Erchen Decoction Prevents High-Fat Diet Induced Metabolic Disorders in C57BL/6 Mice

Erchen decoction (ECD) is a traditional Chinese medicine prescription, which is used in the treatment of obesity, hyperlipidemia, fatty liver, diabetes, hypertension, and other diseases caused by retention of phlegm dampness. In this study we investigated the potential mechanism of ECD, using metabolism-disabled mice induced by high-fat diet. Body weight and abdominal circumference were detected. OGTT was measured by means of collecting blood samples from the tail vein. Blood lipid levels and insulin were measured using biochemical assay kit. Real-time PCR was used to measure the CDKAL1 gene expression and western blot was used to measure the protein expression. Through the research, it was found that ECD showed markedly lower body weight and abdominal circumference than those in the HFD group. Consistently, we observed that ECD significantly improved glucose tolerance, promoted the secretion of insulin and decreased the level of TG, TC level. Meanwhile, we observed significantly increased CDKAL1 mRNA and protein level in the ECD group. Therefore, we speculate that the potential molecular mechanism of ECD is to promote the CDKAL1 expression, ameliorate islet cell function, and raise insulin levels to regulate the metabolic disorder.