Apigenin attenuates streptozotocin-induced pancreatic β cell damage by its protective effects on cellular antioxidant defense.
Pancreatic beta cells are very sensitive to oxidative stress, which is one of the major causes of cell damages in diabetes. Growing interest has focused on the development of effective therapeutics to protect pancreatic cells from oxidative stress and searching for potentially protective antioxidants for treating diabetes. Apigenin, a plant-derived flavonoid, was investigated to determine whether it could protect rat insulinoma cell lines (RINm5F pancreatic beta cells) against streptozotocin (STZ)-induced oxidative damages and the mechanisms implicated. Our results showed that STZ treatment could induce oxidative stress and consequent cytotoxic effects in RINm5F cells. Pretreatment with apigenin effectively decreased the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, attenuated cellular DNA damage, diminished lipid peroxidation, relieved protein carbonylation, and restored the cell apoptosis of pancreatic beta cells stressed by STZ. Our further experiments demonstrated that the beneficial effects of apigenin were related to ameliorate the loss of antioxidant enzymes of the STZ-treated cells in the level of gene transcription, protein expression, and enzyme activity. That suggested apigenin was not only a free radical scavenger but also a regulator to antioxidant defenses of pancreatic cells. Taken all together, our findings suggested that apigenin could attenuate the STZ-induced oxidative damages in pancreatic beta cells and might serve as a novel agent for the treatment of diabetes.
School of Food Science and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212013, People's Republic of China.
Ning
N
Wang
Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212013, People's Republic of China.
Wen Jing
WJ
Yi
School of Food Science and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212013, People's Republic of China.
Lu
L
Tan
Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212013, People's Republic of China.
Jia Hui
JH
Zhang
School of Food Science and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212013, People's Republic of China.
Jiamin
J
Xu
Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212013, People's Republic of China.
Yi
Y
Chen
School of Food Science and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212013, People's Republic of China.
Mengting
M
Qin
Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212013, People's Republic of China.
Shuang
S
Yu
Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212013, People's Republic of China.
Jing
J
Guan
Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212013, People's Republic of China. zhangrui26@ujs.edu.cn.
Rui
R
Zhang
D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D047310:Apigenin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001786:Blood Glucose; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D050417:Insulin-Secreting Cells / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000187:drug effects; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species
D000975:Antioxidants; D001786:Blood Glucose; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D047310:Apigenin
Antioxidant enzymes; Apigenin; Oxidative stress; RINm5F pancreatic beta cells; Streptozotocin