Effect of Walnut Oil Fortified With β-Sitosterol on Hematological and Histological Parameters in the Liver of Diabetic Rats
Author(s): Monireh Ghorbani, Abdolhossein Shiravi*, Gholamhasan Vaezi, Hamid Sepehri, Vida Hojati
Abstract
Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder in body in which body fails to produce insulin or represent resistance against insulin and therefore, insulin cannot have its normal application in body. One of the plants to cure this disease is walnut (Juglans regia). Walnut oil is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids and is fundamentally important from nutritional and medicinal viewpoints. The present study was thus designed to determine the effect of β-sitosterol-fortified walnut oil on blood factors and hepatic enzymes in diabetic rats. For this aim, diabetes was induced to male rats (200 g) using STZ injection. Overall, five treatments were considered: normal saline gavage, not-enriched walnut oil gavage, gavage of walnut oil enriched with low, average, and high concentrations of β-sitosterol. Glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density cholesterol (HDL), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total bilirubin, direct bilirubin and albumin were measured. In addition, hepatic tissue was analysed by H&E (haematoxylin and eosin) staining, trichrome staining, and TUNEL assay. The results obtained from the study revealed that gavage of β- sitosterol-enriched walnut oil improved blood parameters and hepatic tissue in diabetic rats.
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