Association between liver enzymes and type 2 diabetes: a real-world study

Bioinformatics analysis combined with experimental validation reveals the novel mechanisms of multi-targets of dapagliflozin attenuating diabetic liver injury

Objective

Diabetic liver injury, a chronic complication of diabetes mellitus (DM), has been extensively documented. Dapagliflozin, a sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, has shown significant therapeutic benefits in clinical trials for the management of diabetes However, the specific mechanism on the treatment of diabetic liver injury with dapagliflozin is not fully understood. Therefore, this study aims to further explore the potential mechanism of dapagliflozin on diabetic liver injury based on bioinformatics analysis and experimental verification.

Methods

Diabetic liver injury was induced by a high-fat diet combined with STZ in mice. Biochemical kit detection and H&E staining were used to observe lipid aggregation and oxidative stress in liver tissue. Moreover, the expression of inflammatory and apoptosis-related factors was detected using western blotting (WB) and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Subsequently, differential expressions genes analysis, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), molecular docking, as well as molecular dynamics was conducted based on the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and pharmacology databases. Finally, WB and qPCR were performed to validate the mechanism of dapagliflozin on diabetic liver injury in vivo and in vitro.

Results

Dapagliflozin alleviated diabetic liver injury by decreasing lipid deposition, oxidative stress levels, the inflammatary and apoptosis-related proteins and mRNA levels, while it also reducing blood glucose. Mechanically, 78 overlapping genes of dapagliflozin and diabetic liver injury were obtained. Notably, Mapk3, Mapk1, Ikbkb, and Nfkb1 as the hub genes involved in dapagliflozin attenuating diabetic liver injury were identified, and dapagliflozin exhibited better affinity with these proteins. Moreover, dapagliflozin inhibited the elevated protein (genes) levels of ERK1/2 (Mapk3, Mapk1), IKKβ(Ikbkb), and NF-κB (Nfkb1), which are induced by diabetic liver injury, as confirmed by both in vivo and in vitro experiments.

Conclusion

Dapagliflozin ameliorated diabetic liver injury by inhibiting the ERK/IKKβ/NF-κB signalling pathway, as demonstrated by bioinformatics analysis combined with in vivo and in vitro experiments.

Noodles Elaborated with Wheat and Bean Cotyledon Flours Improve Dyslipidemia and Liver Function in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) has been intrinsically linked to dyslipidemia. The intake of common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) is recommended to lower the risk of developing this disease; however, despite its beneficial contribution to health, its value chain has been weakened due to the lack of competitiveness in the market. The aim of this work was to evaluate the capacity of black bean cotyledon flour noodles to modulate lipid profile, atherosclerosis risk and hepatic enzymes levels using diabetic rats. T2D was induced with streptozotocin (30 mg/kg) after a five-week intake of a high fat diet. Metformin-, wheat noodles-, and bean noodles-treated groups were evaluated. During treatment, bean noodles lowered blood cholesterol. After sacrifice, its intake during four months also improved triglycerides and very low density lipoprotein, further related to in vitro inhibition of lipase activity. Moreover, bean noodles-fed rats exhibit decrease hepatic enzymes levels. Results suggest that intake of bean noodles prevent dyslipidemia and improve liver function. Based on the current results, further clinical trials are highly recommended to offer a novel functional food alternative to diabetic patients, and healthy-oriented human consumers.