Effects of Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes on Micro-Anatomical Changes of Adrenal Gland in Male Wistar Rats

Abstract: Background & Aims: Changing the hormonal output of endocrine glands, diabetes leads to the occurrence of secondary metabolic disorders. Neuropathy, on the other hand, is the most common neurological complication of diabetes which affects the neuroendocrine system, in addition to peripheral and autonomic nervous system, contributing to exacerbation of disease severity. In this line, the present study was conducted to comparatively evaluate the effects of hyperglycemia, induced by experimental type 1 and type 2 diabetes, on micro-anatomical changes of adrenal gland in male Wistar rats. Methods: Eighteen male Wistar rats were allocated into three groups including control (healthy), experimental type 1 diabetes (subcutaneous injection of 135mg/kg alloxan), and experimental type 2 diabetes (treated with drinking water containing 10% fructose for 8 weeks). Two months after the induction of both types of diabetes, levels of blood biochemical factors such as glucose, insulin, cortisol, triglycerides, cholesterol, LDL and HDL were measured. One of the adrenal glands was randomly removed from each rat and, following tissue preparation and staining, was evaluated in terms of structural changes of the adrenal cortex and medulla using stereological techniques. Results: Serum biochemical and hormonal analysis indicated a significant difference in levels of glucose, triglycerides, insulin and cortisol between control and experimental groups. The results achieved by the evaluation of adrenal volume showed increased volume of adrenal cortex in type 1 and type 2 diabetes and also reduced volume and neuronal density of adrenal medulla in type 1 diabetes compared with control. Conclusion: Due to increased activity of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, enhanced ACTH secretion in diabetes-induced hyperglycemia leads to increased growth of adrenal cortex and secretion of adrenal hormones. Reduced volume and neuronal density of adrenal medulla in diabetic condition may be resulted from the development of abnormal metabolic pathways such as those in hyperglycemia-derived oxidative stress. Late incidence of structural and functional impairments in type 2 diabetes can be ascribed to occurrence rate of hyperglycemia and insulin resistance, and, thus, the disease complications largely depend on the disease duration. Keywords: Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, Adrenal, Ra

The Effect of Dietary Protein Source on Plasma Lipids and Lipoproteins in Male and Female Wistar Rats

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of feeding dietary soy protein and soy protein supplemented with methionine on lipids and lipoproteins content of blood in wistar rats. Sixteen male and 16 female wistar rats with the initial live weight of 116 ± 6.3 and 115.8 ± 6.8 grams respectively, were fed by the isocaloric and isonitrogenous diets containing casein (20%), soy protein (28%), soy protein (27%) supplemented with methionine (0.3%) and soy protein (14%) plus casein (10%) for 8 weeks. Soy-methionine fed animals performed higher average live weight gain in comparison with the other groups (

Evaluating the Protective Effects of Melissa Officinalis on Learning Deficits of Rat’s Offspring Exposed to Lead Acetate During Pre- and Postnatal Periods

Introduction & Objective: Lead contamination dramatically influences different body systems especially the central nervous system. Lead absorption during gestational period has deleterious effects on fetal differentiation and development and it may possibly result in learning deficits in adulthood. Recent studies have demonstrated positive effects of Melissa officinalis on memory improvement in some neural disorders. The aim of the present study is to investigate the protective effects of Melissa on learning deficits in lead acetate exposed rats. Materials & Methods: In this experimental study in department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (2008-2009), 40 mated Wistar rats were divided into 8 groups as follows: control, negative control (Pb), Melissa (M) and Pb+M, and each in 3 different subgroups. The treatment started from the 7th day of gestation and continued during pregnancy and lactation. The learning ability and memory retention of four months old offspring were tested by complex T-maze. The collected data was analyzed by the SPSS software using one-way ANOVA and Toki test. Results: A significant difference was found between lead exposed group and other groups regarding the time to reach the goal and the number of errors while there was no meaningful difference between the control and other experimental groups. Conclusion: In lead exposed rats, learning deficits were obviously noticed. Since there was meaningful difference between control and Pb+M subgroups, Melissa can possibly improve learning deficits in lead acetate exposed rats

Effects of Methylprednisolone on Motor Functional Recovery after Sciatic Nerve Transection and Decellularized Scaffold Transplantation in Rats

Aims: Following the peripheral nervous system trauma, prescribing anti-inflammatory agents is one of the strategies to control the damage and promoting the recovery process. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of methylprednisolone on improvement of motor function and tissue changes following sciatic nerve transection and repairing by decellularized scaffolds transplantation in rats. Materials & Methods: In this experimental study, 50 adult male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 5 groups of 10; negative control group (receiving no medication with transection of the sciatic nerve), sham group (nerve-mediated surgery with solvent drug), experimental groups 1 and 2 (transection of the sciatic nerve and scaffold transplantation with 1- and 30mg/kg of methylprednisolone intraperitoneally) and experimental group 3 (transection of the sciatic nerve and scaffold transplantation with solvent drug). Behavioral, electrophysiological and tissue tests were performed during the experiment. Data were analyzed by SPSS 16 software and using one-way ANOVA and Tukey's post hoc tests. Findings: the rate of repair and improvement of motor function was increased significantly in the treated groups with methylprednisolone compared to the control group (p<0.05). Musculoskeletal atrophy of gastrocnemius was decreased in methylprednisolone treated groups. In addition, the number of neural fibers, axon diameter and thickness of myelin sheath were significantly higher in the treated groups (p<0.05). Conclusion: The prescription of methylprednisolone increases the amount of motor improvement and tissue repair after the sciatic nerve transection and the decellularized scaffold transplantation. Recovery of the motor and tissue functions at high dose of methylprednisolone is better than low dose

Preparation of decellularized three dimentional scaffolds as the model for tissue engineering and their functional assessments in vitro application of blastema tissue

Tissue engineering is based on three main factors including scaffolds, cells and growth factors. Natural scaffolds derived from decellularized tissues and organs have been successfully used in tissue engineering. Decellularization studies have shown that natural scaffolds which maintaine their main structure and properties could be a suitable tool for studying cellular behaviors and preparation of such scaffolds is an important part of future research in biology that may have extensive applications in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. Blastema tissue which is produced after injuries in some organisms has embryonic cell characteristics, and can be a suitable model for evaluation of cell behaviors in various tissues. In this review, the process of decellularization, process involved in preparation of 3D scaffolds derived from extracellular matrix of various tissues including cartilage, bone, gingiva, aorta and bladder, and assessment of their interactions with blastema tissue under in vitro conditions are discussed

Crocin as a novel therapeutic agent against colitis

Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease with high incidence and prevalence worldwide. To investigate the therapeutic potency of crocin, as a pharmacologically active component of saffron, in dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis mice model. Experimental colitis was induced by 7-day administration of DSS dissolved in water at a concentration of 1.5 (w/v). The animals were randomly divided into four groups (n¼6 for each group). (1) Control group received regular drinking water for four weeks, (2) the second group of mice received regular drinking water for three weeks and then received DSS for one week, (3) and (4) the other two groups received 50-ppm or 200-ppm crocin for three weeks, respectively, and then treated with DSS for one week. Our results showed that Crocin attenuates colitis disease activity index including body weight loss, diarrhea, rectal bleeding, and colon shortening in crocin pre-tread mice. Comparison of histology of colon tissues between groups showed that crocin significantly decreases colon histopathological score, at least partially, by eliciting anti-inflammatory responses in DSS-induced colitis mice. These results clearly showed that crocin is a novel therapeutic agent with low toxicity as well as great clinical significance in treatment of colitis. © 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Crocin as a novel therapeutic agent against colitis

Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease with high incidence and prevalence worldwide. To investigate the therapeutic potency of crocin, as a pharmacologically active component of saffron, in dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis mice model. Experimental colitis was induced by 7-day administration of DSS dissolved in water at a concentration of 1.5 (w/v). The animals were randomly divided into four groups (n¼6 for each group). (1) Control group received regular drinking water for four weeks, (2) the second group of mice received regular drinking water for three weeks and then received DSS for one week, (3) and (4) the other two groups received 50-ppm or 200-ppm crocin for three weeks, respectively, and then treated with DSS for one week. Our results showed that Crocin attenuates colitis disease activity index including body weight loss, diarrhea, rectal bleeding, and colon shortening in crocin pre-tread mice. Comparison of histology of colon tissues between groups showed that crocin significantly decreases colon histopathological score, at least partially, by eliciting anti-inflammatory responses in DSS-induced colitis mice. These results clearly showed that crocin is a novel therapeutic agent with low toxicity as well as great clinical significance in treatment of colitis. © 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Crocin as a novel therapeutic agent against colitis

Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease with high incidence and prevalence worldwide. To investigate the therapeutic potency of crocin, as a pharmacologically active component of saffron, in dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis mice model. Experimental colitis was induced by 7-day administration of DSS dissolved in water at a concentration of 1.5 (w/v). The animals were randomly divided into four groups (n¼6 for each group). (1) Control group received regular drinking water for four weeks, (2) the second group of mice received regular drinking water for three weeks and then received DSS for one week, (3) and (4) the other two groups received 50-ppm or 200-ppm crocin for three weeks, respectively, and then treated with DSS for one week. Our results showed that Crocin attenuates colitis disease activity index including body weight loss, diarrhea, rectal bleeding, and colon shortening in crocin pre-tread mice. Comparison of histology of colon tissues between groups showed that crocin significantly decreases colon histopathological score, at least partially, by eliciting anti-inflammatory responses in DSS-induced colitis mice. These results clearly showed that crocin is a novel therapeutic agent with low toxicity as well as great clinical significance in treatment of colitis. © 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group