Influence of hesperetin on glycoprotein components in diabetic rats

Diabetes is a life-long disease and is considered as the second foremost reason to cause blindness and renal failure worldwide. It is a chronic disease caused by inherited or acquired deficiency in the production of insulin by the pancreas, or by ineffectiveness of the secreted insulin. This study is carried out to evaluate the effect of hesperetin on dearrangement in glycoprotein levels in the streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats. Diabetes was induced in male Wistar rats by a single intraperitoneal injection of STZ (45mg/kg bw). The levels of glycoproteins were altered in experimental diabetes mellitus. Hesperetin were administered to diabetic rats intragastrically at 20, 40mg/kg bw for 45 days. The effects of hesperetin on plasma glucose, insulin and glycosylated haemoglobin were determined. The plasma and tissue (liver and kidney) glycoproteins such as hexose, hexosamine, fucose and sialic acid were also studied. Oral administration of hesperetin (40mg/kg bw) for 45 days dose dependently improved the glycemic status in STZ-induced diabetic rats. The levels of plasma glucose were decreased with significant increase of plasma insulin level. The altered levels of plasma and tissue glycoprotein components were restored to near normal. The present findings suggest that hesperetin can potentially ameliorate glycoprotein components abnormalities in addition to its antidiabetic effect in experimental diabetes.