Evaluating the Effect of Metformin on Endocan level in the Serum and Tissues of Diabetic Mice

Abstract

Introduction: Endocan is a protein secreted form the tip cells of endothelial tissue and it is one of the mediators of angiogenesis in body. Diabetes nowadays has the high rate of occurrence among people and impaired angiogenesis is one of the reasons of diabetes complications. Aims: The purpose of the study was to investigate the Endocan level in diabetic mice and to find out the effect of metformin as a commonly used drug in diabetes medication, on Endocan level in diabetic mice. Methods: The researcher selected 44 mice out of a population of 80 randomly and divided them into 4 groups: One control and three experimental groups (diabetics, diabetic mice receiving low dose metformin (50 mg/kg.day), diabetic mice receiving high dose metformin (100mg/kg.day)). Diabetes was induced by a single dose of Streptozocin (150 mg/kg). The mice’s weight and blood sugar were measured regularly. After two weeks the mice had surgery and blood, kidney and liver tissues were collected and kept in -80 Cº. At last, in order to measure Endocan concentration, Mouse Endocan ELISA kit was used. The tissues were homogenized by electric homogenizer and extraction buffer and then the all samples’ absorbance was read at 450 nm and Endocan level was calculated for each sample. Results: The results reveal that Endocan level was reduced in diabetic subjects compared to control group, although it was not meaningful (P>0.05). Metformin had a meaningful decreasing effect on Endocan level of the kidney and liver tissues (P<0.05). However, we couldn’t observe noticeable result for the Endocan level of serum. Conclusion: Metformin reduces the Endocan level in liver and kidney tissues of the diabetic mice through the mechanisms of VEGF and mTOR pathway. Metformin reduces Endocan level by decreasing VEGF level and inhibiting mTOR pathway. The findings have some implications for further researches and pharmacology students, teachers and experts.