RESUMEN
Aim To investigate the therapeutic effects of benzoquinone of Averrhoa carambola L. root (BACR) on streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic mice and its mechanism. Methods The diabetic model was induced by intravenous injection of STZ in mice. Drugs were intragastrically administered to mice for 21 days. Fasting blood glucose (FBG) and the change of body weight were measured every 7 days. The levels of the total cholesterol (TC) , triglyceride (TG) and low-density lIPoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lIPoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) , inter-leukin-IP(IL-lp) in serum and uperoxide dismutase (SOD) , malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in liver tissues were measured after administration. The pathological changes of liver tissues were observed by HE staining. The expression of Tolllike receptor 4 (TLR4), myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) , nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kB) were observed by immunohistochemistry. Result Compared with model group, the levels of TC, TG, LDL-C, MCP-1, IL-1 p in serum as well as MDA in liver markedly decreased in BACR groups while HDL-C lev-el, the activities of SOD and GSH-Px increased. HE staining showed that BACR improved the pathological condition of liver tissues. The protein expression of TLR4, MyD88, NF-kB were obviously up-regulated. Conclusions BACR could reduce blood glucose, blood lIPid on diabetes mellitus, and its mechanism may be related to inhibiting the release of inflammatory factors and enhancing antioxidant capacity.