A novel fullerene-lysine derivative with noticeable ROS scavenging capabilities for improving type 2 diabetes mellitus.

As some of the most promising candidates available, fullerene-derived bioactive agents have been explored as new drugs with high efficacy and safety for biomedical applications. In this study, a fullerene-lysine derivative (C₆₀-Lys) was synthesized successfully and proved to be good at treating type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). C₆₀-Lys could alleviate oxidative stress both in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced MIN6 cells and in STZ-induced T2DM mice subjected to a high-fat diet, and it significantly normalized glucose uptake and reduced blood glucose. In addition, C₆₀-Lys can alleviate insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia and lipid levels in T2DM mice. It was further confirmed that C₆₀-Lys could alleviate oxidative stress by increasing the activities of antioxidant enzymes and stabilizing the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) of pancreatic β-cells to reduce the overproduction of ROS. The results provide compelling evidence that C₆₀-Lys possesses promising applications for T2DM treatment.