Alteration of Dentate Gyrus Astrocytes in Diabetic Rats: Protective Role of Urtica dioica

Abstract

GOLALIPOUR, M. J.; GHAFARI, S.; LATIFIMOGHADAM, M. H. & KABOLI, S.Alteration of dentate gyrus astrocytes in diabetic rats: Protective role of Urtica dioica. Int. J. Morphol., 29(4):1307-1312, 2011. SUMMARY:Diabetes mellitus can cause astrocytes alterations in the central nervous system. Urtica dioica (Nettle) is among several species listed for their use against diabetes in folk medicine. Therefore, this study was done to evaluate the protective effect of Urtica dioica on astrocytes density of the dentate gyrus in STZ induced diabetic rats. In this experimental study, 21 male albino Wistar rats were randomly allocated equally into normal, diabetic and protective (nettle treated diabetic) groups. Hyperglycemia was induced by streptozotocin (80 mg/kg) in the animals of diabetic and treatment groups. Before induction of diabetes in animals, animals in protective group received hydroalcoholic extract of Urtica dioica (100 mg/kg/BW /day) for five days intraperitoneally. Four weeks after induction of diabetes, animals were sacrificed and coronal sections were taken from the dorsal hippocampal formation of the right cerebral hemispheres and stained with PTAH stain. The area densities of the astrocytes were measured and compared in the three groups (p < 0.05). The number of astrocytes in DG area of controls was 17.72±6.7. The density of astrocytes increased in diabetic (24.26±9.5) in comparison with controls. The density in the nettle treated rats (23.17±5.8) was lower than diabetic rats. This study showed that the administration of U. dioica extract before induction of diabetes can not significantly help compensate for astrocytes in the dentate gyrus of treated rats.

The possible protective role of melatonin on the changes in the cerebral cortex and meninges of streptozotocin-induced diabetes in adult male albino rats (histological and immunohistochemical study)

“…The current work showed that the number of GFAP-positive astrocytes significantly increased in STZ-treated rats. This was in accordance with Golalipour et al (2011) and Selim and Selim (2013).…”

“…During reactive gliosis, astrocytes secrete neurotoxic substances such as inflammatory cytokines and free radicals, which actively attack protein molecules within neurons, resulting in neuronal damage, and contribute toward the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. These evidences indicate that altered astrocyte activity contributes toward the central nervous system pathophysiology in diabetes mellitus [9,39] .…”

Effect of streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus on the cerebellar cortex of adult male albino rats

“…The current work showed that the number of GFAP-positive astrocytes increased significantly in STZ-induced rats. Our result is similar to that of previous studies [31,32]. The alterations in astrocyte number are possibly because of oxidative stress [33] and free radical formation [34].…”

“…During reactive gliosis, astrocytes secrete neurotoxic substances such as inflammatory cytokines and free radicals, which actively attack protein molecules within neurons, resulting in neuronal damage, and contribute toward the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases [36]. These evidences indicate that altered astrocyte activity contributes toward the CNS pathophysiology in DM [32].…”

Türkiye florasında diyabet tedavisinde kullanılan tıbbi bitkiler

“…Diyabet tedavisi de en sık rastlanan kullanımlardan biridir(24). Bu sonuçlar ekstrenin hipoglisemik etkisinin beta hücre proliferasyonunu artırması ile bağlantılı olduğunu düşündürmektedir(53).Diabetes mellitus merkezi sinir sisteminde astrositlerde istenmeyen değişikliklere sebep olur. Bu amaçla streptozotosin ile indüklenen diyabetik sıçanlarda ısırganın astrositleri koruyucu etkinliği incelenmiştir.…”