Abstract

Oxidative stress is an underlying mechanism of diabetes mellitus complications. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of saffron ethanolic extract on oxidative stress of hepatic tissue in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Malondialdehyde (MDA) and reduced glutathione (GSH) contents were measured to assess free radical activity in the liver tissue. Hepatic antioxidant activities of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were also determined. Wistar rats were made diabetic through single injection of STZ (75 mg/kg i.p). The rats were randomly divided into four groups of 10 animals each: Group 1, healthy control; Group 2, non-diabetics treated with 40 mg/kg intraperitoneal injection of saffron body weight (b.w.)/day extract; Group 3, diabetics; Group 4, diabetics treated with saffron extract (40 mg/kg b.w./day, i.p.) for 8 weeks. Liver MDA content in Groups 3 significantly increased as compared to group 1 (P < 0.05) and significantly decreased in Group 4 as compared to group 3 (P < 0.05). The GSH, SOD, CAT and GSH-Px contents of the liver in Group 3 significantly decreased as compared to groups 1 (P < 0.05) and significantly increased in Group 4 as compared to Group 3 (P < 0.05). This study showed that saffron has antioxidant properties and alleviates oxidative stress of hepatic tissue in experimentally induced diabetes.

Key words: Crocus (Saffron), oxidative stress, diabetes mellitus, liver, rats.