Abstract

Enormous complications associated with diabetes contribute to the therapeutic challenge confronting most of the world, including developing countries. This study was carried out to investigate diabetes mellitus on esterases and antioxidant enzymes in different tissues compartments of rats. Animals were divided into two groups of 10 animals each. The experimental group was confirmed diabetic by a single dose of streptozotocin injection (STZ, freshly dissolved in citrate buffer, pH 4.5, 50 mg/kg) intraperitoneally. In contrast, the control group was injected with citrate buffer only. Blood glucose and weight of the animals were monitored for 7 days. Blood, liver and brain were removed, and biochemical parameters determined spectrophotometrically. Diabetes produced various degrees of alterations in antioxidant defence mechanism and esterases activities that are compartment specific. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity was inhibited to various extents. While AChE was inhibited to the tune of 39% in plasma, 33% in the brain and 30% in the liver, activation of the activity was observed in the red blood cell (RBC). The same trend of significant (p < 0.001) inhibition was observed with arylesterase in the plasma, brain and liver, and activation in the RBC. Diabetes induced significant (p<0.001) inhibition in catalase, Glutathione-S-transferase, and Superoxide dismutase in the brain and liver, respectively, compared to control more than the other compartments. However, activation was also observed in the RBC of these enzymes except for catalase and nitric oxide. In conclusion, distinct compartments effects of diabetes observed in this study could suggest a new approach for effective and safer therapeutics.

Keywords: Antioxidants, Esterases, Acetylcholinesterase, Diabetes, Streptozotocin, Compartmentalisation, and Hyperglycemia