Anti-diabetic activity of beta-glucans and their enzymatically hydrolyzed oligosaccharides from Agaricus blazei.

Beta-glucans were prepared from Agaricus blazei Murill by repeated extraction with hot water. The average molecular weights of beta-glucans were 30-50 kDa by gel filtration chromatography. Oligosaccharides (AO), derived from hydrolyzing beta-glucans with an endo-beta-(1-->6)-glucanase from Bacillus megaterium, were mainly di- and tri-saccharides. Though beta-glucans and AO both showed anti-hyperglycemic, anti-hypertriglyceridemic, anti-hypercholesterolemic, and anti-arteriosclerotic activity indicating overall anti-diabetic activity in diabetic rats, AO had about twice the activity of beta-glucans with respect to anti-diabetic activity.