TITLE:
Cerebrolysin Effects on Cardiac Neuropathy in Diabetic Rats
AUTHORS:
Enedina Zurita, Maribel Huerta, Luis De Jesús, Fidel De La Cruz, Rocio Ortiz-Butron, Gonzalo Flores, Ma De Jesús Gómez-Villalobos
KEYWORDS:
Autonomic Innervation, Heart, Hyperglycemia, Cerebrolysin, Rats
JOURNAL NAME:
Pharmacology & Pharmacy,
Vol.8 No.7,
July
17,
2017
ABSTRACT: Autonomic innervation of heart is abnormal in diabetes and produces altered cardiovascular parameters. Cerebrolysin is a neurotrophic factor that improves the dendritic tree and synapses in the central nerve system after brain damage. The aim of this study was to evaluate if cerebrolysin can improve the cardiac neuropathy generated in diabetic rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats two months old were injected with streptozotocin (70 mg/Kg/, ip). Hyperglycemia and altered cardiac rate were confirmed after eight weeks of STZ injection, and cerebrolysin treatment was started in control and diabetic rats for two months (1 ml/kg/day, ip). Body weight, heart rate, heart rate variability, arterial blood pressure, and blood glucose levels were measured. Also heart weight and levels of nitrites, NGF and VEGF were measured in left ventricle homogenates. The results show that body weight was reduced and blood glucose levels were increased significantly in diabetic rats. Cerebrolysin treatment produced no significant changes in body weight either in blood glucose level in control and diabetic rats. Cerebrolysin treatment in diabetic rats shows an improvement in the altered basal cardiac rate (306 ± 6.5 lat/min) compared to diabetic saline group (272 ± 8.9 lat/min: P