Streptozotocin-induced diabetes is associated with changes in NGF levels in pancreas and brain.

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM), a "classical" result of a pancreatic-beta cell damage, is associated with various metabolic, neuronal, endocrine and immune alterations at cellular, tissue and organ levels. Nerve growth factor (NGF) is one of the most extensively studied neurotrophic factors, which is produced and released by numerous cells including the pancreatic beta cells. NGF plays an important role during brain development and may be able to delay or even reverse damaged forebrain cholinergic neurons that undergo degeneration in aged animals and in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recent reports indicate that experimentally induced DM in rodents can cause brain biochemical and molecular alterations similar to those observed in sporadic AD. Given the importance of NGF in the pathophysiology of brain cholinergic neurons, we looked for NGF changes in the pancreas and brain of diabetic rats. The aim of this study was, therefore, to investigate the effect of streptozotocin-induced DM on NGF and NGF receptor expression in pancreas and brain. The results showed that DM is associated with altered NGF, NGF-receptor expression in both pancreas and brain.