Sport Sciences Department, Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Iran.
Anatomical Sciences Department, School of Medicine, Lorestan University Medical of Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2020 Jun 28;256:112801. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2020.112801. Epub 2020 Apr 1.
Many body systems and organs, including the hippocampus, are affected by diabetes, and undergo changes that may increase the risk of cognitive decline. Urtica dioica (UD) has long been recognized as a medicinal plant with beneficial effects on blood glucose control in diabetes.
The present study aimed to investigate the effect of endurance exercise (Ex), along with Urtica dioica (UD) hydro-alcoholic extract on some functional, histological, and molecular aspects of the hippocampus in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats.
60 male Wistar rats were divided into five groups (N = 12): healthy control (H-C), diabetes control (D-C), diabetes exercise (D-Ex), diabetes Urtica dioica (D-UD), and diabetes exercise Urtica dioica (D-Ex-UD). Diabetes was induced intraperitoneally by STZ (45 mg/kg) injection. Two weeks after the injection by STZ, Ex (moderate intensity/5day/week) and gavage of UD extract (50mg/kg/day) was performed for six weeks. Cognitive functions were evaluated by the Morris Water Maze test, routine histological examination, and molecular studies were done via Hematoxylin & Eosin stain, and Western blot.
Diabetic rats showed spatial learning and memory deficits, as well as negatively affects to the tissue and structure of the hippocampus in the dentate gyrus (DG) and cornu ammonis (CA) areas. Ex + UD treatment caused a decrease of neural disorganization, an increase of neural-microglial density, and thickness of the pyramidal-molecular layer in the hippocampus. In addition, Ex + UD caused a rise of GAP-43 protein levels, a reduction of CAP-1 protein levels, improved hippocampal structure, and improved learning and memory function.
These results show that Ex, along with the UD extract, may decrease levels of the central neural complications of diabetes. Given the importance of recognizing non-pharmacological complementary therapies in this field, future studies are warranted.
许多身体系统和器官，包括海马体，都会受到糖尿病的影响，并发生可能增加认知能力下降风险的变化。荨麻（UD）长期以来一直被认为是一种药用植物，对糖尿病患者的血糖控制有有益作用。
本研究旨在探讨耐力运动（Ex）以及荨麻（UD）水醇提取物对链脲佐菌素（STZ）诱导的糖尿病大鼠海马体某些功能、组织学和分子方面的影响。
将 60 只雄性 Wistar 大鼠分为五组（N=12）：健康对照组（H-C）、糖尿病对照组（D-C）、糖尿病运动组（D-Ex）、糖尿病荨麻组（D-UD）和糖尿病运动荨麻组（D-Ex-UD）。糖尿病通过腹腔注射 STZ（45mg/kg）诱导。STZ 注射后两周，进行 Ex（中等强度/每周 5 天）和 UD 提取物（50mg/kg/天）灌胃 6 周。通过 Morris 水迷宫测试评估认知功能，进行常规组织学检查，并通过苏木精和伊红染色和 Western blot 进行分子研究。
糖尿病大鼠表现出空间学习和记忆缺陷，以及对海马体齿状回（DG）和角回（CA）区域的组织和结构产生负面影响。Ex+UD 治疗导致神经组织紊乱减少，神经-小胶质细胞密度增加，海马体锥体-分子层厚度增加。此外，Ex+UD 导致 GAP-43 蛋白水平升高，CAP-1 蛋白水平降低，改善了海马体结构，提高了学习和记忆功能。
这些结果表明，Ex 与 UD 提取物一起，可能降低糖尿病中枢神经并发症的水平。鉴于在这一领域认识非药物补充疗法的重要性，需要进一步研究。
