Carrot Juice Fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum NCU116 Ameliorates Type 2 Diabetes in Rats

The effect of carrot juice fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum NCU116 on high-fat and low-dose streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 2 diabetes in rats was studied. Rats were randomly divided into five groups: non-diabetes mellitus (NDM), untreated diabetes mellitus (DM), DM plus L. plantarum NCU116 (NCU), DM plus fermented carrot juice with L. plantarum NCU116 (FCJ), and DM plus non-fermented carrot juice (NFCJ). Treatments of NCU and FCJ for 5 weeks were found to favorably regulate blood glucose, hormones, and lipid metabolism in the diabetic rats, accompanied by an increase in short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) in the colon. In addition, NCU and FCJ had restored the antioxidant capacity and morphology of the pancreas and kidney and upregulated mRNA of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor, cholesterol 7a-hydroxylase (CYP7A1), glucose transporter-4 (GLUT-4), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-a (PPAR-gamma), and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPAR-alpha). These results have for the first time demonstrated that L. plantarum NCU116 and the fermented carrot juice had the potential ability to ameliorate type 2 diabetes in rats.