Astaxanthin prevents loss of insulin signaling and improves glucose metabolism

This study investigates the effects of astaxanthin (ASX) on insulin signaling and glucose metabolism in the liver of mice fed a high fat and high fructose diet (HFFD). Adult male Mus musculus mice of body mass 25-30 g were fed either normal chow or the HFFD. After 15 days, mice in each group were subdivided among 2 smaller groups and treated with ASX (2 mg•(kg body mass)⁻¹) in olive oil for 45 days. At the end of 60 days, HFFD-fed mice displayed insulin resistance while ASX-treated HFFD animals showed marked improvement in insulin sensitivity parameters. ASX treatment normalized the activities of hexokinase, pyruvate kinase, glucose-6-phosphatase, fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, glycogen phosphorylase, and increased glycogen reserves in the liver. Liver tissue from ASX-treated HFFD-fed animals showed increased tyrosine phosphorylation and decreased serine phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrates (IRS)-1 and -2. ASX increased IRS 1/2 and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) association and serine phosphorylation of Akt. In addition, ASX decreased HFFD-induced serine kinases (c-jun N-terminal kinase-1 and extracellular signal-regulated kinase-1). The results suggest that ASX treatment promotes the IRS-PI3K-Akt pathway of insulin signaling by decreasing serine phosphorylation of IRS proteins, and improves glucose metabolism by modulating metabolic enzymes.