improved insulin resistance through increasing phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate-2 (IRS-2), which results in increasing phosphorylation of Akt. At last, it raised the expression of glucose transporter 2 (GLUT 2). In addition, monacolin K could increase the ratio of NADPH and NADP(superscript +). This indicated that monacolin K has an antioxidative effect, which could keep NADPH in a reduced form. Based on these data, we suggested that Monascus-fermented product, monacolin K, not only possesses the function of modulating blood lipids, but also improves insulin resistance in liver cells. It truly had the potential to develop into a diabetes drug.