Objectives: Eugenosedin-A (Eu-A), an adrenergic and serotonergic antagonist, is known to have anti-metabolic syndrome effects. In this study, we evaluated its protective effects against diabetes mellitus (DM) in spontaneous hypertensive rats (SHR) and compared it with two anti-diabetes medications, glibenclamide (Gli) and pioglitazone (Pio).
Methods: We divided 10-week-old SHRs into five groups: a control group fed a normal diet; an untreated DM group induced by injecting the SHRs with STZ/NA and feeding them a high-fat diet (HFD); and three treated groups (after giving STZ/NA and HFD) gavage given with Eu-A, Gli or Pio (5 mg/kg per day) for 4 weeks.
Key findings: The untreated DM group weighed less and had hyperglycaemia, hypoinsulinemia and hyperlipidemia. They were also found to have aberrant glucose-dependent insulin pathways, glucose metabolism and lipid synthesis proteins, while the controls did not. Eu-A, Gli and Pio ameliorated the above biochemical parameters in the treatment groups. Eu-A and Pio, but not Gli, improved hypertension and tachycardia.
Conclusions: Taken together, Eu-A ameliorated DM, hypertension and tachycardia by improving glucose, lipid homeostasis and anti-adrenergic, serotonergic activities. We concluded that Eu-A could be used in the development of an effective agent for controlling DM and its complications.
Keywords: SHR; diabetes mellitus; eugenosedin-A; glibenclamide; pioglitazone.
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