Background: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is an endocrine disorder due to improper
secretion of insulin or action of insulin regardless of hyperglycemia in the body.
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a major role in the development of insulin
resistance and DM.
Objective: The present study, designed to assess the role of chemically induced
ROS and also the effect of chromium picolinate (CrPic) and melatonin (Mel) alone
or in combination (CrPic+Mel) along with ROS on insulin resistance, blood glucose,
lipid, and oxidative stress variables in alloxan induced Wistar rats.
Methods: Male Wistar rats have been categorized into five groups and group
consists of six rats. Group I served as untreated, while group II, III, IV, and V, were
treated with alloxan (AID), alloxan+CrPic (AID+CrPic), alloxan+Mel (AID+Mel), and
alloxan+CrPic+Mel (AID+CrPic+Mel) respectively.
Results: Insulin resistance was greatly increased in group AID rats compared with
untreated rats. A similar increase was seen in blood glucose, total cholesterol, and
triacylglycerols compared between group II and untreated (P<0.05). Significant
differences were observed when group group III, group IV, and group V rats
were compared with group II rats in blood glucose and lipid variables (P<0.05).
But prominent significant differences were observed between group group II
and group IV experimental rats in serum levels of zinc, malondialdehyde, nitric
oxide, superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione (P<0.05) respectively.
Histopathological findings suggest that the Mel and CrPic+Mel treated rats had
normal renal tubular architecture compared with group II rats. Relatively normal
architecture of liver and pancreas was observed in alloxan rats treated with Mel
and CrPic+Mel.
Conclusion: CrPic and Mel alone or in a combination prevented pathological
alterations in the serum and in tissues due to their anti-hyperglycemic, insulinsensitizing,
anti-dyslipidemia, and antioxidant activity, but Mel alone was most
effective.
Zephy Doddigarla, Iqbal Parwez, Subuhi Abidi and Jamal Ahmad