ABSTRACT
Diabetes mellitus is one of the commonest metabolic disorders, arising from a variety of pathologic mechanisms, all resulting in hyperglycemia.
The role of free radicals induced oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus cannot be overemphasized. It is believed that oxidative stress plays an important role in the development of vascular complications in diabetes particularly type 2 diabetes. This study aimed at investigating the effects of metformin and vitamin C or E combinations on streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus in rats.
Male albino Wistar rats weighing 220-320 g were fasted overnight and diabetes mellitus was induced by a single dose (40 mg/kg body weight) intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin dissolved in a freshly prepared 0.1M citrate buffer, pH 4.5. Diabetes mellitus was confirmed (blood sugar ≥ 200 mg/dl) after 48 hours and the animals were grouped into seven groups of 5 rats each. After two weeks daily oral administration of metformin, and metformin and vitamin C or E, animals were sacrificed under chloroform anaesthesia, blood samples were collected for determination of lipid profile and haematological indices. Statistical analysis was done using one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s post-hoc test of multiple comparisons (GraphPad Prism 6, San Diego, USA). The P - value was set at < 0.05 for significant difference.
The results of the study showed that metformin, and metformin and vitamin C/E produced a significant and comparable reduction in blood glucose levels and also control of weight loss in the diabetic rats. These drug combinations significantly lowered the total cholesterol, and triglycerides, insignificantly reduced low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, but, had no effect on high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
