Rice bran protein hydrolysates prevent insulin resistance in cultured liver cells

What is it about?

Rice bran, a byproduct of rice milling process, contains various nutrients and biologically active compounds. Rice bran was hydrolysed to obtain small molecules and more water soluble. One important characteristic in metabolic syndrome and obese subjects is the development of insulin resistance, which sooner or later will become diabetes and progress to various cardiovascular complications. We devised an insulin resistance model in cultured liver cells, HepG2 by treatment with inflammatory cytokine, interleukin-6 or cultured the cells in high glucose medium. The effect of rice bran protein hydrolysates (RBP) on cultured cells was determined.

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Photo by Barby Dalbosco on Unsplash

Photo by Barby Dalbosco on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The cultured cells showed an insulin resistant state by suppression of the expression of insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) and phospho-Akt, representing the impaired insulin signaling. The treatment with RBP prevents the development of insulin resistance by largely suppressing the deleterious inflammatory signal and activating a key enzyme, AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). RBP also restores the abnormal lipid metabolism in insulin resistance cells by suppression of fatty acid synthase and increased fatty acid utilization.

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