A histological and immunohistochemical study of beta cells in streptozotocin diabetic rats treated with caffeine

In this study, the histological, immunohistochemical, morphometric, and biochemical changes to pancreatic beta-cells in STZ-induced diabetes were evaluated in rats treated with different doses of caffeine. Fifty adult male Wistar albino rats were divided into five groups: the nondiabetic control group, the diabetic untreated group, and three diabetic groups treated with different doses of caffeine (10, 50, and 100 mg/kg/day). Blood glucose and serum insulin levels were measured. The pancreata were collected and processed into paraffin sections. They were stained using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and Masson trichrome stains. The insulin expression in beta-cells was assessed using immunohistochemistry. Morphometrically, the percentage area of anti-insulin antibody reaction, the percentage of beta-cells per total islet cell number, and the average area of the islets were determined. STZ-induced degenerative changes in beta-cells led to decreases in the number of functioning beta-cells and insulin immunoreactivity and to increases in the number of collagen fibers in the islets. In STZ-treated rats, caffeine significantly decreased blood glucose concentration while increasing blood insulin levels at the highest applied dose. It also induced a significant increase in the number of immunoreactive beta-cells. In conclusion, caffeine may have a protective role in the biochemical and microscopic changes in pancreatic beta-cells in diabetes induced in rats through STZ administration. (Folia Histochemica et Cytobiologica 2014, Vol. 52, No. 1, 42–50