ABSTRACT
Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death among diabetic patients. The production of reactive oxygen species [ROS] by the cardiac myocytes was considered the most likely cause for the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy. The aim of the present study was to investigate the cardioprotective effects of insulin and/or vitamin E on streptozotocin [STZ] - induced diabetic animals. This work included 60 adult male albino rats divided into five groups. Group I [control] received phosphate buffered saline. Group II, STZ-induced diabetics. Group III, diabetic rats which received insulin. Group IV diabetic rats which received vitamin E. Group V diabetic rats which received both insulin and vitamin E. Diabetic cardiomyocytes revealed marked fragmentation and degeneration. Myofibrillar lysis and mitochondrial degeneration were detected. Groups II and III did not show remarkable improvement. Group IV showed improvement of some of the degenerative changes. Group V showed marked improvement. Myocytes appeared nearly similar to the controls with regular striations of myofibrils. The mean area percent of collagen content was measured by the image analyzer. Group II showed a very highly significant increase compared to the control Then a significant decrease in groups III, IV and V relative to STZ-group, was detected .It might be concluded that diabetes induced marked histological alterations in the cardiac muscles of albino rats. These structural changes were not corrected by the use of either insulin or vitamin E alone, but were markedly improved by the concomitant use of both insulin and vitamin E