Context:
Oxidative stress plays an important role in development of diabetes mellitus.
Satureja bachtiarica
Bunge (Lamiaceae) is a rich source of bioactive compounds with antioxidant properties.
Objective:
This study investigates the antidiabetic effect of hydroalcoholic extract of aerial parts of
S. bachtiarica
.
Methods and materials:
Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into six groups (
n
= 8) including control (normal saline), diabetic [Streptozotocin (STZ)], intervention (STZ plus hydroalcoholic extract of
S. bachtiarica
at doses of 75, 150 and 250 mg/kg/d) and positive control (STZ plus captopril 50 mg/kg/d) groups. A single intraperitoneal (IP) injection of STZ (60 mg/kg) was used to induce diabetes and IP therapy with drugs was performed for four weeks.
Results
: In diabetic rats, serum total antioxidant capacity (TAC) decreased significantly, but glucose, alkaline phosphatase
(
ALP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT) and malondialdehyde (MDA) increased significantly as compared to the control (
p
< 0.05). Treatment with extract (250 mg/kg) caused a significant decline in serum glucose, GGT, ALT, AST and MDA as well as a significant increase in serum TAC (
p
< 0.05). During the intervention period, diabetic rats showed significant weight loss, but extract (250 mg/kg) treated rats did not show any weight loss. Extract (250 mg/kg) up-regulated
GLUT2
expression and down-regulated
GLUT4
expression in the liver (
p
< 0.05).
S
.
bachtiarica
extract at all dosage levels prevented STZ-induced histological damage of liver, kidney and pancreas.
Discussion and conclusions:
S
.
bachtiarica
extract exhibits antidiabetic effects through modulation of oxidative stress and expression of
GLUT2
and
GLUT4
.