Effects of Lactobacillus acidophilus on Biochemical Indices and Liver Histology in Streptozotocin-induced Diabetic Rats

摘要

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic disease reportedly caused by insulin resistance and characterised by hyperglycaemia and altered lipid profile. Administration of probiotics may improve the prognosis of diabetes as well as alleviate associated complications and metabolic disorders. Lactobacillus acidophilus supplementation has been reported to have hypoglycaemic effect, maintain blood insulin level and inhibit lipid peroxidation.Aim: To study the effects of L. acidophilus ATTCC4356 on plasma glucose, lipid profile, markers of liver function and hepatic histology in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.Materials and Methods: Thirty-six adult albino rats were divided into six groups. Group 1 served as controls (given placebo as graded doses of distilled water), Group 2 as diabetic untreated, Groups 3, 4 and 5 received 0.05 mL, 0.1 mL and 0.2 mL (1.5×10~(8) CFU) L. acidophilus respectively while Group 6 was treated with glibenclamide at 10 mg/kg body weight orally for four weeks. Blood glucose, lipid profile, liver enzymes, albumin and total protein were measured, microbiological profiling of faecal sample was done and hepatic tissue examined histologically. Data were analysed statistically using SPSS Version 18.0. Differences in value of biochemical parameters among the treated groups and controls were analysed using ANOVA and p-values <0.05 were considered significant.Results: Significant decrease in glucose levels (p<0.05) were observed in control and treated groups compared with diabetic untreated rats with the lowest value (75.83 mg/dL) recorded in the group administered 0.2 mL L. acidophilus after 2 weeks. Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) and Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST) activities were moderately decreased by probiotics treatment. There were non-significant reductions in triglyceride, total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (p>0.05) in treatment groups. Histological changes include mild haemorrhage and fibrosis across the hepatic cyto-architecture of treated and untreated rats but not controls.Conclusion: Administration of 0.05 mL, 0.1 mL and 0.2 mL graded doses of L. acidophilus probiotics had weight-reducing, hypoglycaemic effects, improves dyslipidemia and hepatic enzymes activity in diabetic rats compared to controls. This showed the desirable characteristics of probiotics in ameliorating biochemical abnormalities associated with T2DM even at lower dosage. However, L. acidophilus did not bring about observable preservation of hepatic cytoarchitecture nor reversal of histopathological alterations associated with T2DM in diabetic-induced rats.