title: Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor provides protection against cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy in streptozotocin-induced diabetes in rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy (CAN) is a relatively common and detrimental complication of diabetes mellitus (DM). Dysregulation of neuropeptides, such as calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), are thought to play significant roles in diabetes-related cardiovascular disease. Accumulating evidence indicates the neuroprotective effects of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) in different neurological disorders. The purpose of the study is to investigate the role of CGRP and VIP and possible effects of G-CSF on CAN in type I DM model in rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) for 14 rats. Seven rats served as controls and 6 rats were administered G-CSF alone. DM group was randomly divided into 2 groups and received either 1mL/kg saline (DM+saline group) or 100 μg/kg/day G-CSF (DM+G-CSF group) for 4 weeks. Following electrocardiography (ECG), GCRP and VIP levels were measured in plasma samples.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Diabetes promoted a significant prolongation in the corrected QT interval (cQT) (P<0.001) whereas G-CSF administration significantly shortened cQT interval (P<0.05). Plasma VIP and CGRP levels of saline treated DM group were significantly lower than those of control group (P<0.05). G-CSF treatment significantly prevented the reduction in plasma VIP and CGRP levels (P<0.01 and P<0.05, respectively). Also, correlation analysis showed a significant negative correlation between the cQT and neuropeptide levels.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that G-CSF can be effective in CAN by means of neuroprotection, and plasma VIP and CGRP levels can be used for the assessment of autonomic and sensory functions in diabetes.
authors: Istanbul Bilim University School of Medicine, Department of Physiology, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors: Oytun
authors: O
authors: Erbaş
authors: Gaziosmanpaşa University School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Tokat, Turkey.
authors: Volkan
authors: V
authors: Solmaz
authors: Ege University School of Medicine, Department of Physiology, Izmir, Turkey. Electronic address: dilek.taskiran@ege.edu.tr.
authors: Dilek
authors: D
authors: Taşkıran
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide / Q000097:blood; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D003925:Diabetic Angiopathies / Q000097:blood / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003929:Diabetic Neuropathies / Q000097:blood / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013311:Streptozocin; D014660:Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor; D014660:Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide; D013311:Streptozocin; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide
keywords: Calcitonin gene-related peptide; Cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy; Diabetes mellitus; Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor; QT interval; Vasoactive intestinal peptide