Date of Award
2017
Document Type
Open Access Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Biological Sciences (MS)
Administrative Home Department
Department of Biological Sciences
Advisor 1
Xiaoqing Tang
Committee Member 1
Qinghui Chen
Committee Member 2
Tarun Dam
Abstract
“We are what we eat.” Imbalanced diet is a major reason for obesity and consequently type-2 diabetes. A healthy and attractive diet is key to the control and prevention of obesity and type-2 diabetes. Among many fruit products, blueberry is rich in bioactive substances and possesses powerful antioxidant potential, which can protect against oxidant-induced and inflammatory cell damage and cytotoxicity. Blueberry has been found to improve insulin sensitivity in muscle and adipose, and thus reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. However, whether blueberry affects β-cell function and growth were not fully evaluated.
To study the effect of the whole blueberry on beta cell function, a modified high-fat diet supplemented with 4% (wt:wt) freeze-dried whole blueberry powder (HFD+B) was applied to the C57BL/6 male mice. Compared to the mice fed with high-fat diet (HFD), the addition of blueberry had no significant change in the body weight and glucose level. Interestingly, after 8 weeks feeding, the plasma insulin level was decreased significantly in mice fed with HFD+B compared to mice fed with HFD. In addition, mice fed with HFD+B had significantly increased glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. Moreover, the blueberry-supplemented diet prevents HFD-induced beta-cell expansion and preserves the islet structure. Taken together, our results indicated that blueberry-supplemented diet could significantly protect β-cell, restore HFD-induced impaired glucose homeostasis and attenuate the development of obesity, which will provide new insights into the effects of blueberry on beta-cell function and expand our understanding the importance of blueberry in treating and preventing obesity and diabetes.
Recommended Citation
Liu, Weixiang, "ROLE OF BLUEBERRY IN PANCREATIC β-CELLS", Open Access Master's Thesis, Michigan Technological University, 2017.
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