Protective effects of either C-peptide or l-arginine on pancreatic β-cell function, proliferation, and oxidative stress in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

Diabetes and cardiometabolic risk factors including hypertension and dyslipidemia are the major threats to human health in the 21st century. Apoptosis in pancreatic tissue is one of the major causes of diabetes type 1 progression. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of C-peptide or l-arginine on some cardiometabolic risk factors, pancreatic morphology, function and apoptosis, and the mechanisms of their actions. Forty adult male albino rats were divided into four equal groups: 1-control nondiabetic, 2-diabetic (no treatment), 3-diabetic + C-peptide, and 4-diabetic +  l-arginine. Diabetes was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of high dose streptozotocin. At the end of the experiment, sera glucose, insulin levels, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), and pancreatic MDA, TAC, and B-cell lymphoma 2 were measured. The morphology and proliferating activity of the pancreas were examined by hematoxylin and eosin histological stain, proliferative cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), and insulin antibodies. Our results showed that induction of diabetes caused hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, and oxidative stress. However, administration of C-peptide or l-arginine significantly improved the pancreatic histopathology with a significant increase in the area % of insulin immunoreactivity, the number of PCNA immunopositive cells, the number of islets, and the diameter of islets compared with the diabetic group. C-peptide treatment of the diabetic rats completely corrected these errors, while l-arginine partially antagonized the above diabetic complications. So the administration of C-peptide as an adjuvant therapy in type 1 diabetes can significantly decrease apoptosis of pancreas and subsequent progression of diabetes complication.