BACKGROUND: Flufenamic acid is a member of the fenamates and is used as an analgesic and NSAID drug. According to the ability of this drug on blocking connexin and preventing leakage of substances such as ATP from cells, it seems to be beneficial in healing diabetic wounds. OBJECTIVES: Evaluation of the effects of topical flufenamic acid as a connexin-channel blocker on skin wound healing in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. METHODS: In this study diabetics was induced in 40 male rats by IP injection of 150mg/kg of alloxan and they were divided to 4 groups. After anesthesia, 2×2 cm incision was made on the back of the rats and the skin was separated completely. Three groups were treated by 2, 5 and 10 percent concentration of flufenamic acid ointment separately, and one group was treated by Vaseline and ucerine ointment as control. Bandage and ointment were changed daily and the procedure was carried out for 21 days. The wound surface was measured on odd days. Half of the rats of each group on day five and half of them on day 21 were euthanized to get pathologic slides. RESULTS: Process of healing, fibroblast concentration, epithelialization, angiogenesis, collagen formation and wound closure in 2 percent group were better than other groups and in control, 5 and 10 percent groups had a decreasing trend respectively and had a significant difference. In the last two groups, the healing process was disrupted. CONCLUSIONS: The 2 percent concentration of drug not only did not show potent anti-inflammatory effects, but also improved the process of healing by blocking the connexin 43 and inhibition of ATP release, while in the concentration of 5 and 10 percent, anti-inflammatory effects of the drug predominated and delayed the healing process.

BACKGROUND: Vanadium and zinc are identified as low-concentration elements in the body of living organisms with a wide range of activities. Their insulin-like activity, through regulating the metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, and eliminating the secondary symptoms of the disease, clearly demonstrates the ability of these elements to improve diabetes.OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of vanadium-zinc complex on the structural, functional, and oxidative stress changes in liver tissue in adult diabetic male rats.METHODS: Herein, we recruited 40 adult male rats with the same weight range. They were randomly divided into four groups of 10, namely control, diabetic, healthy mice receiving vanadium-zinc complex, diabetic mice receiving vanadium-zinc complex) and received this combination at the rate of 10 mg / kg once a day for 60 days by oral gavage. At the end of the course, following blood sampling, part of the liver tissue was removed from the body to measure oxidative stress and the rest for stereological and histological studies. The serum isolated from the animals was also used to measure liver tissue functional enzymes (aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase).RESULTS: The results of this research revealed that vanadium-zinc complex has no side effects on liver tissue in most case, but can greatly prevent structural damage to liver tissue by lowering blood glucose levels in diabetic rats and improving oxidative stress.CONCLUSIONS: Vanadium-zinc complex can be utilized with a certain mechanism in order to control blood sugar and inhibit oxidative stress. It could be regarded as an appropriate approach to preventing liver damage following chronic hyperglycemia in diabetic patients.

The relation of the glycated serum protein, fructosamine, to serum protein, albumin, and glucose concentrations was examined in healthy dogs, dogs with hypo- or hyperproteinemia, and diabetic dogs. Fructosamine was determined by use of an adaptation of an automated kit method. The reference range for fructosamine in a composite group of control dogs was found to be 1.7 to 3.38 mmol/L (mean +/- SD, 2.54 +/- 0.42 mmol/L). Fructosamine was not correlated to serum total protein, but was highly correlated to albumin in dogs with hypoalbuminemia. To normalize the data with respect to albumin, it is suggested that the lower limit of the reference range for albumin concentration (2.5 g/dl) be used for adjustment of fructosamine concentration and only in hypoalbuminemic dogs. In 6 hyperglycemic diabetic dogs, fructosamine concentration was well above the reference range. It is concluded that although fructosamine may be a potentially useful guide to assess the average blood glucose concentration over the preceding few days in dogs, further study is required to establish its value as a guide to glucose control in diabetic dogs.

It is well known that posterior capsule opacification (PCO), one of the most common late postoperative complications of cataract surgery, is mainly caused by proliferation and differentiation of remaining lens epithelial cells (LECs) on the posterior lens capsule. Many authors suggest that alterations induced by the pathophysiology of cataracts, its metabolism and the use of 0.1% trypan blue (TB) must cause some degree of cellular damage on these cells, wicht would help to prevent and/or reduce the incidence of PCO after cataract surgery in humans. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of cell death markers on LECs of older dogs with diabetic and hypermature cataracts, after capsulorhexis, both using 0.1% TB. Twenty samples collected from 13 dogs of different breeds, with ages varying from 8 to 12 years-old, with diabetic and hypermature cataracts, which had been subjected to phacoemulsification surgery (Phaco) using 0.1% TB for staining were studied. Animals were classified as dogs with diabetic (DC) and hypermature cataracts (HC), and expression of molecular markers for apoptosis and autophagy (caspase-3 and beclin-1) on LECs were obtained by immunofluorescence technique. The expression of caspase-3 and beclin-1 was observed in every studied sample and did not differ between groups. In conclusion, our findings suggest that apoptosis and autophagy processes occur to LECs in older dogs presenting diabetic and hypermature cataracts after Phaco utilizing 0.1% TB. Our results may be helpful to future studies of PCO in post-phacoemulsification surgery patients.

This study investigated the effects of intragastric administration of apelin-13 on the secretion of critical pancreatic hormones in a cohort of three-week-old Wistar rats. The research aimed to uncover apelin’s modulatory roles in endocrine interactions dictating metabolic homeostasis during early life.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a polypeptide that is mainly produced by intestinal L cells and is encoded by the proglucagon gene. In this study, GLP-1 localisation was investigated in the ileum of healthy and diabetic mice by immunohistochemistry and proglucagon gene expression was assayed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. This study included 18 male Balb/c mice that were divided into diabetic, sham, and control groups. Mice in the diabetic group received 100 mg/kg of streptozotocin. Immunohistochemical expression of GLP-1 was determined using the avidin–biotin–peroxidase complex technique, and proglucagon gene expression was determined by RT-PCR. Analysis of GLP-1 immunohistochemical localisation showed that GLP-1-immunopositive cells (L cells) were present between epithelial cells in the intestinal crypts. The intensity and localisation of GLP-1 immunoreactivity were similar among the mice in all the groups. Proglucagon gene expression levels were also statistically similar among the mice in all the groups. No difference was demonstrated among the mice in the diabetic, sham, or control groups with respect to proglucagon gene expression and GLP-1 localisation in the ileum, suggesting that diabetes does not affect proglucagon gene expression in the ileum.

Objective: Jicama (Pachyrhizus erosus) fiber has been documented to exert an immunomodu¬latory effect both in vitro and in vivo. However, its beneficial effect against metabolic syndrome remains unknown. This study aimed to reveal whether the jicama fiber (JF) could prevent the development of diabetes and obesity caused by a high-sugar diet (HSD). Materials and Methods: The JF was isolated from its tuberous part and subsequently used as a supplemental diet for adult male Bagg and Albino (BALB)/c mice fed with a HSD. Four different diet paradigms including normal diet, HSD (30% sucrose), and HSD in combination with 10% and 25% of JF, respectively, were deployed continuously for 8 weeks. Furthermore, the blood glucose level, glucose tolerance, body weight, food and water consumption as well as epididymal white adipose tissue (WAT) and interscapular brown adipose tissue (BAT) mass were determined. Results: Our results revealed that supplementation of 25% JF could significantly prevent the blood glucose increase, excessive body weight gain, and glucose intolerance in mice fed with HSD. Moreover, 10% and 25% JF blunted the HSD-induced WAT mass gain but failed to counteract the depletion of BAT mass. Furthermore, the fiber supplementation elicited a minimum effect on rhythm and total food and water intake. Conclusion: The JF could effectively sustain blood glucose homeostasis as well as improve body weight and WAT mass profile against the development of diabetes and obesity caused by HSD. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2019; 6(2.000): 222-230]

Objectives: Aqueous extracts of Rhizophora mucronata and Avicennia marina leaves were inves¬tigated for their hepatoprotective potential in diabetic rats. Materials and methods: One hundred twenty male albino rats were randomly assigned to eight equal groups (n = 15). The first group (control) comprised normal healthy rats, while the second to fifth groups were intraperitoneally injected with a single dose of streptozotocin (STZ) [60 mg/ kg body weight (BW)] for induction of diabetes. Group 2 was kept as positive diabetic control, while groups 35 were orally treated with aqueous extracts of R. mucronata (400 mg/kg BW), A. marina (400 mg/kg BW) and with a combination of ½ a dose of the two plants, respectively, for six weeks. Groups 68 were non-diabetic rats that orally received aqueous extracts of R. mucronata (400 mg/kg BW), A. marina (400 mg/kg BW), and a combination of ½ a dose of the two plants, respectively, for 6 weeks. Results: STZ-induced diabetic rats showed a significant reduction in serum glucose and liver enzymes, increased serum insulin, Homeostasis Model Assessment of β-cells (HOMA-β), and Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR). Histopathological and immuno¬histochemical examinations of the liver revealed improved pathologic criteria in the plant extract treated diabetic rats compared with the remarkable changes which had been seen in STZ-induced diabetic rats. Conclusion: This study suggests that the aqueous extract of R. mucronata or its combination with A. marina showed potent hypoglycemic and hepatoprotective effects for liver dysfunction, as well as histopathological and immunohistochemical changes in the liver of STZ-induced diabetic rats. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2020; 7(1.000): 177-185]

Diabetes is a series of metabolic conditions which threaten public health, caused by a defect in insulin secretion by the pancreatic β-cells or insulin-sensitive tissues that fail to respond to insulin leads to hyperglycemia, which causes a series of metabolic signaling pathways leading to inflammation, cytokine production, cell death, and diabetic complications. Recent research has pointed to Histidine-containing dipeptides (HDPs) to be one of the routes to enhancing diabetic complications. HDPs are synthesized in muscle and are abundantly found in mammals and other vertebrates. L-carnosine (CAR), Anserine, and homocarnosine are dipeptides produced by vertebrate muscles. Carnosine and anserine have both antiglycation and antioxidant activity that help to enhance metabolic dysregulation caused by diabetes. In addition, homocarnosine has anti-inflammatory activity, as well as the ability to reduce DNA damage and advanced glycation end products (AGEs). This review will focus on the protective effects of HDPs against diabetic complications, especially carnosine.