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Updated: Mar 25, 2026

Extraction and Analysis of Taiwanese Green Propolis
Published on: January 7, 2019
A Polysaccharide from Ganoderma atrum Improves Liver Function in Type 2 Diabetic Rats via Antioxidant Action and
Ke-Xue Zhu1,2, Shao-Ping Nie1, Le-He Tan2
1State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University , Nanchang, Jiangxi 330047, China.
Abstract:
The present study was to evaluate the beneficial effect of polysaccharide isolated from Ganoderma atrum (PSG-1) on liver function in type 2 diabetic rats. Results showed that PSG-1 decreased the activities of serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), while increasing hepatic glycogen levels. PSG-1 also exerted strong antioxidant activities, together with upregulated mRNA expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ), glucose transporter-4 (GLUT4), phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), and phosphorylated-Akt (p-Akt) in the liver of diabetic rats. Moreover, the concentrations of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) were significantly higher in the liver, serum, and faeces of diabetic rats after treating with PSG-1 for 4 weeks. These results suggest that the improvement of PSG-1 on liver function in type 2 diabetic rats may be due to its antioxidant effects, SCFA excretion in the colon from PSG-1, and regulation of hepatic glucose uptake by inducing GLUT4 translocation through PI3K/Akt signaling pathways.
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