Fig. 9

Presumed mechanism by which inulin alleviated glucose and lipid metabolism disorders in gestational diabetes mellitus mice. The mechanism underlying improvement of glucose and lipid metabolism by inulin was to activate glucose transport through the translocation of GLUT4 which was mediated by insulin signaling pathway repairment due to decreased expression of RETN and enhanced phosphorylation of IRS and Akt in GDM mice. Finally, this signal leads to changes in downstream metabolic functions. GDM: Gestational diabetes mellitus; FBG: Fasting blood glucose; IR: Insulin resistance; AGEs: Advanced glycation end products; TG: Triglycerides; TC: Total cholesterol; LDL: Low-density lipoprotein; HDL: High-density lipoprotein; RETN: Resistin; IRS: Insulin receptor; Akt: Protein kinase B; ERK 1/2: Extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases 1 and 2; GLUT4: Glucose transporter isoform 4