Comparative Evaluation of Glibenclamide and Insulin on the Pups’ Liver Cytoarchitectonic Properties and Some Dams’ Parameters in Pregnant Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats

Abstract
Despite the significant achievements in the treatment modalities and preventive measures, the prevalence of gestational diabetes in Africa has continued to rise exponentially in the last few decades. There is growing concern on the use of oral hypoglycemic agents (OHAs) during pregnancy, due to the potential of the agents in causing adverse effect (s) on the developing fetus and its effectiveness in managing the gestational diabetes mellitus. The objective of this study was to investigate the action of glibenclamide compared with insulin on pups’ liver cytoarchitectonic property and oxidative stress markers, and on maternal glucose level and sexual hormonal profile. Twenty pregnant female Sprague-Dawley rats (120-160 g) divided into 4 groups A, B, C and D (n=5 per group) were used for the study. Rats in group A (control) were given 0.5ml distilled water daily while the rats in groups B, C, and D were rendered diabetic by administration of intraperitoneal low-dose streptozotocin (STZ) and subsequently treated with 0.5mls of distilled water, glibenclamide (0.29 mg/kg body weight) and insulin (1 UI daily) respectively. Blood glucose levels were monitored and recorded throughout the experiment. The rats were sacrificed on the 19th day of gestational period. The pups’ liver and maternal blood sample were collected for analysis. The glibenclamide and insulin groups showed significant (p<0.05) decreased in blood glucose with an increased maternal body weight when compared to the diabetic group. The activities of GSH, SOD and CAT were significantly increased (p<0.05) in the glibenclamide and insulin treated groups compared to the diabetic group. Also, MDA significantly reduced in the glibenclamide and insulin treated groups (C & D) when compared to the diabetic untreated group (B) with the greater reduction observed for insulin. There was an improvement in the hormonal profiles of glibenclamide and insulin treated groups compared with the diabetic group. Histologically, glibenclamide and insulin showed an improvement in the arrangement of cytoarchitectonic property of pups’ liver with mild steatosis compared with diabetic group. Based on our observations in this study, it was concluded that glibenclamide is as effective as insulin with no or little negative effect and could be an optional drug to be used in the treatment of gestational diabetes mellitus in place of insulin.
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Keywords
Cytoarchitectonic, Gestational Maternal Diabetes, Glibenclamide, Pups, Dams
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