Resveratrol attenuates type 2 diabetes mellitus by mediating mitochondrial biogenesis and lipid metabolism via Sirtuin type 1.

The rising incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a major public health problem and novel therapeutic strategies are required to prevent and treat T2DM. It has been demonstrated that resveratrol (RSV) may prevent T2DM by targeting Sirtuin type 1 (SIRT1), indicating that SIRT1 may be a novel therapeutic target for T2DM prevention. In the present study, a T2DM rat model was established by administering a high fat diet and streptozotocin (STZ) injections. Measurements of blood glucose and insulin confirmed successful establishment of the T2DM model. RSV was used to treat rats with STZ-induced T2DM and the results indicated that RSV reversed the STZ-induced downregulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α, SIRT1 and forkhead box protein O 3a. Furthermore, RSV modulated the activity of superoxide dismutase and malondialdehyde, which are associated with oxidative stress. In vitro, cells from the insulinoma cell line clone 1E were pretreated with palmitic acid (PA) to simulate a high fat environment. The results of reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction indicated that PA suppressed the expression of SIRT1 in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Furthermore, PA modulated the expression of mitochondrial biogenesis-associated, lipid metabolism-associated and β-cell-associated genes, whereas RSV treatment ameliorated the PA-induced changes in the expression of these genes via SIRT1. The results of the present study suggest that RSV participates in the prevention of T2DM by regulating the expression of mitochondrial genes associated with biogenesis, lipid metabolism and β-cells via SIRT1. The results of the current study provide an insight into the mechanisms by which SIRT1 inhibits T2DM and may be used as a basis for future studies.