Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences, Neyshabur, Iran.
J Pharm Pharm Sci. 2013;16(2):352-62. doi: 10.18433/j3zs3q.
Clinical research has confirmed the efficacy of several plant extracts in the modulation of oxidative stress associated with diabetes mellitus. Findings indicate that safranal has antioxidant properties. The aim of the present study was the evaluation of possible protective effects of safranal against oxidative damage in diabetic rats.
In this study, the rats were divided into the following groups of 8 animals each: control, untreated diabetic, three safranal (0.25, 0.50, 0.75 mg/kg/day)-treated diabetic groups. Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin (STZ) in rats. STZ was injected intraperitoneally at a single dose of 60 mg/kg for diabetes induction. Safranal (intraperitoneal injection) was administered 3 days after STZ administration; these injections were continued to the end of the study (4 weeks). At the end of the 4-week period, blood was drawn for biochemical assays. In order to determine the changes of cellular antioxidant defense systems, antioxidant enzymes including glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities were measured in serum. Moreover we also measured serum nitric oxide (NO) and serum malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, a marker of lipid peroxidation.
STZ-induced diabetes caused an elevation (p < 0.001) of blood glucose, MDA, NO, total lipids, triglycerides and cholesterol, with reduction of GSH level and CAT and SOD activities. The results indicated that the significant elevation in the blood glucose, MDA, NO, total lipids, triglycerides, cholesterol and reduction of glutathione level and CAT and SOD activity were ameliorated in the safranal-treated diabetic groups compared with the untreated groups, in a dose dependent manner (p < 0.05, p<0.01, p < 0.001).
These results suggest that safranal has antioxidant properties and improves chemically-induced diabetes and its complications by modulation of oxidative stress.
临床研究已经证实了几种植物提取物在调节糖尿病相关氧化应激方面的功效。研究结果表明，藏红花醛具有抗氧化特性。本研究旨在评估藏红花醛对糖尿病大鼠氧化损伤的可能保护作用。
在这项研究中，将大鼠分为以下几组，每组 8 只动物：对照组、未治疗的糖尿病组、三个藏红花醛（0.25、0.50、0.75 mg/kg/天）治疗的糖尿病组。糖尿病通过链脲佐菌素（STZ）诱导大鼠。STZ 以 60mg/kg 的单剂量腹腔注射诱导糖尿病。STZ 给药后 3 天开始给予藏红花醛（腹腔注射）；这些注射一直持续到研究结束（4 周）。在 4 周结束时，抽取血液进行生化测定。为了确定细胞抗氧化防御系统的变化，测定了血清中抗氧化酶包括谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶（GSHPx）、超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）和过氧化氢酶（CAT）的活性。此外，我们还测量了血清中一氧化氮（NO）和血清丙二醛（MDA）的水平，这是脂质过氧化的一个标志物。
STZ 诱导的糖尿病导致血糖、MDA、NO、总脂质、甘油三酯和胆固醇升高（p < 0.001），同时降低了 GSH 水平和 CAT 和 SOD 的活性。结果表明，与未治疗组相比，藏红花醛治疗的糖尿病组血糖、MDA、NO、总脂质、甘油三酯、胆固醇显著升高，GSH 水平和 CAT 和 SOD 活性降低，呈剂量依赖性（p < 0.05，p<0.01，p < 0.001）。
这些结果表明，藏红花醛具有抗氧化特性，并通过调节氧化应激改善化学诱导的糖尿病及其并发症。
