Preventive Effects of Aqueous Extract of Berberis integerrima Bge. Root on Liver Injury Induced by Diabetes Mellitus (Type 1) in Rats

This study was conducted to assessthe preventive effect of aqueous extract of Berberis integerrima Bge. root (AEBIR) on liver damage and oxidative stress induced by diabetes mellitus in rats. Forty male rats were divided into 5 groups as follows: 1-normal (N); 2-normal + barberry (N+B) (they received barberry root extract for 6 weeks); 3-diabetic (D) (they received Streptozotocin (STZ), 65 mg/Kg BW /i.p.); 4-diabetic + barberry before (D+Bb) (they received barberry root extract for 3 weeks before STZ injection and continued for another three weeks); and 5-diabetic + barberry after (D+Ba) (three days after STZ injection, they received barberry root extract for 3 weeks). The experimental groups received barberry root extract (500 mg/Kg bw) intra gastric by gavage for 6 weeks. The treatment of diabetic rats with AEBIR showed a significant decreases(p<0.001) in levels of blood glucose, malondialdehyde (MDA), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and total bilirubin while body weight, total protein, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase(CAT) and reduced glutathione (GSH) increased (p<0.001) in comparison to diabetic control rats. Consumption of AEBIR in group D+Bb caused significant improvement in all these factors, compared to the group D+Ba. Also in this study, for the first time, we demonstrated that administration of AEBIR before diabetes induction resulted in enhanced amelioration of liver complications compared to the group receiving it after induction, indicating that AEBIR can play a preventive role in such patients.