ISMJ

Background: Diabetes mellitus increases the risk of central nervous system (CNS) disorders such as stroke, seizures, dementia, and cognitive impairment. Berberine, a natural isoquinolne alkaloid, is reported to exhibit beneficial effect in various neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. Moreover astrocytes are proving critical for normal CNS function, and alterations in their activity and impaired oxidative stress could contribute to diabetes-related cognitive dysfunction. Metabolic and oxidative insults often cause rapid changes in glial cells. Key indicators of this response are increased synthesis of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) as an astrocytic marker. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the effect of berberine on glial reactivity of hippocampus in (STZ)-induced diabetes rats. Materials and Methods: Experimental groups included: The control, control berberine treated (100 mg/kg.8 weeks), diabetic and diabetic berberine treated (50,100 mg/kg for 8 weeks) groups. The effects of berberine on glial reactivity of hippocampus evaluated in (STZ)-induced diabetics rats, using GFAP immunohistochemistry test. Data were analyzed by using Prism-5, one way ANOVA and Tukey tests. Results: Eight weeks after diabetes induction we observed an increase in GFAP immune staining in the hippocampus of STZ-diabetic rats relative to levels in the control brains. In contrast, chronic treatment with berberine (50 and 100 mg/kg, p.o., once daily) lowered hyperglycemia, and prevents the up regulation of GFAP in brain of diabetic rats. Conclusion: the present study demonstrates treatment with berberine resulted in an obvious reduction of GFAP+ immunoreactive astrocytes in hippocampus of STZ -induced diabetic rats.