Oxidative stress and DNA damage in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats: Effects of alpha lipoic acid

Abstract

The aim of present study was to investigate the effect of alpha lipoic acid (ALA) supplementation on oxidative stress and DNA damage in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. The diabetic rats were divided into two groups; supplemented with ALA (100 mg/kg/day) and non-supplemented with ALA (No Suppl group). Non-diabetic rats (NDM) formed the control group. Following eight weeks of supplementation, fasting blood glucose (FBG) and HBA1c in ALA-supplemented rats was found to be significantly lower than the No Suppl diabetic rats. ALA supplementation also significantly increased plasma superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and vitamin C level compared to the No Suppl group. The increased in plasma malondealdehyde (MDA) and 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) levels also were inhibited. At the same time, the percentages of comet tail and tail moment of peripheral lymphocytes which indicate the oxidative DNA damage were significantly reduced in the ALA-supplementation group. These results suggest that ALA has protective effects against oxidative stress by increasing antioxidant status and reducing lipid peroxidation and DNA damage in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. © 2008 Asian Network for Scientific Information.