Among several metabolic disorders, the pathogenesis of insulin resistance is considered to be multifactorial. Raffinose, an oligosaccharide isolated from the rhizome of Costus speciosus showed ≤50% inhibition of lipid accumulation in differentiated HepG2 and 3T3-L1 cells through exhibiting partial agonism to PPARγ, and, an enhanced secretion of adiponectin in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Raffinose was also observed to attenuate the expression of SREBP1c, ACC and FAS which are involved in the fatty acid synthesis. A corresponding upregulation of PPARα and ACO involved in fatty acid oxidation was observed in steatotic HepG2 hepatocytes and 3T3-L1 adipocytes. In vitro evaluation of its anti-diabetic potential showed a dose dependent enhancement of glucose uptake. Investigation of the insulin sensitizing efficacy of Raffinose revealed an increase in Glut4 translocation via phosphorylation of IRβ/PI3K/Akt in differentiated L6 myocytes and 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. In addition, Raffinose was potentially involved in glycogen synthesis by inhibiting the activation of GSK3β. Hence, Raffinose could be a useful therapeutic agent for metabolic maladies.

在几种代谢性疾病中，胰岛素抵抗的发病机理被认为是多因素的。棉子糖，一种从木贼属的根茎中分离得到的寡糖，对PPARγ表现出部分激动作用，从而在分化的HepG2和3T3-L1细胞中显示出≤50％的脂质蓄积抑制作用，并且在3T3-L1脂肪细胞中脂联素分泌增强。还观察到棉子糖可减弱参与脂肪酸合成的SREBP1c，ACC和FAS的表达。在脂肪变性的HepG2肝细胞和3T3-L1脂肪细胞中观察到了与脂肪酸氧化有关的PPARα和ACO的相应上调。体外其抗糖尿病潜力的评估显示了葡萄糖摄取的剂量依赖性增强。对棉子糖的胰岛素增敏功效的研究表明，分化的L6心肌细胞和3T3-L1前脂肪细胞中IRβ/ PI3K / Akt的磷酸化使Glut4易位增加。此外，棉子糖可能通过抑制GSK3β的激活而参与糖原的合成。因此，棉子糖可能是代谢性疾病的有用治疗剂。