Ameliorative role of ferulic acid against diabetes associated oxidative stress induced spleen damage.

Spleen, a secondary lymphoid organ, is the site of initiation of most of the immune responses. The present study is centered on the ameliorative role of ferulic acid against diabetic complications in the spleen of male Wistar rats. Induction of diabetes by STZ (at a dose of 50 mg kg-1 body wt, i.p.) reduced the spleen size, plasma insulin level, enhanced the blood glucose level and disrupted the intracellular antioxidant machineries along with the depletion of splenic white pulp. Induction of oxidative stress mediated inflammation and apoptosis (upregulation in the levels of inflammatory cytokines, translocation of NF ĸB in the nucleus, alteration in Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, release of cytochrome c from mitochondria, activation of caspase-9 and 3, PARP cleavage and DNA fragmentation) were evidenced from immunoblot analyses, DNA fragmentation and TUNEL assay. However, ferulic acid administration post diabetes induction, (at a dose of 50 mg kg-1 body wt, orally for eight weeks) could reverse such adverse effects. Therefore, ferulic acid, as a potential therapeutic agent may hold promise in evading oxidative stress mediated diabetic splenotoxicity in rats.