Systemic/Immune-Modulation of Olea europaea Leaf Extract in Fetuses of Alloxan-Induced T1 Diabetic Rats

Maternal glucose is the principal macronutrient that sustains fetal growth. Prolonged exposure of the fetus to hyperglycemia from the early stages of pregnancy accelerates the maturation of the stimulus-secretion coupling mechanism in beta cell autoimmunity, which leads to early hyperinsulinemia in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Nowadays, diabetes mellitus (DM) is the most common medical complication of pregnancy, and among young women, the prevalence of overt diabetes and undiagnosed hyperglycemia is rising. Even though conventional medication is effective in treating DM, it is expensive and has harmful side effects. Herbal medicine will thus incorporate alternative therapy and be more effective and less toxic. Due to their bioactive components, olive leaves (Olea europaea) are frequently used medicinally; however, little is known about how this plant affects the immune system when it comes to diabetes. The current study used a pregnant mother rat model of alloxan-induced T1DM to examine the antidiabetic properties and embryonic safety of olive leaves. Forty adult female Sprague Dawley rats were split up into four groups as follows: nondiabetic, diabetic, olive, and diabetic-olive groups. All the mother rats were sacrificed on the 20th day of pregnancy, and fetuses were collected for further investigations. In diabetic pregnant mothers, fetuses had systemic modulation-negative effects. These effects were significantly reversed when the diabetic groups were supplemented with extracts from olive leaves. The findings showed that the olive leaf extract inhibits the diabetogenic effect mediated by alloxan with effective and protective systemic immunomodulation during embryonic development.