Abstract:This study aims to investigate the hypoglycemic efficacy of Antarctic krill oil and the mechanism.The 4-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were used. The high-fat high-sugar feed and streptozotocin were used to induce type 2 diabetes mellitus in mice except for the blank control group （BCG，normal saline），and the model mice were classified into low-dose Antarctic krill oil group（LDG：100 mg/kg，ig），medium-dose Antarctic krill oil group （MDG：250 mg/kg），high-dose Antarctic krill oil group （HDG：500 mg/kg），negative control group（NCG，normal saline），and positive control group（PCG，metformin）. During the gavage（8 weeks），the fasting blood glucose（FBG）and body weight of mice were monitored each week.After the gavage，the oral glucose tolerance test （OGTT）was conducted and glycosylated hemoglobin type A1c （HbA1c）content，fasting insulin（FINS）content，antioxidant ability [superoxide dismutase （SOD），catalase （CAT），glutathione peroxidase（GSH-Px），and malondialdehyde（MDA）]，and the inflammatory cytokines were determined.The result showed that HDG，MDG，and LDG had low levels of FBG，HbA1c，AUC，high FINS content （p＜0.05），and low relative mRNA expression of interleukin-1（IL-1），interleukin-6（IL-6）and tumor necrosis factor-α（TNF-α）（p＜0.05）compared with the NCG.SOD activity in HDG and MDG was significantly higher than that in NCG （p＜0.05）. HDG had significantly higher CAT activity and GSH-Px activity （p＜0.05），lower MDA content （p＜0.05），and significantly lower TNF-α relative mRNA expression （p ＜0.05）than the NCG. In conclusion，Antarctic krill oil can alleviate diabetes by improving the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory abilities of mice.