Abstract
The protective effect of sesamin (SES) from sesame meal on NIT-1 pancreatic β-cells damaged by streptozotocin (STZ) in vitro was investigated. The cell viability, insulin secretion, the activity of superoxide dismutase(SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSHpx) and the content of reduced glutathione (GSH) increased significantly when incubated with SES (400, 200 μg mL−1). The content of malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO) production, and the activity of NO synthase (NOS), inducible NOS (iNOS), decreased significantly when incubated with SES. The destructive changes of NIT-1 cells were ameliorated when treated with SES under microscopic observation. These data suggested that SES had obvious protective effect on NIT-1 pancreatic β-cells damaged by STZ, which might be related to its effects of decreasing levels of β-cell-destroying factors such as oxidative stress and NO synthesis.
Highlights
Sesame seeds and oil have been praised and consumed by Chinese people for thousands of years
The NIT-1 cell line was established from the insulinomas that developed in the transgenic NOD mice, and the cells were transformed with a hybrid rat insulin promoter/SV40 large T-antigen
Preliminary work on the NIT-1 cell line showed that it possessed many characteristics and ultrastructural features of normal differentiated mouse pancreatic β cells, such as well-developed rough endoplasmic reticulum, extensive golgi apparatus and beta granules [16]
Summary
Sesame seeds and oil have been praised and consumed by Chinese people for thousands of years. Sesamin can be extracted from sesame seeds, sesame oil, and sesame meal [2]. Sesamin has been shown to have anti-oxidative effect [3,4,5], promoting-immunity function [6], anti-carcinogen activity [7,8], blood pressure-lowering effect [9], serum lipid-lowering and hepatocyte-protecting effects [10,11,12,13,14,15]. Previous studies have shown that sesamin has hypoglycemic activity in KK-Ay mice, a kind of type 2 diabetic animal model, by ameliorating peripheral insulin resistance in vivo. In order to evaluate the ameliorating effect of sesamin on diabetes comprehensively, the present study was designed to explore the protective effect of sesamin on NIT-1 pancreatic β-cells damaged by streptozotocin (STZ) in vitro. Its mechanisms of action concerning protection of pancreatic β cells from destruction by oxidative stress and nitric oxide (NO) in vitro were investigated
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