Abstract
Oxidative stress has been discovered to be involved in the progression of diabetes mellitus. The antioxidant properties of virgin coconut oil (VCO) among other functions might have a beneficial effect in ameliorating the disease. This study was aimed to determine the glycemic and antioxidant effects of VCO in alloxan induced diabetic rats. 24 male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups as follows: control (C), diabetes untreated (DUT), diabetes treated with 7.5 ml/kg VCO (DT7.5) and diabetes treated with 10 ml/kg VCO (DT10). Alloxan (100 mg/kg b.w I.P) was used to induce diabetes and VCO was administered orally once daily for 4 weeks. Fasting blood glucose level was measured on Day 0 (72 hours post alloxan injection) and after 4 weeks. Glucose tolerance test was conducted on the 4th week as well as the determination of serum insulin and liver antioxidant parameters using standard biochemical methods. Values are means ± S.E.M., compared by ANOVA and Tukey’s post hoc test. The results show that VCO significantly reduced the fasting blood glucose level in DT7.5 rats (132.4 ± 6.911) and DT10 rats (131.6 ± 12.2) are compared with DUT rats (320.4 ± 22.99) and improved the oral glucose tolerance. Serum insulin was increased in DT10 rats. GSH activities significantly increased p 10 rats (0.39 ± 0.022) when compared to DUT rats (0.032 ± 0.004). CAT activities also significantly increased p 7.5 (17.63 ± 0.61) and DT10 rats (30.88 ± 0.97) when compared to DUT rats (10.98 ± 0.6). SOD activities significantly increased p 0.05 in DT7.5 (2.634 ± 0.04) and DT10 rats (2.258 ± 0.32) when compared to DUT rats (1.366 ± 0.05) while MDA significantly reduced p 7.5 (49.16 ± 0.51) and DT10 (33.64 ± 0.42) rats when compared to DUT rats (99.93 ± 4.79). This study revealed that VCO has a hypoglycemic action, enhances insulin secretion and also ameliorates oxidative stress induced in type I (alloxan-induced diabetic) male rats.
Highlights
Diabetes mellitus characterized by hyperglycaemia, is due to the deficiency of insulin secretion or its action
Rats were randomly divided into 4 groups (n = 6): Group 1, control (C) received 0.5 ml distilled water; Group 2, diabetic untreated (DUT); Group 3, diabetic treated with 7.5 ml/kg body weight of virgin coconut oil (VCO) (DT7.5) and Group 4, diabetic treated with 10 ml/kg body weight of VCO (DT10)
After four weeks of coconut oil treatment, DT7.5 and Diabetes + 10 ml/kg VCO (DT10) rats showed a significant reduction (p < 0.05) in fasting blood glucose level compared with Diabetes untreated (DUT) rats (Figures 1 and 2). 3.2
Summary
Diabetes mellitus characterized by hyperglycaemia, is due to the deficiency of insulin secretion or its action. It has been associated with a syndrome of disturbance in the homeostasis of carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism [1]. A chemical used in inducing diabetes acts mainly by the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) [3]. It preferentially accumulates in the GLUT2 glucose transporter in the pancreatic beta cells and subsequently leads to the death of the cells. Alloxan is a model compound when studying diabetes as a OPEN ACCESS
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