Oxidative stress induced by diabetes activates apoptosis in rat brain

Abstract

Diabetes is an increasing worldwide health problem. It is well known that diabetes causes brain damage. The mechanism by which diabetes increases brain damage is still elusive. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of streptozotocin-induced diabetes on rat brain tissue. Twenty rats were divided into control and experimental groups at random. In experimental animals diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection of a single 50 mg kg-1 dose of streptozotocin while the animals in control group received sodium citrat buffer. Induction of diabetes with streptozotocin resulted in a statistically significant increase in the glucose and malondialdehyde levels whereas ascorbic acid concentrations and Total Anti oxidant Status (TAS) decreased significantly in these animals. Compared to the control animals hyperglycemia induced apoptosis in brain tissue of experimental rats significantly. In conclusion, in streptozotocin induced hyperglycaemia in diabetic rats leads to oxidative stress and induce apoptosis in brain tissue. In addition, increased rate of apoptosis might be due to elevated concentrations of reactive oxygen species.