WEB TITLE: Ameliorative effects of quince fruit on diabetes
COUNTRIES: Iran
CONDUCTED BY: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran; Department of basic science, Science and Research branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran; Faculty of Pharmacy, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
PUBLISHED ON: Iranian Journal of Pharmaceutical Reseach
RESEARCH:
Diabetes mellitus is associated with complications in several different systems of the body, and the incidence of diabetes is rapidly increasing worldwide. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of aqueous extract of Cydonia oblonga Mill. Fruit on lipid profile and some biochemical parameters in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. The extract showed anti hyper lipidemic activity as evidenced by significant decreases in serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels along with the elevation of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in the diabetic rats. The biochemical liver functional tests were also analyzed and it was shown that serum biomarkers of liver dysfunction, including alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were significantly reduced in aqueous extract of Cydonia oblonga Mill. treated diabetic rats. In addition, our results showed that the oral administration of the extract prevented diabetes-induced increase in serum urea and creatinine levels as the markers of renal dysfunction. In conclusion, the present study indicates that aqueous extract of Cydonia oblonga Mill. Is able to improve some of the symptoms associated with diabetes and possesses hypolipidemic, hepatoprotective, and renoprotective effects in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.
Serum lipid profiles: The results of the serum lipid profile showed that streptozotocin injection led to the development of hyperlipidemia in which serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, and LDL-C markedly (p < 0.001) increased when compared to the control group (Figure 1-3). However, HDL-C decreased in diabetic rats in comparison with the normal control (Figure 4). As shown in Figure1-4 the different concentrations of aqueous extract of Cydonia oblonga Mill. Fruit caused a significant decrease in the serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, and LDL-C, but a significant increase in HDL-C levels in the diabetic rats during 6 weeks of the treatment.
Liver parameters: Serum activities of ALT, AST, and ALP as the markers of liver function significantly (p < 0.001) were increased in the untreated diabetic rats in comparison to the non-diabetic rats (Figure 5-7). The extract at the concentrations of 80, 160, and 240mg/kg caused a significant decrease in the biomarkers of liver injury in the diabetic rats treated with the extract (p < 0.001).
Drug-induced diabetes is one of the most commonly used experimental diabetic models (28). In the present study diabetes was induced in rats by injection of streptozotocin. Diabetes is often accompanied by hyperlipidemia that manifests marked elevations of cholesterol, triglyceride, and LDL-C as well as low concentration of HDL-C (29, 30). These serum lipid abnormalities result due to disruption of fatty acid metabolism (31). Our results confirm that hyperlipidemia was occurred in the diabetic rats. Natural products that reduce or alter serum lipid profiles have proved to be effective for the treatment of many diabetic complications (32). Our findings showed that the oral administration of aqueous extract of Cydonia oblonga Mill. Fruit was able to ameliorate serum lipid profiles in the diabetic rats. It can be therefore suggested that quince fruit could be a potential source of hypolipidemic agent (s) and it can be used in the management of hyperlipidemia in diabetic patients. Diabetes plays a central role in the initiation and progression of liver injury and this progressive disease is an independent risk factor for the development of chronic liver diseases (33, 34). The serum activities of ALT, AST, and ALP are biomarkers of hepatic injury (15, 35). ALT and AST are transaminase enzymes that catalyse amino transfer reactions and play an important role in amino acids catabolism and biosynthesis (36, 37). In addition, ALP is a hydrolase enzyme which acts as non-specific phosphomonoesterases to hydrolyse phosphate esters (38). In the present study, the serum elevation of liver damage biomarkers was occurred as a result of deleterious effect of hyperglycemia in the liver of diabetic rats. Increasing the activities of these enzymes is mainly due to leakage of the enzymes from the liver into the blood stream as a result of streptozotocin toxicity which leads to the liver damage. However, the treatment of diabetic groups with the extract of Cydonia oblonga Mill. for 42 consecutive days could ameliorate the activities of the above enzymes. A possible explanation for the hepatoprotective effects of the extract is that this fruit may inhibit the liver damage induced by streptozotocin. These results suggest a hepatoprotective role for quince fruit against liver injury associated with diabetes. Diabetes mellitus is also associated with complications in the renal system. Patients with diabetes experience major long-term complications such as nephropathy and diabetic nephropathy is one of the leading causes of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the world (39, 40). Our results reconfirmed that the plasma levels of urea and creatinine, which are considered as significant biomarkers of renal dysfunction (41), were increased in the experimentally induced-diabetes. However, the treatment of diabetic rats with the extract of Cydonia oblonga Mill. reduced their plasma urea and creatinine levels. This implies that quince fruit normalizes the function of kidneys in the diabetic rats. It was reported that the extract of Cydonia oblonga Mill. leaves possessed remarkable hypoglycemic effect in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. The leaves extract also showed antioxidant activity and protected the heart tissue against lipid peroxides produced by diabetes (23). In addition, Cydonia oblonga Mill. Leaf extracts showed hypolipidaemic and hepatoprotective effects in the rat model of hyperlipidaemia (22). Our results demonstrated that the fruit of Cydonia oblonga Mill. possesses hypolipidemic, hepatoprotective, and renoprotective effects in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Previous studies have also shown that Cydonia oblonga Mill. Fruit contains polyphenols (19). It is well established that polyphenolic compounds have hypoglycemic activity and prevent the development of diabetic complications (42, 43). Therefore, the presence of these constituents may explain the protective effects of this fruit in diabetes-related complications. However, we believe that further studies are necessary to determine the exact nature of the active components and the mechanism of action of Cydonia oblonga Mill. Fruit in diabetes and its associated complications.
Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrate that the oral administration of aqueous extract of Cydonia oblonga Mill. Fruit improve serum lipid profile in diabetic rats by lowering cholesterol, triglyceride, and LDL-C levels and raising HDL-C levels. In addition, the hepatoprotective effect of quince fruit is demonstrated by the significant reduction of serum levels of ALT, AST, and ALP in the diabetic treated rats. The extract also improved renal function in diabetic rats by reducing serum urea and creatinine. It can be concluded that Cydonia oblonga Mill. Fruit possesses hypolipidemic, hepatoprotective, and renoprotective effects in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.
YEAR: 2015