Mohammad Dallak1, Bahjat Al-Ani1, Dina H Abdel Kader2, Refaat A Eid3, Mohamed A Haidara4,5. 1. Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia. 2. Department of Medical Histology, Kasr Al-Aini Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt. 3. Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia. 4. Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia, haidaram@hotmail.com. 5. Department of Physiology, Kasr Al-Aini Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt, haidaram@hotmail.com.
Abstract
AIMS: We sought to determine whether insulin can protect against type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM)-induced cardiac ultrastructural alterations in an animal model of the disease. This has not been investigated before. METHODS: Rats were either injected once with 65 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ) before being sacrificed after 8 weeks or were treated with a daily injection of insulin 2 days by STZ and continued until being sacrificed. RESULTS: Harvested tissues obtained from left ventricles in the untreated T1DM rats showed substantial damage to the cardiomyocyte ultrastructure as demonstrated by disintegrated myofibrils and their sarcomeres, damaged mitochondria and lipid droplets, which was substantially protected by insulin. Insulin also significantly inhibited T1DM-induced hyperglycemia (p < 0.001), dyslipidemia (p < 0.0001), malondialdehyde (MDA; p < 0.0001), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α; p < 0.001) and interleukin-6 (p < 0.001). We further demonstrated a significant (p ≤ 0.001) correlation between either sarcomere or mitochondrial injury scoring and the serum levels of glucose, dyslipidemia, and biomarkers of oxidative stress (OxS) and inflammation. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that insulin effectively suppresses left ventricular cardiomyocyte ultrastructural damage, which substantially slows down the progression of diabetic cardiomyopathy for 8 weeks in a rat model of T1DM, possibly due to the glycemic control and inhibition of dyslipidemia, OxS and inflammation.
AIMS: We sought to determine whether insulin can protect against type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM)-induced cardiac ultrastructural alterations in an animal model of the disease. This has not been investigated before. METHODS:Rats were either injected once with 65 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ) before being sacrificed after 8 weeks or were treated with a daily injection of insulin 2 days by STZ and continued until being sacrificed. RESULTS: Harvested tissues obtained from left ventricles in the untreated T1DM rats showed substantial damage to the cardiomyocyte ultrastructure as demonstrated by disintegrated myofibrils and their sarcomeres, damaged mitochondria and lipid droplets, which was substantially protected by insulin. Insulin also significantly inhibited T1DM-induced hyperglycemia (p < 0.001), dyslipidemia (p < 0.0001), malondialdehyde (MDA; p < 0.0001), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α; p < 0.001) and interleukin-6 (p < 0.001). We further demonstrated a significant (p ≤ 0.001) correlation between either sarcomere or mitochondrial injury scoring and the serum levels of glucose, dyslipidemia, and biomarkers of oxidative stress (OxS) and inflammation. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that insulin effectively suppresses left ventricular cardiomyocyte ultrastructural damage, which substantially slows down the progression of diabetic cardiomyopathy for 8 weeks in a rat model of T1DM, possibly due to the glycemic control and inhibition of dyslipidemia, OxS and inflammation.