| dc.description.abstract | Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with increased oxidative stress and pancreatic
beta cells damage. The leaf extract of mulberry (Morus nigra L.) contains a variety of phenolic
compounds that may be important factors for modulating oxidative stress and inflammation. We
evaluated the efficacy of mulberry leaf extract in diabetes management.
Methods: Diabetes was induced by high-fat diet and injection of 35mg/kgBW streptozotocin.
Wistar rats (n=44) were divided into four groups: healthy control, non-treated, glibenclamidetreated, and extract-treated diabetic rats. The extract-treated group was treated for 4 weeks with
mulberry leaf extract. At the end of treatment, liver and blood samples were collected to analysis of
biochemical assessments including glycemic factors, inflammatory and oxidative stress parameters
and histological evaluation.
Results: Blood glucose concentration and insulin resistance were lower (p<0.001) and serum
insulin level was higher (0.015) in extract-treated rats compared with non-treated group. MDA level
was lower (p=0.057); the activity of the three oxidative stress parameters, TAC, GPx, and SOD,
were higher (p=0.026; p=0.001; p<0.001, respectively) and that of catalase was lower in extracttreated group compared with the non-treated rats (p=0.005). Moreover, TNF-α level was lower in
extract-treated group (p=0.008). Evaluating the histopathology of liver, we found that the fatty
degeneration in extract-treated rats was mild and the cytoplasm of hepatocytes was distended by
smaller amount of fatty droplets.
Conclusions: This study showed that the mulberry leaf extract improved glycemic response,
oxidative stress, inflammation and fatty degeneration in liver cells, suggesting the utility of this
herbal remedy in the diabetes management | en_US |
