ABSTRACT
Background: diabetes type I is a chronic disease mediated by the immune system that the prevalence of it's in the past two decades has dramatically increased
Objective: the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of oral administration of the aqueous extract of the leaf of sugar beet on the immunological aspect of STZ induced diabetes in mice
Methods: for this purpose, 20 male inbred C57 BL/6 mice with 6-8 weeks of age were divided into 4 groups of 5 including: control, diabetic, treatment and pre-treatment groups. In the second, third and the fourth groups, five consecutive daily injections of 40 mg/kg STZ were performed to induce diabetes. The fasting blood sugar was recorded on a weekly basis. At the end, the mice were euthanized and after the removal of the spleens and the preparation of cell cultures, the cells were tested to determine the extent of lymphocyte proliferation and the severity of respiratory burst
Results: the results showed that the administration of Chard extract can significantly reduce blood glucose levels in diabetic mice [P<0.05]. The lymphocytes proliferation in the treatment and pre-treatment groups showed a significant decrease compared to the diabetic group [P<0.05]. Moreover, treatment with the extract significantly restored the reduced respiratory burst in the diabetic group to levels similar to the control group [P<0.05]
Conclusion: in summary, the leaf extract of Chard has a positive effect on the immunological changes and can reduce the complications of autoimmune diabetes in mouse models