The evaluation of early stage oxidative status in streptozotocin induced diabetes in rats

Early-stage diabetes can be defined as the stages before absolute insulin deficiency in patients. In this study, the early stage oxidative effect of streptozotocin(STZ) induced diabetes mellitus was evaluated. 28 male adult Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups; control group and 7th, 14th, 21st days diabetic groups. Diabetic groups received single 65 mg/kg STZ injection intraperitoneally. Rats were decapitated at 7th, 14th and 21st days, liver tissues were taken. Nitric oxide(NO), malondialdehyde(MDA) levels and catalase, arginase activities were measured. MDA and NO levels were increased (respectively p < .001 and p < .01), mainly 14 and 21 days after STZ administration; moreover, while liver catalase activity was progressively decreased (p < .001), oppositely arginase was increased in the same time period (p < .01). Results show that MDA and nitric oxide together with catalase and arginase switch at an early stage of diabetes and they may contribute to subsequent complications related to diabetes via increased oxidative damage.

Calcium Fructoborate Prevents Skin Cancer Development in Balb-c Mice

Tumor microenvironment, genetic, and non-genetic factors are responsible for the atypical metabolic feature of cancer cells. Aberrant activity of PI3K/Akt pathway, increased glycolytic flux, and decreased intracellular pH gradient are the leading causes of this feature. Calcium Fructoborate (CaFB), a sugar-borate ester, has major benefits for human health. The aim of this study was to explore the implication of CaFB on experimentally induced skin cancer in vivo. According to the treatment, 92 female Balb-c mice are divided into six groups: control, CaFB (3 mg/kg/day), 7,12-Dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA)+12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) (97.5 nmol DMBA, 6.5 nmol TPA), T1: CaFB+DMBA+TPA (3 mg/kg/day CaFB together with DMBA), T2: DMBA+CaFB+TPA (3 mg/kg/day CaFB together with TPA), T3: DMBA+TPA+CaFB (3 mg/kg/day CaFB after tumor formation). Topical DMBA and TPA application resulted in a significant increase in the protein levels, immunoreactivity, and mRNA expression of HRAS, HIF1α, Akt, and PTEN (p < 0.05). Moreover, an increase in the number of TUNEL-positive cells was observed in DMBA-TPA group compared with the control group (p < 0.05). CaFB application reduced the protein levels, immunoreactivity, and mRNA expressions of HRAS, HIF1α, Akt, and PTEN and also decreased the number of TUNEL-positive cells. Recent evidence obtained from our study validated that CaFB treatment may have skin cancer-preventing effect.