Abstract
The development of effective, available, safe, and less costly antidiabetic synthetic preparations based on natural products is of quite interest. To our knowledge, the flavonoid-based cobalt–quercetin complex was not tested before for its antidiabetic activities in vivo. Thus, our aim was to investigate the cobalt-quercetin complex’s (CQC) antidiabetic activities compared to the reference drug insulin in diabetic rats. Diabetes was prompted in male rats via one injection of streptozotocin (STZ, 50 mg/kg). Daily, diabetic animals were treated with either a dose of CQC or insulin for 15 days. Water and food intakes, bodyweight changes, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C%), nitric oxide (NO), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), albumin, lipid portrait, malondialdehyde (MDA), fasting blood glucose (FBG), superoxide dismutase (SOD), uric acid, and creatinine levels were assessed. Pancreas and liver tissues were histopathologically examined. STZ-induced insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) developed significant elevations in FBG, HbA1C, AST, ALT, NO, creatinine, urea, uric acid, and MDA levels, along with significant reductions in albumin, TAC, and SOD levels besides marked lipid profile disturbances and tissue histopathological changes. CQC treatment effectively reversed all the studied diabetes-induced changes via its strong antioxidant properties. Antidiabetic effects of CQC and insulin were comparable. Additional validation studies on the considerable CQC antidiabetic effects are needed.
Highlights
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chief endocrine disease and expanding health issue in almost all countries
In normal rats treated with cobalt-quercetin complex (CQC), a significant rise (p < 0.001 vs. normal control) in water consumption was observed from day 5 and continued to the last day of treatment, accompanied by a significant decrease (p < 0.001 vs. normal control) in food intake noted from day 5 that was turned back to increase on day 15
The volume of water intake in the diabetic control group was greater (p < 0.001) than that in the normal control group and increased progressively till the experiment was terminated, while in diabetic rats supplemented with insulin or CQC, significant decreases (p < 0.001 vs. diabetic control) in the water intake were observed from day 10; the values were still higher than those prior to the induction of diabetes
Summary
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chief endocrine disease and expanding health issue in almost all countries. 171 million individuals in all countries were diagnosed with diabetes in 2000 and by the year 2030, it is expected that 366 million people will have the disease (Wild et al, 2004). The overall measure of diabetic individuals in Egypt will elevate from 3.80 million in 2000 to 30 million by the year 2025 (Badran et al, 1997). DM is featured with insufficiency of insulin release and/ or action, insulin resistance, and abnormal glucose, lipid, and protein pathways. It causes multiple health consequences like kidney impairment, vision loss, and leg removal, and may even cause early death (Saad et al, 2019a; Shaikh and Shrivastava, 2014). There is a continual demand to explore new efficient antidiabetic medications
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