Background
The increasing prevalence of diabetes mellitus in the world is of great concern.
As synthetic drugs have undesirable side effects or contraindications, traditional
medicinal plants are being used for treatments of diabetes.
Aim of the work
This study aimed to determine the protective effect of aloe vera (AV) on β cells of
diabetic rats.
Material and methods
Forty adult male rats were utilized and divided equally into four groups. The first
served as the control group; the second was the streptozotocin (STZ) group (single
intraperitoneal dose of 65 mg/kg body weight); the third was the preventive AV
group, which was given a daily oral dose of AV (300 mg/kg body weight/day) for 14
days along with a single intraperitoneal injection of STZ given after 7 days from the
start of AV; the fourth group was the curative AV group, which was given a single
intraperitoneal injection of STZ and after 7 days were given a daily oral dose of AV
for 14 days. Pancreatic tail samples were taken 14 days after the treatment with AV.
Paraffin sections were prepared for histological and immunohistochemical studies.
Results
The results revealed that a single dose of STZ induced marked cytoplasmic
vacuolations and pyknotic nuclei in many islet cells. The AV preventive group showed
normal-appearing islet cells. The AV curative group showed cytoplasmic vacuolations
and pyknotic nuclei in many islet cells. Statistical analysis revealed a significant
decrease (P