The effect of melatonin on autophagy –related genes in lung tissue of type 1 diabetic mice

Abstract

In recent years, the crucial role of autophagy has been highlighted in the pathogenesis of diabetes and inflammatory lung diseases. To this end, in this study the effect of melatonin on the expression of autophagy-related genes was assessed in the lungs of streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice. Methods 32 Mice were randomly divided into 4 groups (each in 8) as follows: Control group (C), Melatonin (Mel), Diabetic group (D) and Diabetic + melatonin (D+Mel) group. For induction of diabetes, Streptozotocin was injected intraperitoannally (50 mg/kg; single dose). Two weeks ofter induction of type 1 diabetes, 3 mg/kg melatonin was injected twice per week for four weeks intraperitoneally. Forty-eight hours after the last injection of melatonin, the animals were sacrificed by ketamine and xylazine, and their lung tissue was removed. Pathological changes were monitored using H&E staining. The expression of IL-6 and autophagy-related genes was investigated using real-time PCR assay. Results Data showed pathological remodeling in lung tissues of diabetic mice coincided with up-regulation of IL-6, Becline-1, LC3 and P62 compared to the control group. Injection of melatonin improved the levels of these parameters. No statistically significant differences were not obtained in healthy mice injected by melatonin in comparison with control group.