The effect of melatonin on autophagy-related genes in heart tissue of streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice

Abstract

To date, beneficial effects of melatonine have been shown in improving diabetes-induced heart damage, but the main mechanism of its therapeutic effects has not yet been determined. Therefore, in this study, the effect of melatonin on the expression level of autophagy-related genes of autophagy-related genes in the cardiac tissue of streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice was investigated. Methods: Forty male mice were allocated into four groups as follow; Control group (C), Control group + melatonin (C+M), Diabetic group (T1D), Diabetic + melatonin (T1D+M) group. Streptozotocin was injected intraperitoannally (50mg/kg) for induction of diabetes. Melatonin was injected intraperitoneally twice a week for four weeks. One week after the last injection, the animals were killed by ketamine and xylazine injections, and their heart tissue was removed for pathology and autophagy-related genes expression analyses. Results: Data showed pathological changes in cardiac tissue of diabetic groups coincided with the down-regulation of, Becline-1, LC3 and P62 compared to the C group. melatonin inhibited diabetic-induced changes.