Effects of Grape Seed Extract on Pancreas Weight in Diabetic Rats

Introduction: Pancreas is a vital organ that produces metabolic hormones and enzymes. Any change in the function of this organ can directly affect the physiological mechanism in the body. Type II diabetes mellitus is a complex metabolic disease. And, this is emerged from either a failure in insulin secretion from pancreatic beta-cell cells or a decrease in pancreatic beta-cell mass. Despite the use of synthetic drugs in the treatment of metabolic diseases, many traditional plant therapies in the world are still used in the treatment of these diseases. The possible effects of grape seed extract on various metabolic diseases are also being investigated in recent years. This study was designed to observe the effects of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes on rat pancreas and to determine the effect of grape seed extract therapy on pancreatic weight. Material and Method: This study was approved by institutional ethical committee (Decision number is 2013/005). Twenty five rats were divided into five groups: control, diabetes and treatment groups respectively 100, 200 and 400 mg / kg extract. To generate diabetic rats, STZ in 35 mg /kg doses was introperitoneally injected into the diabetes and treatment control group. Grape seed extract was given to the treatment group by gavage in the indicated doses (100, 200 and 400 mg / kg extract) for 28 days. All rats were sacrificed post treatment. After sacrificed, pancreatic weights were weighed and noted. Statistical analyzes were performed to determine differences between groups using SPSS software (IBM Statistics 22). Findings: According to this study findings, pancreas weight in diabetic rats (0.66±0.20) was significantly (p<0.05) less than that in control rats (0,88±0,31). Also, the pancreas weight increased significantly in all treatment groups when compared to control and diabetes groups (p<0.05). This increase was the highest at 400 mg/kg extract dose (1.32±0.16). Results and Discussion: Recent studies show that the decrease in functional beta-cell mass is a distinctive feature of type II diabetes mellitus. And, several studies have been carried out on the recovery of damaged pancreatic beta cells. In this study, it has been determined that STZ-induced diabetic rats causes a decrease in pancreas weight. Besides, administration of grape seed extract resulted in a significant increase in pancreas weight. In conclusion, grape seed extract might be effective to restore pancreatic insufficiency in STZ-diabetic rats.