Brain damage is one of the consequences of diabetes. The main cause of this damage is the overproduction of free radicals resulted from hyperglycemia. Hence came the idea of research in testing the effect of administration of strawberry leaf extract as an antioxidant to reduce brain damage in diabetic rats. Five groups of rats were divided into control rats group, diabetic rats group, and three diabetic rat groups treated with strawberry leaf extract (50, 100 and 200 mg/ kg body weight) for 30 days. Diabetic rat brains showed significant increases in malondialdehyde (MDA), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6 and caspase-3 and significant decreases in catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A. Plasma dopamine and melatonin levels were decreased significantly in diabetic rats. After treating the diabetic rats with the three different doses of strawberry leaf extract, the brain and plasma biochemical parameters improved significantly. The study showed the utility of using the strawberry leaf extract as an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptosis to improve brain damage caused by diabetes.
Key words: Diabetic neuropathy, strawberry leaf extract, oxidative stress, proinflammatory cytokines, apoptosis.
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