Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Farrerol ameliorates diabetic hepatopathy in rat model of type 2 diabetes mellitus via modulation of oxidative-inflammatory stress

Li Dong¹, Lixia Yang², Fengsui Liu¹ , Haitao Zhan¹, Xinwei Chen¹

¹Department of Critical Care Medicine; ²Department of Quality Management, First Hospital of Qinhuangdao, Qinhuangdao 066001, Hebei, China.

For correspondence:- Fengsui Liu Email: LucySantanawua@yahoo.com Tel:+863353032042

Accepted: 17 December 2019 Published: 31 January 2020

Citation: Dong L, Yang L, Liu F, Zhan H, Chen X. Farrerol ameliorates diabetic hepatopathy in rat model of type 2 diabetes mellitus via modulation of oxidative-inflammatory stress. Trop J Pharm Res 2020; 19(1):71-76 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v19i1.11

© 2020 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the effect of farrerol on diabetic hepatopathy in a rat model of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Methods: Adult male Wistar rats (n = 40) were randomly assigned to four groups of ten rats each: normal control, diabetic control, farrerol control and treatment groups. With the exception of normal control and farrerol control groups, the rats were fed high-fat diet (HFD) for four weeks, and thereafter injected streptozotocin (STZ) at a dose of 30 mg/kg body weight intraperitoneally (i.p.) for induction of T2DM. Rats in farrerol control and treatment groups received 50 mg/kg farrerol orally/day. Serum levels of triacylglycerol (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were determined. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were assessed in liver homogenate while mRNA and protein expressions of glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2) were assayed in liver using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting, respectively. expression levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) were also determined using qRT-PCR.

Results: Diabetes mellitus (DM) led to significant reductions in rat body weight and SOD activity, while increasing fasting blood glucose (FBG) and MDA levels (p < 0.05). However, treatment with farrerol significantly reversed the effect of DM on these parameters (p < 0.05). The mRNA expressions of TNF-α and IL-1β were significantly higher in diabetic control group than in normal control group, but were significantly reduced after farrerol treatment (p < 0.05). Treatment with farrerol also significantly reversed the effect of DM on rat lipid profile (p < 0.05). The expression of GLUT2 protein was significantly downregulated in the liver of diabetic control rats, when compared with normal control rats, but was significantly upregulated after treatment with farrerol (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: The results of this study show that farrerol alleviates STZ-induced hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia via reduction in oxidative stress and inflammation, and upregulation of GLUT2 protein expression. Thus, farrerol has antidiabetic and hepatoprotective potentials for clinical use in humans.

Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, Dyslipidemia, Farrerol, Hepatopathy, High-fat diet