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2018 Faculty of Biomedical Sciences Journal of Diabetes and Endocrinology ISSN: 2141-2685

Lycopene attenuates diabetes-induced oxidative stress in Wistar rats

Ejike Daniel Eze*, Adam Moyosore Afodun, Sheu Oluwadare Sulaiman, Nganda Ponsiano, Iliya Ezekiel, Moses Dele Adams, Alfred Omachonu Okpanachi and Karimah Mohammed Rabiu

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the capacity of lycopene against diabetes-induced oxidativedamage in Wistar rats. Thirty Wistar rats of both sexes, twenty-five of which were diabetic, were used.Diabetes was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) 60 mg/kg body weightand it was confirmed by the elevated blood glucose ≥200 mg/dl after three days. The rats were dividedrandomly into groups 1 to 6, each containing 5 rats. Group 1 (Normal control) and Group 2 (Diabeticcontrol) rats were administered 0.5 ml of olive oil; Groups 3, 4, and 5 rats were respectivelyadministered 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg body weight of lycopene, while Group 6 rats were administered 2mg/kg body weight of Glibenclamide. All administrations were done orally and once daily for twentyeightdays. At the end of the treatment, serum levels of antioxidant enzymes, cortisol andmalondialdehyde (MDA) were determined. Administration of graded doses of lycopene to diabeticanimals significantly (P<0.05) decreased the blood glucose concentration after four weeks of treatmentwhen compared to diabetic untreated animals. Serum levels of cortisol and MDA (index of oxidativestress) were reduced while there were up-regulated activities of serum endogenous enzymes(superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase) in diabetic animals treated with all dosesof lycopene when compared with diabetic untreated animals. Overall, lycopene attenuated thebiomedical alterations in STZ-induced diabetic Wistar rats. Lycopene therefore possesses antioxidantactivity at the doses tested in this study.