This study tried to explore how saponins from bitter melon (BMS) affect the glucose and lipid metabolism in palmitic acid-treated HepG2 cell and glucose-treated Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). Results showed that BMS could effectively accelerate glucose consumption and elevate the levels of glycogen and ATP in palmitic acid-treated HepG2 cell, while significantly decreasing the triglyceride (TG) content. qRT-PCR data indicated that BMS might promote fatty acid β-oxidation by AMPK-ACC2-CPT1 pathway and glucose uptake by upregulating GLUT4 expression. In the model of glucose-treated C. elegans, we observed that BMS obviously inhibited fat accumulation, along with no toxicity towards some physical activities. The potential mechanism of BMS in the metabolism involved the suppression of synthesis of polyunsaturated fatty acids and enhancement of fatty acid β-oxidation. Taken together, BMS exhibited ability of regulating energy metabolism in HepG2 cell line and C. elegans.

中文翻译：

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苦瓜皂苷对HepG2细胞和秀丽隐杆线虫葡萄糖和脂质代谢的影响

本研究试图探索苦瓜 (BMS) 中的皂苷如何影响棕榈酸处理的 HepG2 细胞和葡萄糖处理的秀丽隐杆线虫 (C. elegans) 的葡萄糖和脂质代谢。结果表明，BMS 可有效加速葡萄糖消耗，提高棕榈酸处理的 HepG2 细胞中糖原和 ATP 的水平，同时显着降低甘油三酯 (TG) 的含量。qRT-PCR 数据表明，BMS 可能通过 AMPK-ACC2-CPT1 途径促进脂肪酸 β-氧化和通过上调 GLUT4 表达促进葡萄糖摄取。在葡萄糖处理的秀丽隐杆线虫模型中，我们观察到 BMS 明显抑制脂肪积累，同时对某些体力活动没有毒性。BMS在代谢中的潜在机制涉及抑制多不饱和脂肪酸的合成和增强脂肪酸β-氧化。总之，BMS 在 HepG2 细胞系和秀丽隐杆线虫中表现出调节能量代谢的能力。