Tea polysaccharide had high antioxidant activity and it could be used to cure diabetes. Antioxidant activity of tea poly-saccharide (TPS) from three kinds of tea (green tea, oolong tea and black tea) were compared, the result indicated that oolong tea polysaccharide (OTPS) had the highest antioxidant activity. In order to explicate the mechanism of antioxidant and hypoglycemic activity, the streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes mice model (DM) was established. The influence of OTPS on blood-glucose, content of MDA and NO, and activities of GSH-PX, SOD, NOS in serum, kidney and liver were investigated. The result showed that after four weeks injection of OTPS to DM mice, the blood-glucose of three treatment group reduced by 14.5%,21.5% and 33.3%, respectively, comparing to the model control. The reduction effect of OTPS increased with the rise of dose. The activity of SOD and GSH-PX elevated significantly, while the activity of NOS decreased. The content of MDA and NO reduced significantly. The above results imply that antioxidant activity was enhanced. Comparing to XKW treatment, the effect of a dose of 300mg/(kg. bw) OTPS was much better. The research showed that the OTPS had a significant effect on reducing blood glucose, and could enhance the antioxidant activity of DM mice.

• Zhi Yu
• Yun Zhang
• De-Jiang Ni