Diabetes mellitus is defined as a disorder of carbohydrate metabolism caused by absence or deficiency of insulin, insulin resistance, or both, ultimately leading to hyperglycemia. Type 1
Diabetes is believed to be an autoimmune disease resulting from specific immune destruction of B-cells in the Islets of Lagerphones of the pancreas. The effect of taurine, selenium and azathioprine supplement on oxidative stress and antioxidant defense systems was investigated in diabetic induced rats (STZ, 60mg/kg body weight) by daily oral intubations for 90 days. Diabetic rats exhibited an elevation in the levels of plasma glucose, liver glycogen, and erythrocytic lipid peroxidase (LPX), and a decrease in plasma insulin, whole blood glutathione (GSH), erythrocytic glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), and serum glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) in comparison with those of control rats. Oral administration of the
antioxidants (taurine & selenium) and the immunosuppressive agent (azathioprine) to diabetic rats for 90 days significantly reduced the levels of plasma glucose, liver glycogen, erythrocytic lipid peroxidase (LPX), whereas it increased plasma insulin, whole blood glutathione, and antioxidant enzymes status (erythrocytic glutathione peroxidase and serum glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase) vs control. In addition to that, supplement with antioxidants and the immunosuppressive agent together stimulated amended profiles in
thymus sections. Thymus sections from 90 day STZ-diabetic rats presented a very advanced atrophy, characterized by lobules with disappearance of cortical-medullary distinction, disarrangement and aggregation of lymphocytes as compared to control animals. These alterations directly correlated with a marked drop in thymic cell numbers, shrinkage, thymocyte depletion and cell deteriorations in cortex and medulla in diabetic rats. Many lymphocytes exhibits apoptosis indicated by appearance of apoptotic bodies in both cortical and medullary regions. There are wide spaces in the medulla could be observed easily indicating medullary thymic lymphocytes-depletion.The thymic corpuscles (Hassall’s corpuscles) showed signs of degeneration. Supplement of diabetic rats with either antioxidants or immunosuppressive agent managed to decreases shrinkage, thymocyte depletion and cell deteriorations in cortex and medulla. Supplement of diabetic rats with both antioxidants and immunosuppressive agent together was more effective. In conclusion, taurine, selenium, and azathioprine supplement inhibits lipid peroxidation through scavenging free radicals and consequently decreases oxidative stress, which protects and activates antioxidant activity (enzymatic, endogenous and exogenous) and suppresses the autoimmunity (the main reason of β-cell destruction which causes the disease). This effect was emphasized histopathologically through amelioration of diabetic–induced thymic damage following supplementation. So, Oral supplement of both antioxidants and immunosuppressine agent at the time of onset or soon after the diagnosis of diabetes could prevent diabetes or at least delay diabetic complications and ameliorate the thymus tissue deterioration induced by diabetes.
More abstracts about the Antioxidants and Immunosuppressive supplement Effects on Oxidative Stress in Thymus During Diabetes