July - September 2013, Volume 9, Issue 3

Khadem-Ansari MH, M. Beyramzadeh, Rasmi Y

Cardiac Protective Effects of Vitamin E Supplementation on Diabetes - Induced Oxidative Stress and Homocysteine in Rat

Acta Endo (Buc) 2013, 9 (3): 369-376
doi: 10.4183/aeb.2013.369

Context. Diabetes is one of the causes of cardiovascular damage because it increases production of free radicals. Antioxidants, such as vitamin E (vit E), have been tested for efficacy in defending against free radical mediated tissue injuries. Objective. We aimed to investigate the effect of vit E on oxidative stress status and homocysteine (Hcy) in cardiac tissue of diabetic rats. Subjects and Methods. Sixteen Wistar male rats were treated with streptozotocin (STZ) (60 mg/kg) to induce diabetes. Diabetic rats were divided into two groups: non-treated diabetic (NTD) and vit E-treated diabetic (VETD) rats. The VETD group received 300 mg/kg vit E with daily feeding. Eight normal rats of the same age were used as the control group. After 6 weeks, the rats were anesthetized, their cardiac tissue was removed, and homogenated supernatant was separated. Samples were assayed for total antioxidant capacity (TAC), lipid peroxidation (LPO), nitrite (NO2-), nitrate (NO3-) and homocysteine (Hcy). Results. The contents of LPO, NO3- and Hcy in NTD compared to control group indicate a significant increase, but the levels of these parameters decreased in VETD (P<0.05). There was a significant decrease in the amount of TAC in the NTD group but in VETD group, that significantly increased (P<0.05). The amount of NO2- in NTD and VETD groups, compared to the control group, did not show any significant changes (P>0.05). Conclusions. Significant decrease in the cardiac tissue oxidative stress and Hcy resulted from vit E supplementation strongly indicated that this radical scavenger may promote a protective effect on diabetic cardiomyopathy through the attenuation of oxidative stress and increase antioxidant defense mechanism.

Keywords: vitamin E, oxidative stress, homocysteine, diabetic rats.

Correspondence: Yousef Rasmi MD, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran, E-mail: rasmiy@umsu.ac.ir