title: A histological and immunohistochemical study of beta cells in streptozotocin diabetic rats treated with caffeine.
abstract: In this study, the histological, immunohistochemical, morphometric, and biochemical changes to pancreatic beta-cells in STZ-induced diabetes were evaluated in rats treated with different doses of caffeine. Fifty adult male Wistar albino rats were divided into five groups: the nondiabetic control group, the diabetic untreated group, and three diabetic groups treated with different doses of caffeine (10, 50, and 100 mg/kg/day). Blood glucose and serum insulin levels were measured. The pancreata were collected and processed into paraffin sections. They were stained using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and Masson trichrome stains. The insulin expression in beta-cells was assessed using immunohistochemistry. Morphometrically, the percentage area of anti-insulin antibody reaction, the percentage of beta-cells per total islet cell number, and the average area of the islets were determined. STZ-induced degenerative changes in beta-cells led to decreases in the number of functioning beta-cells and insulin immunoreactivity and to increases in the number of collagen fibers in the islets. In STZ-treated rats, caffeine significantly decreased blood glucose concentration while increasing blood insulin levels at the highest applied dose. It also induced a significant increase in the number of immunoreactive beta-cells. In conclusion, caffeine may have a protective role in the biochemical and microscopic changes in pancreatic beta-cells in diabetes induced in rats through STZ administration.
authors.forename: Siham K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Abunasef
authors.forename: Hanan A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Amin
authors.affiliation: Anatomy Department, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia; Anatomy Department, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Egypt. ghada169@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Ghada A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Abdel-Hamid
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D002110:Caffeine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002452:Cell Count; D048430:Cell Shape / Q000187:drug effects; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D050417:Insulin-Secreting Cells / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013311:Streptozocin
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D007328:Insulin; D002110:Caffeine; D013311:Streptozocin