Effects of Zuogui Jiangtang Jieyu Fang on blood glucose and lipids in diabetes mellitus rats with depression / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Objective: To investigate the effects of Zuogui Jiangtang Jieyu Fang (ZJJF) on the blood glucose and blood lipids in diabetes mellitus (DM) rats with depression. Methods: DM rat model with depression was established by the combination of high-fat diet, injection of Streptozotocin (STZ, 38 mg/kg), and chronic stress. The model rats were randomly divided into five groups, the DM with depression group, metformin (0.18 g/kg) combined fluoxetine (1.8 mg/kg) group, high-, mid-, and low-dose (20.53, 10.26, and 5.13 g/kg) ZJJF groups. After 4 weeks of administration, blood glucose, HbA1c, lipids, and insulin resistance (IR) were assayed by biochemical techniques. The corticosterone (CORT) level in plasma was detected by ELISA method. HE staining was used to observe the adrenal pathological changes of MD rats. Results: Compared with the control group, the levels of blood glucose, HbA1c, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C) were significantly higher, and the level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C) was significantly lower. The CORT level in plasma was significantly higher (P < 0.05). The significant pathological changes existed in adrenal gland were observed by HE staining. Compared with the model group, the blood glucose was significantly stable, IR, HbA1c, TC, TG, LDL-C, and CORT levels in plasma of rats in ZJJF group were significantly decreased, HDL-C level was significantly elevated, while the adrenal pathological changes were reduced. Conclusion: The metabolic disorders of blood glucose and lipids could be improved by ZJJF, which might be correlated to the down-regulation of the CORT level for protecting the adrenal gland.