Abstract
This study is aimed at assessing the antihyperglycemic, antihyperlipidemic, and antioxidant effects of Citrus reticulata (C. reticulata) fruit peel hydroethanolic extract and two flavonoids, hesperidin and quercetin, in nicotinamide (NA)/streptozotocin- (STZ-) induced type 2 diabetic rats. In addition, GC-MS and HPLC-MS analyses of the extract were performed and the results indicated the presence of multiple flavonoids including hesperidin, quercetin, naringin, and polymethoxylated flavones (nobiletin and tangeretin). To achieve the aim of the study, diabetic rats with NA/STZ-induced T2DM were orally treated with C. reticulata fruit peel hydroethanolic extract, hesperidin, and quercetin at a dose of 100 mg/kg b.w./day for four weeks. The treatments with C. reticulata fruit peel extract, hesperidin, and quercetin significantly ameliorated the impaired oral glucose tolerance; the elevated serum fructosamine level; the diminished serum insulin and C-peptide levels; the altered HOMA-IR, HOMA-IS, and HOMA-β cell function; the decreased liver glycogen content; the increased liver glucose-6-phosphatase and glycogen phosphorylase activities; the deleteriously affected serum lipid profile; the elevated serum AST and ALT activities; and the raised serum creatinine and urea levels in the diabetic rats. The treatments also produced remarkable improvement in the antioxidant defense system manifested by a decrease in the elevated liver lipid peroxidation and an increase in the lowered glutathione content and GPx, GST, and SOD activities. Furthermore, the three treatments enhanced the mRNA expression of GLUT-4 and the insulin receptor β-subunit, but only quercetin produced a significant increase in the expression of adiponectin in adipose tissue of diabetic rats. In conclusion, C. reticulata fruit peel hydroethanolic extract, hesperidin, and quercetin have potent antidiabetic effects which may be mediated through their insulinotropic effects and insulin-sensitizing actions. In addition, the alleviation of the antioxidant defense system by the extract, hesperidin, and naringin may have an important action to enhance the antidiabetic actions and to improve liver and kidney functions in NA/STZ-induced diabetic rats.
Highlights
Diabetes mellitus (DM), one of the most common diseases in the world, results from impairments in insulin secretion and/or insulin action leading to disturbances in the metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins [1, 2]
It was proven by many investigators that in NA/STZinduced DM, there are both impairment in insulin secretion and insulin resistance, which is a characteristic feature of type 2 DM (T2DM) [21,22,23]
The present study demonstrated that the treatment of diabetic rats with C. reticulata peel hydroethanolic extract, hesperidin, and quercetin caused potential ameliorative effects on OGT and the serum fructosamine level, and this is in concordance with the results of Jung et al [102], Chakravarthy et al [103], Chakravarthy et al [104], Sharma et al [105], Pandit et al [106], and Kapoor and Kakkar [107] who revealed an analogous improvement effect of various flavonoids in different animal models of DM
Summary
Diabetes mellitus (DM), one of the most common diseases in the world, results from impairments in insulin secretion and/or insulin action leading to disturbances in the metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins [1, 2]. NA injection before STZ in this DM-induced model, on the other hand, partially counteracts the destructive effect of STZ on β-cells, and it leads to the loss of the early phase of glucose stimulation of insulin secretion which is a feature of T2DM [18,19,20]. It was proven by many investigators that in NA/STZinduced DM, there are both impairment in insulin secretion and insulin resistance, which is a characteristic feature of T2DM [21,22,23]
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