Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Antioxidant and anti-diabetic effects of caffeic acid in a rat model of diabetes

Wenguang Xu¹, Qiong Luo² , Xiuying Wen³, Ming Xiao¹, Qijian Mei¹

¹Department of Geriatrics; ²Department of Endocrinology, General Hospital of Yangtze River Shipping; ³Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Liyuan Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.

For correspondence:- Qiong Luo Email: 11257502@qq.com

Accepted: 24 May 2020 Published: 30 June 2020

Citation: Xu W, Luo Q, Wen X, Xiao M, Mei Q. Antioxidant and anti-diabetic effects of caffeic acid in a rat model of diabetes. Trop J Pharm Res 2020; 19(6):1227-1232 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v19i6.17

© 2020 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the antioxidant and anti-diabetic potential of a natural flavonoid, caffeic acid in a streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat model.

Methods: Experimental diabetes was induced in Wistar rats using streptozotocin injection. Caffeic acid was administered orally on daily basis for 5 weeks. A glucometer was used to monitor fasting blood glucose levels. Insulin levels were estimated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The antioxidant potential of caffeic acid was measured by determining the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), and levels of reduced glutathione (GSH) in rat liver. Standard assays were performed to determine the lipid profile of the rats. Histopathological analysis was performed to determine differences in microscopic structures of pancreas among the different treatment groups.

Results: Caffeic acid administration resulted in significant enhancement of serum insulin level, and decrease in blood glucose level of diabetic rat models (p < 0.05). Caffeic acid exerted antioxidant effects by significantly increasing GSH levels and activities of CAT and SOD (p < 0.05). Histological examination of the pancreas depicted normal islet morphology under caffeic acid administration in diabetic rats.

Conclusion: These results reveal the antioxidant potential and anti-diabetic effect of caffeic acid in a diabetic rat model and point towards the potential applicability of caffeic acid in the management of diabetes mellitus.

Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, Streptozotocin, Caffeic acid, Phenolics, Anti-diabetic, Antioxidant