Effect of Curcumin on the Liver in a Rat Model of Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic disorders occurring due to the decreased secretion or resistance to insulin. There are approximately 380 million diabetic patients worldwide; Middle East countries with an average and low income represent 80% of the cases which represents a significant economic burden. Herbal remedies have been used for centuries to treat and ameliorate several diseases among which is diabetes mellitus. This study aims to explore the effects of natural herbal extract of curcumin which is commonly used as an additive to diabetic food. Material & methods: Diabetes mellitus was induced in Sprague Dawley male rats by using Streptozotocin (75 mg/kg), the dose was administrated intraperitoneally over two days. Curcumin was administered for the period of 21 days, either orally (tablets) or intraperitoneal injection. The later was subdivided into low dose (100 mg/kg, twice a week) and high dose (100 mg/kg, daily) injections. Blood samples were collected to perform the liver function and lipids profile testing. In addition, liver and pancreas tissue samples were collected for histological analysis. Results: Curcumin affected the treatment rats’ groups differently. Overall, one of the liver functions (AST) and lipids profiles showed an enhancement in all different supplementation methods. Except that the low dose injection did not affect ALT levels in the liver; whereas in high dose injection and oral curcumin it got affected negatively, as it rapidly got worse. Histology of both pancreas and liver did not show a significant improvement. Conclusion: Generally, curcumin showed a positive effect on AST and lipids profile (total cholesterol and triglycerides). Histology results did not clearly represent the effects of curcumin supplementation which is hypothesized to be due to the short-term period of treatment. It has been found, throughout the results, that the supplementation method does affect the efficiency and effects of the treatment. Therefore, this study assures the effectiveness of curcumin in treating diabetes and diabetes related liver dysfunction and urges the extension of further studies.