Vitamin D increases IGF-I and insulin levels in experimental diabetic rats
H Derakhshanian1, M H Javanbakht1, M Zarei1
1Department of Cellular and Molecular Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Introduction And Objective:
Previous studies have found that IGF-I may play an important role in glucose metabolism. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of vitamin D intake on the serum levels of glucose, insulin, and IGF-I in experimental diabetic rats.
Material And Methods:
A total of 24 male Sprague-Dawley rats aged six to seven months, with an average weight of 300±30g, were randomly divided into three groups (eight rats per group). The first group served as control and the other two groups received an intraperitoneal injection of 45mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ) to develop diabetes. Then groups were treated for four weeks either with placebo or vitamin D (two injections of 20,000IU/kg).
Results:
At the end of the experiment, two injection of vitamin D were found to result in a significant increase in plasma cholecalciferol, which could improve hyperglycaemia and hypoinsulinemia in diabetic rats. HbA1c concentration had a slight and insignificant decrease following vitamin D intake. In addition, a significant decline was observed in the serum IGF-I level of STZ-treated rats in comparison to the controls, which was compensated in the vitamin D group. The serum vitamin D concentration was positively correlated to the changes in IGF-I level by Pearson test.
Conclusions:
These data showed for the first time that vitamin D intake could significantly improve fasting plasma glucose, insulin, and IGF-I in an experimental type 1 diabetes model.
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