Insulin resistance, a prominent characteristic of type 2 diabetes, has been extensively studied. In our investigation, we examined the effect of Eudesmin on insulin resistance in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and HepG2 cells. Additionally, we analyzed the alterations in mRNA expression in insulin-resistant HepG2 cells through transcriptomic techniques. Subsequently, we assessed the changes in mRNA expression in insulin-resistant HepG2 cells following Eudesmin treatment. Our analysis revealed 13 differentially expressed genes that were commonly observed. Notably, FER1L6 exhibited the most significant changes, with a marked upregulation in mRNA expression in insulin-resistant HepG2 cells. Consequently, we conducted functional experiments to validate the role of fer-1 like family member 6 (FER1L6). Specifically, through gene knockdown experiments, we observed a significant enhancement in glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4) expression and an improvement in insulin resistance status in cell models. Therefore, FER1L6 emerges as a promising therapeutic target for insulin resistance.

Lignans in Patrinia have attracted the attention of researchers due to their diverse structure and remarkable activity. We searched the PubMed database for articles published from 2003 to 2023 using appropriate search terms: Patrinia, Lignans, Biological activity, and Chemical structures. In this paper, the active lignans and their action mechanisms were summarized over the past 20 years. The results showed that 56 lignans have been isolated and identified from Patrinia, including furofurans, dibenzyltyrolactones, tetrahydrofurans, arylnaphthalenes, benzofurans and biphenyl derivatives. 45 lignans had anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, cytotoxicity, enzyme inhibitor, anti-Alzheimer’s disease, neuroprotection, anti-bacterial, hepatoprotection and anti-diabetic activities. The anti-inflammatory mechanism involves AMPK, MAPK, NF-κB and JAK-STAT signaling pathways, and the antitumor mechanism involves Raf/MEK/ERK, Akt/JNK and AKT signaling pathways. Lignans in Patrinia are promising to be utilized in food and medicine.

This study was designed to elucidate the immunoregulation of Ganoderma lucidum. HPLC fingerprint and spectrum-effect relationship of G. lucidum were established to predict the active compounds and BP neural network model was established to predict the efficacy. Then the target compounds were identified by high resolution mass spectrometry. The results indicated that there are both enhanced immunity and immunosuppressive components in G. lucidum. BP neural network was trained with the common peak area and immune efficacy index of G. lucidum fingerprint as samples, and a combined evaluation system of G. lucidum fingerprint efficacy was established. The correlation coefficient R of BP network model was 0.986 43, and the error of pharmacodynamic prediction results was in the ideal range. Eight compounds were identified by high resolution mass spectrometry. The compounds related to immune activity in G. lucidum were determined in this study.

Compounds with regulating glucose metabolism and improving insulin resistance (IR) activity are abundant in nature and can be obtained from several sources. They have high potential to be used to treat diabetes mellitus. These compounds isolated from natural plants can be classified seven categories: terpenoids, alkaloids, quinones, flavonoids, phenols, phenyl propanoids, steroids, and other types of compounds. They exert biological effects by different ways and mechanisms. This review illustrated the potential natural products as a rich resource in regulation of glucose metabolism and IR, as well as their mechanisms.

Ligustri lucidi Fructus is a traditional Chinese medicine and possesses various bioactivities, including hypoglycemic effect. Ligustrum lucidum Ait flowers are poorly investigated. Thus, we hypothesized that L. lucidum flowers also could have hypoglycemic effect. Chemical composition and glucose uptake effect of L. lucidum flowers on 3T3-L1 adipocytes were investigated. In this study, the components of L. lucidum flowers were investigated by various chromatographic and spectroscopic methods and the effects of L. lucidum flowers on the induction of glucose uptake were investigated by 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Seven compounds were isolated and identified from L. lucidum flowers, including ursolic acid (1), kaempferol-7-O-α-L-rhamnoside (2, KR), β-sitosterol (3), β-daucosterol (4), kaempferitrin (5, KF), 10-hydroxy oleuropein (6, HO), and kaempferol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside-7-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (7, KGR). The results of glucose uptake showed that total extract (TE), KR, KF and HO from L. lucidum flowers significantly enhanced glucose uptake. This study demonstrated that compounds 2, 5-7 were isolated for the first time from this plant and compounds 2 and 7 were isolated for the first time in genus Ligustrum, L. lucidum flowers, KR, KF and HO may possess potential hypoglycemic effect.