Diosmin or Hesperidin? Comparison of Antioxidative Action of Two Venoactive Flavonoids in Type 1 Diabetic Rats

Diabetes mellitus and chronic venous disease (CVD) are multifactorial, long-lasting diseases. Although usually considered separately, they often coexist, and individuals with diabetes are more prone to CVD development. Despite different etiology, CVD and diabetic vascular complications share several pathomechanisms, and oxidative stress is one of them. In this study the antioxidative potential of two venoactive flavonoids-diosmin and hesperidin-in the course of type 1 diabetes was compared for the first time. Type 1 diabetic rats were treated with diosmin or hesperidin, each at two doses, 50 and 100 mg/kg, for four weeks. In order to evaluate the antioxidative potential of tested compounds, the antioxidative enzyme activity (superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase), thiols homeostasis, oxidative status markers (total antioxidative response-TAR, total oxidative status and oxidative stress index-OSI), and oxidative damage markers (advanced oxidation protein products and malondialdehyde) in the serum were measured. Diabetes caused disturbance in the serological redox homeostasis, especially by decreasing enzyme activity and TAR while increasing levels of oxidative damage markers and OSI, increasing advanced glycation end products (AGEs) levels, as well as altering carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. Flavonoids improved the majority of lipid metabolism markers and reduced AGEs with no effect on glycemia. In the context of oxidative stress, their effect was moderate and dose-dependent, and better potency of hesperidin over diosmin was noted, both in individual and multivariate analyses of the parameters. The collective analysis of all parameters led to the conclusion that both diosmin and hesperidin can be considered complementary agents averting negative impact of diabetes due to their multi-faceted actions, including antioxidative properties.