Publications

Diabetes mellitus has remained one of the serious health problemsin the world; and oxidative stress has been reported to be a root cause forthe progression and development of diabetes mellitus and its associated complications.Aim: This study investigated the possible ameliorative effects oflycopene on diabetic-induced changes in erythrocyte osmotic fragility and lipidperoxidation in Wistar rats. Methodology: The animals were made diabeticby single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin at 60 mg/kg b w.Diabetes was confirmed by the presence of high fasting blood glucose level ≥200 after 72 hours. Thereafter, diabetic rats were randomly assigned into sixgroups (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6) comprising five animals each. Group 1 (Diabeticcontrol) and group 2 (Normal control) rats received 0.5 ml of olive oil, groups3, 4, 5 rats received 10, 20, 40 mg/kg bw of lycopene respectively, while thosein group 6 received 2 mg/kg bw of glibenclamide orally once daily for a periodof four weeks. At the end of the treatment, all animals were sacrificed; bloodsamples collected for determination of erythrocyte osmotic fragility (EOF)and lipid peroxidation (LPO). Results: The results obtained showed that therewas a significantly (P < 0.05) lowered erythrocyte osmotic fragility in diabeticanimals treated with lycopene when compared with diabetic control group. Inaddition, there was also a significantly (P < 0.05) reduced erythrocyte malondialdehydeconcentration, an index of lipid peroxidation in the diabetictreated groups when compared with diabetic control group. Conclusion:From the available findings, it can be concluded that administration of lycopeneto diabetic rats attenuated diabetic-induced changes in EOF and LPO and theseobserved effects may be attributed to anti-oxidative property of lycopene.