Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Ph.D. in Physiology- Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran
2 Ph.D. in Physiology- Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
3 Student of Medicine- School of Medicine, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
There are few reports on antidiabetic effect of chard in traditional medicine. Therefore, its hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effect was investigated in an experimental model of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. For this purpose, male Wistar rats (n = 34) were divided into 4 groups, i.e. control, chard-treated control, diabetic, and chard-treated diabetic groups. For induction of diabetes, streptozotocin (STZ; 60 mg/Kg; i.p.) was used at a single dose. A serum glucose level higher than 250 mg/dl was considered as diabetic state. The treatment groups received oral administration of chard-mixed pelleted food at a ratio of 1/15. Statistical analysis of the data showed that serum glucose level in diabetic group increases 2 and 4 weeks after the experiment as compared to data one week before the experiment (P<0.001), while this parameter was significantly lower 2 and 4 weeks after the experiment in chard-treated diabetic group as compared to untreated-diabetic group (P<0.01 and P<0.001 respectively). In addition, triglyceride level was higher in diabetic group and there was a significant reduction in this parameter in chard-treated diabetic group as compared to diabetic group in fourth week after the experiment (P<0.05). Meanwhile, cholesterol level showed a significant reduction in chard-treated diabtic group in comparison with untreated diabetic group. Taken together, the results of this study clearly showed that oral administration of chard could significantly reduce serum glucose, triglyceride, and cholesterol levels in diabetic rats. Therefore, this medicinal plant is strongly recommended for attenuation of some diabetic complications due to hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia.
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