Selenium downregulates RAGE and NFκB expression in diabetic rats.

Diabetes is one of the leading causes of death in developed and developing countries. Oxidative stress has been proposed to play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of diabetic vascular complications. In recent years, selenium has been shown to mediate a number of insulinlike actions in a dose-dependent fashion both in vitro and in vivo. In this study, the effect of selenium as sodium selenite was investigated in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats at the dose of 1 μg sodium selenite/kg body weight. Selenium supplementation restored the streptozotocin-induced alterations in the activities of antioxidant enzymes, decreased the serum glucose level, glycated hemoglobin content as well as the levels of lipid peroxidation products, and downregulated the expressions of both NFkB and RAGE. The histopathological studies also reinforce our findings. Hence, selenium has a protective role in streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus.