Ginsenoside Rg1 suppresses hepatic glucose production via AMP-activated protein kinase in HepG2 cells.

Panax ginseng is known to have anti-diabetic activity, but the active ingredients are not yet fully identified. In this study, we found the inhibitory effect of Rg(1) on hepatic glucose production through AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation in HepG2 cells. Rg(1) significantly inhibited hepatic glucose production in a concentration-dependent manner, and this effect was reversed in the presence of compound C, a selective AMPK inhibitor. In addition, Rg(1) markedly induced the phosphorylations of liver kinase B1 (LKB1), AMPK and forkhead box class O1 (FoxO1), a key transcription factor for gluconeogenic enzymes, in time- and concentration-dependent manners. Glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) activities were inhibited by 24% and 21%, respectively, when the cells were exposed to 40 microM of Rg(1), resulting from phosphorylation of FoxO1 and inhibition of gluconeogenic gene expression. Taken together, our results demonstrated the suppressive effect of Rg(1) on hepatic glucose production via LKB1-AMPK-FoxO1 pathway in HepG2 human hepatoma cells.